Viola pomposa Viola pomposa The viola pomposa (also known as the violino pomposo) is a five-stringed instrument developed around 1725. There are no exact dimensions applicable to all instruments used under this name, although in general the pomposa is slightly wider than a standard viola (hence the Italian adjective "pomposa"). It uses four viola strings, tuned conventionally (C-G-D-A), with the addition of a high E string (usually a violin string), giving it a greater range than the orchestral viola; the trade-off comes in a sound which is slightly more resonant than a violin. The viola pomposa is played on the arm and
New standard tuning Fripp suggested that Guitar Circle members experiment with an A String (0.007) from Octave4Plus of Gary Goodman; if successful, the experiment could lead to "the NST 1.2", C2G2D3A3E4-A4, according to Fripp. In 2010, Fripp suggested renaming the tuning as "Guitar Craft Standard Tuning or C Pentatonic tuning". The lowest five strings are tuned in perfect fifths from a low C. The first string is a minor third up from the E to a G. Since the lowest five strings are tuned in fifths, guitars with NST can be played with the fingerings for chords and scales used on the violin,