Viol

The viol (also referred to as the viola da gamba, or gamba) is a European bowed and fretted string instrument played on the leg (da gamba), used at court and in the home primarily during the Renaissance and Baroque periods.

chamber music viol, also called viola da gamba, bowed, stringed musical instrument used principally in chamber music of the 16th to the 18th century. The viol shares with the Renaissance lute the tuning of its six strings (two fourths, a major third, two fourths) and the gut frets on its neck.

Smaller viols were sometimes held under the chin, similar to a violin. Mid-sized instruments were held in front of the body or on the lap, while larger instruments were held between the knees or even played while standing upright. Viols typically had six strings and frets.

Early ancestors include the Arabic rebab and the medieval European vielle, but later, more direct 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 looked like but was quite distinct ...

Rather than mediated by a piece of wood. So that also gives you a very intimate. Contact with sound production.

The viol is not the ancestor of the violin. They are two completely different instruments, with different playing techniques and tone qualities, and were used for different purposes. The viol was invented, or probably developed from earlier instruments, in Italy around 1510.

Viols are made of wood, and are similar to the violin family. Most viols have six strings, although this number did vary during the centuries. The strings were made of gut, and are not as tight as on a violin. The fingerboard has frets like a guitar, except that they were also made of gut.

The general construction of the viol is lighter than the violin, using thinner wood, which again increases resonance. The viol normally has six strings, the violin four. Like most renaissance plucked string instruments, the viol has tied-on frets. The violin has no frets.

The viol differs from the cello in having six strings instead of four, and tuned more like a lute or guitar. This facilitates the playing of chords. The instrument also has frets on the fingerboard to help in that regard.

While they're similar in many ways, their size, strings, and sound all make a large difference. The viola is bigger, lower in sound, and requires more pressure to play, whereas the violin has a faster response and is easier to source solo parts for.

The violin, sometimes known as a fiddle, is a wooden chordophone (string instrument) in the violin family. Most violins have a hollow wooden body. It is the smallest and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in the family in regular use.

US a person who plays the viola.