Viola de arame

The Viola de arame is a stringed musical instrument from the Portuguese island of Madeira.^[1] It has 9 (sometimes 10) strings in 5 courses. The strings are made of steel.

Viola de arame

String instrument
Other names	Viola da Madeira
Classification	String instrument
Hornbostel–Sachs classification	(Composite chordophone)
Developed	Madeira
Related instruments
Viola caipira, Viola beiroa, Viola braguesa, Viola campanica, Viola da terra, Viola sertaneja, Viola terceira, Viola toeira, Viola amarantina.

Tuning

It is tuned G3 G2, D3 D2, G3 G3, B3 (B3), D3 D3 so "Open G Major".

The two lowest courses are tuned in octaves. The three higher ones are tuned in unison. However, the 2nd highest course is a single string instead of a pair like the rest (there are also 10 string Versions w/ 5 pairs of strings).

The scale length is about 560mm.