Editing Viol (section)

{{short description|Bowed, fretted and stringed instrument}} 
{{hatnote|For the municipality in Germany, see [[Viöl]] in the collective municipality of [[Viöl (Amt)]].}}
{{distinguish|Viola|Violin}}
{{more footnotes|date=March 2012}}
{{Infobox Instrument
| name           = Viola da gamba
| names          = gamba (informal)
| image          = File:Viola Da Gamba Front and Side.png
| background     = string
| hornbostel_sachs = 321.322-71
| hornbostel_sachs_desc = Composite [[chordophone]] sounded by a [[bow (music)|bow]]
| developed      = Late 15th century from the [[vihuela]]
| related        = * [[Arpeggione]]
* [[Bass guitar]]
* [[Byzantine lyra]]
* [[Guitar]]
* [[Lute]]
* [[Vihuela]]
* [[Violone]]
| sound sample   = {{listen|type=music
 | filename     = Carl Friedrich Abel (1723- 1787) - Allegro, WKO 205 from 27 Pieces for Unaccompanied Viola da Gamba.ogg
 | title        = Carl Friedrich Abel (1723–1787) – From 27 Pieces for Unaccompanied Viola da Gamba, New York. NYp, Drexel 5871(ca.1790-99): [Arpeggio], AbelWV A1:A26
 | description = Performed by Phillip W. Serna, Viol
}}
}}
The '''viola da gamba''' ({{IPA|it|ˈvjɔːla da (ɡ)ˈɡamba, viˈɔːla -|lang}}), or '''viol''', or informally '''gamba''', is a bowed and fretted string instrument that is played {{lang|it|da gamba}} (i.e. "on the leg").{{efn|{{lang|it|Viola da gamba}} (literally "leg viol")<ref name=GroveViol>{{cite encyclopedia |editor-last= Sadie |editor-first=Stanley |entry= Viol|encyclopedia= The New Grove Dictionary of Musical Instruments |year=1984 |volume= 3 |first1= Ian |last1=Woodfield |first2= Lucy |last2=Robinson|pages= 736-753}}</ref> denotes a family of instruments distinct from the [[violin]] family, or [[Viola da braccio|violas {{lang|it|cat=no|da braccio}}]] ("arm viols"). Currently, the term {{lang|it|viola da gamba}} without qualification generally refers to the bass viol.}} It is distinct from the later [[violin family|violin]], or {{lang|it|[[viola da braccio]]}}; and it is any one of the earlier viol family of [[bow (music)|bowed]], [[fret]]ted, and [[stringed instruments |stringed instrument]]s with hollow wooden bodies and [[Tuning mechanisms for stringed instruments|pegboxes]] where the tension on the strings can be increased or decreased to adjust the pitch of each of the strings.<ref name=GroveViol/> Although treble, tenor and bass were most commonly used, viols came in different sizes, including {{lang|fr<!--assumed based on form and being popular mostly in France-->|[[Pardessus de viole|pardessus]]}} (high treble, developed in 18th century), treble, alto, small tenor, tenor, bass and contrabass (called {{lang|it|violone}}).<ref name=GroveViol/> 

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.<ref name=GroveViol/>

The viola da gamba uses the alto clef.{{citation needed|date=October 2024}} Seven and occasionally eight frets made of "stretched gut" are tied on the fingerboard around the instrument's neck.<ref name=GroveViol/> Frets tied in this manner—instead of permanently fixed as on a guitar—allow for fine-tuning of the instrument.<ref name=GroveViol/> (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|date=October 2024}} 

Viols first appeared in Spain and Italy in the mid-to-late 15th century, and were most popular in the [[Renaissance music|Renaissance]]<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://musiconis.huma-num.fr/fiche/213/Putto+tenant+une+viole+de+gambe|title=Putto holding a "viole de gambe" in the Musiconis database|website=Musiconis.huma-num.fr|access-date=18 April 2021}}{{Dead link|date=May 2024 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> and [[Baroque music|Baroque]] (1600–1750) periods.<ref>Woodfield, Ian; Robinson, Lucy (1980). "Viol [viola da gamba, gamba]". In: Sadie, Stanley, ed. ''The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians.'' Vol. 19. London, UK: Macmillan. pp. 791–808.</ref> Early ancestors include the Arabic ''[[rebab]]'' and the medieval European [[vielle]],<ref> name=":1">Otterstedt, Annette. The Viol: History of an Instrument. ''Kassel: Barenreiter;-Verlag Karl Votterle GmbH & Co; 2002.</ref><ref name="Woodfield 1984" /> but later, more directly possible ancestors include the Venetian {{lang|it|viole}}<ref name=":0" /> and the 15th- and 16th-century Spanish {{lang|es|[[vihuela]]}}, a six-course plucked instrument tuned like a [[lute]] (and also like a present-day viol)<ref name=":1">Otterstedt, Annette.</ref><ref name="Woodfield 1984" /> that (at the time) looked like, but was quite distinct from, the four-course [[guitar]]<ref>{{cite web|author=Rodriguez Alvira, José|title=La vihuela y la guitarra en el siglo XVI|url=http://www.aulaactual.com/especiales/vihuela/|website=Aulaactual.com|access-date=July 18, 2013}}</ref> (an earlier chordophone).<ref>{{cite web|last=Rault |first=Christian|title=The emergence of new approaches to plucked instruments, 13th – 15th centuries. Michalestein, 2001|url=http://prolyra.free.fr/Christian_Rault_luthier/pages/30publpag/art13pluckinst.htm#_ftn1|website=Prolyra.free.fr|access-date=July 18, 2013|quotation=Rault notes that the first mention of the guitarra was in the late-13th- or early-14th-century Latin manuscript {{lang|la|Ars Musica}} by the Spaniard [[Juan Gil de Zamora]]|archive-date=September 21, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130921054401/http://prolyra.free.fr/Christian_Rault_luthier/pages/30publpag/art13pluckinst.htm#_ftn1|url-status=dead}}</ref> It must be also mentioned that the Arabic ''[[rebab]]'' originally is a Persian instrument called ''[[Rubab (instrument)|rubāb]]'' in the original Persian.

Although bass viols superficially resemble [[cello]]s, 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, [[Sound hole|c holes]] rather than [[F-hole|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.<ref>{{cite web|author=Vasquez, Jose|title=The violin (or viola da braccio) and the viola da gamba families: differences and similarities|url=http://www.orpheon.org/OldSite/Seiten/education/Violin_Vdg_Families.htm|website=Orpheon.org|access-date=July 18, 2013|archive-date=May 18, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130518033701/http://www.orpheon.org/oldsite/seiten/education/Violin_Vdg_Families.htm|url-status=dead}}</ref>

A modern player of the viol is commonly known as a ''gambist'', ''violist''  {{IPAc-en|ˈ|v|aɪ|əl|ɪ|s|t}}, or ''violist'' {{lang|it|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.