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Viol
The viola da gamba (Italian: [ˈvjɔːla da (ɡ)ˈɡamba, viˈɔːla -]), or viol, or informally gamba, is a bowed and fretted string instrument that is played da gamba (i.e. "on the leg"). It is distinct from the later violin, or viola da braccio; and it is any one of the earlier viol family of bowed, fretted, and stringed instruments with hollow wooden bodies and pegboxes where the tension on the strings can be increased or decreased to adjust the pitch of each of the strings. Although treble, tenor and bass were most commonly used, viols came in different sizes, including pardessus (high treble, developed in 18th century), treble, alto, small tenor, tenor, bass and contrabass (called violone).
These members of the viol family are distinguished from later bowed string instruments, such as the violin family, by both appearance and orientation when played—as typically the neck is oriented upwards and the rounded bottom downwards to settle on the lap or between the knees.
The viola da gamba uses the alto clef.[citation needed] Seven and occasionally eight frets made of "stretched gut" are tied on the fingerboard around the instrument's neck. Frets tied in this manner—instead of permanently fixed as on a guitar—allow for fine-tuning of the instrument. (Frets enable the performer to stop the strings more cleanly, improve consistency of intonation and lend the stopped notes a tone that better matches the open strings.)[citation needed]
Viols first appeared in Spain and Italy in the mid-to-late 15th century, and were most popular in the Renaissance and Baroque (1600–1750) periods. Early ancestors include the Arabic rebab and the medieval European vielle, but later, more directly possible ancestors include the Venetian viole and the 15th- and 16th-century Spanish vihuela, a six-course plucked instrument tuned like a lute (and also like a present-day viol) that (at the time) looked like, but was quite distinct from, the four-course guitar (an earlier chordophone). It should also be mentioned that the Arabic rebab originally comes from a Persian instrument called rubāb.
Although bass viols superficially resemble cellos, viols are different in several respects from instruments of the violin family: the viol family has flat rather than curved backs, sloped rather than rounded shoulders, c holes rather than f holes, and five to seven rather than four strings. Additional differences include tuning strategy—in fourths, with a third in the middle, rather than in fifths (similar to a lute)—the presence of frets, and underhand rather than overhand bow grip.
A modern player of the viol is commonly known as a gambist, violist /ˈvaɪəlɪst/, or violist da gamba. Notably, "violist" is a homograph of the word commonly used since the mid-20th century to refer to a player of the viola, which can cause confusion in written/printed texts when not clear from the context.
Vihuelists began playing their flat-topped, originally plucked, instruments with a bow in the second half of the 15th century. Within two or three decades, this led to the evolution of an entirely new and dedicated bowed string instrument that retained many of the features of the vihuela: e.g., a flat back, sharp waist-cuts, frets, thin ribs initially, and identical tuning—hence its original name, vihuela de arco; arco is Spanish for "bow". An influence on the playing posture has been credited to the example of Moorish rabab players.
However, Stefano Pio (2012) argues that a re-examination of documents in light of new data indicates an origin different than the vihuela de arco from Aragon. According to Pio, the viol had its origins in Venice, and evolved independently there. He asserts it was implausible that the vihuela de arco underwent such a rapid evolution by Italian rather than Venetian instrument makers. Nonetheless, a ten-year span brought the birth and diffusion in Italy of a new family of instruments (viola da gamba, or viols). These comprised instruments of different sizes, some as large as the famous violoni—as 'big as a man'—mentioned by Prospero Bernardino in 1493.
Viol
The viola da gamba (Italian: [ˈvjɔːla da (ɡ)ˈɡamba, viˈɔːla -]), or viol, or informally gamba, is a bowed and fretted string instrument that is played da gamba (i.e. "on the leg"). It is distinct from the later violin, or viola da braccio; and it is any one of the earlier viol family of bowed, fretted, and stringed instruments with hollow wooden bodies and pegboxes where the tension on the strings can be increased or decreased to adjust the pitch of each of the strings. Although treble, tenor and bass were most commonly used, viols came in different sizes, including pardessus (high treble, developed in 18th century), treble, alto, small tenor, tenor, bass and contrabass (called violone).
These members of the viol family are distinguished from later bowed string instruments, such as the violin family, by both appearance and orientation when played—as typically the neck is oriented upwards and the rounded bottom downwards to settle on the lap or between the knees.
The viola da gamba uses the alto clef.[citation needed] Seven and occasionally eight frets made of "stretched gut" are tied on the fingerboard around the instrument's neck. Frets tied in this manner—instead of permanently fixed as on a guitar—allow for fine-tuning of the instrument. (Frets enable the performer to stop the strings more cleanly, improve consistency of intonation and lend the stopped notes a tone that better matches the open strings.)[citation needed]
Viols first appeared in Spain and Italy in the mid-to-late 15th century, and were most popular in the Renaissance and Baroque (1600–1750) periods. Early ancestors include the Arabic rebab and the medieval European vielle, but later, more directly possible ancestors include the Venetian viole and the 15th- and 16th-century Spanish vihuela, a six-course plucked instrument tuned like a lute (and also like a present-day viol) that (at the time) looked like, but was quite distinct from, the four-course guitar (an earlier chordophone). It should also be mentioned that the Arabic rebab originally comes from a Persian instrument called rubāb.
Although bass viols superficially resemble cellos, viols are different in several respects from instruments of the violin family: the viol family has flat rather than curved backs, sloped rather than rounded shoulders, c holes rather than f holes, and five to seven rather than four strings. Additional differences include tuning strategy—in fourths, with a third in the middle, rather than in fifths (similar to a lute)—the presence of frets, and underhand rather than overhand bow grip.
A modern player of the viol is commonly known as a gambist, violist /ˈvaɪəlɪst/, or violist da gamba. Notably, "violist" is a homograph of the word commonly used since the mid-20th century to refer to a player of the viola, which can cause confusion in written/printed texts when not clear from the context.
Vihuelists began playing their flat-topped, originally plucked, instruments with a bow in the second half of the 15th century. Within two or three decades, this led to the evolution of an entirely new and dedicated bowed string instrument that retained many of the features of the vihuela: e.g., a flat back, sharp waist-cuts, frets, thin ribs initially, and identical tuning—hence its original name, vihuela de arco; arco is Spanish for "bow". An influence on the playing posture has been credited to the example of Moorish rabab players.
However, Stefano Pio (2012) argues that a re-examination of documents in light of new data indicates an origin different than the vihuela de arco from Aragon. According to Pio, the viol had its origins in Venice, and evolved independently there. He asserts it was implausible that the vihuela de arco underwent such a rapid evolution by Italian rather than Venetian instrument makers. Nonetheless, a ten-year span brought the birth and diffusion in Italy of a new family of instruments (viola da gamba, or viols). These comprised instruments of different sizes, some as large as the famous violoni—as 'big as a man'—mentioned by Prospero Bernardino in 1493.
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