D 9#5 — Viola

D 9#5 is built from D – E – F# – A# – C. The maps below place those tones along the Viola's CGDA strings and name which finger reaches each one in position — every note plays back plucked, the way this site's audio speaks.

Read these as maps rather than as things to hold: a bow rests on one string, or leans between two neighbours, so what is playable at once is a PAIR — and the charts flag which adjacent pairs in each chord a single bow stroke can take. The rest of the chord arrives by rolling across the strings, or by letting the C or A ring open underneath the melody.

The Viola and the Cello share the same four letters, CGDA, but this one speaks an octave above — same map, different room, and a bow arm that has to travel further to cross the same interval.