Welcome to Harold's World!

You’ve probably wondered what happened to “A Viola Is Born!”, the blog I started back in June about the viola I have been building since January 2009. The process has indeed continued unabated all these months, but I was investing so much time in the actual building that there was no time left to work on the blog. So it pleases me now to announce that after more than 300 hours of unbelievably concentrated and often intense work, I am nearing completion of what has been perhaps the most fascinating experience of my life. I am eager to bring you up to date, going back to those first weeks and using hundreds of photographs to show you the steps along the way.

Building a viola is the antithesis of immediate gratification. It is based on old world knowledge that has been passed on from generation to generation through apprenticeships, often a family enterprise. You might remember that I am apprenticed to master violin builder Harold Golden, one of America’s finest luthiers. The gift that he has given me these past nine months is priceless. As I tell this story, remember it is in reality Harold’s story, the story of his passionate dedication and a lifetime of learning from other masters. The layers upon layers of this type of knowledge cannot be learned from books and cannot be learned quickly.

Harold told me a story yesterday from his own past. Although a young music teacher during the day, he spent his evenings and weekends working at Zapf’s alongside master builders of an earlier generation. A famous old German luthier came to work at the store for several weeks and was temporarily given Harold’s work station. So Harold took the opportunity to watch everything the old man did during those weeks. One day the man looked at Harold and said, “Why do you want to be a violin builder? Why not learn to build ships instead? In three years you could be a master builder, but as a violin builder, even after ten years, you know nothing. To learn to be a great violin builder will take your entire life, and at the end, you are still learning!”


In the past nine months, I have realized the incredible wealth of knowledge Harold has accumulated. Building an instrument by hand is hard. It is tedious. It requires enormous hours and in depth expertise. Between his violin and bow repairing and daily teaching on several instruments, he may be able to build two violins a year. You can never be paid enough for a new violin made with such care to equal the time and effort, but Harold builds violins because he loves creating such beauty. Imagine something that is still done in almost the same way as 450 years ago!


This blog is meant for your illumination and even fascination with old world values and dedication. You will learn a lot about how a viola is made, but it is not meant to be a tedious text. Therefore, the format I will follow will be to use lots of photographs with short explanations that should intrigue you.