The viola da gamba, also called the viol or gamba, is a string instrument that is played with a bow and has frets. It is held against the player’s legs, which is why it is called "da gamba" (Italian for "on the leg"). It is different from the violin and viola da braccio, which came later. The viola da gamba is part of the viol family, which includes earlier bowed, fretted, and stringed instruments with hollow wooden bodies and pegboxes. These pegboxes allow players to adjust the tension of the strings to change their pitch. Viols were commonly made in sizes such as treble, tenor, and bass, but other sizes existed, including pardessus, alto, small tenor, and contrabass (called violone).
The viol family is different from later bowed instruments like the violin because of how they are shaped and held. When played, the neck of a viol is usually angled upward, and the rounded bottom faces downward, resting on the player’s lap or between their knees.
The viola da gamba uses the alto clef. Seven or eight frets, made from stretched gut, are tied around the fingerboard near the neck. These frets are not fixed like on a guitar, allowing players to fine-tune the instrument. Frets help musicians press the strings cleanly, improve the sound’s consistency, and make the notes match the open strings better.
The viola da gamba first appeared in Spain and Italy during the mid-to-late 15th century. It was most popular during the Renaissance and Baroque periods (1600–1750). Early ancestors include the Arabic rebab and the medieval European vielle. Later, the Venetian viole and the Spanish vihuela, a six-course plucked instrument tuned like a lute, influenced its development. The rebab originally came from a Persian instrument called the rubāb.
Although bass viols look similar to cellos, they differ in several ways. Viols have flat backs instead of curved ones, sloped shoulders instead of rounded ones, and c-shaped holes instead of f-shaped holes. They also have five to seven strings instead of four. Viols are tuned in fourths with a third in the middle, like a lute, and have frets. Players hold the bow under their hand instead of over their hand.
Today, someone who plays the viola da gamba is called a gambist, violist, or violist da gamba. The word "violist" can be confusing because it is also used to describe someone who plays the viola, a different instrument.
History
In the second half of the 15th century, vihuelists began using a bow to play their flat-topped, originally plucked instruments. Within two to three decades, this change led to the creation of a new bowed string instrument that kept many features of the vihuela, such as a flat back, sharp waist-cuts, frets, thin ribs at first, and the same tuning. This instrument was originally called vihuela de arco, with arco meaning "bow" in Spanish. The way the instrument was held was influenced by the playing style of Moorish rabab players.
Stefano Pio (2012) suggests that new evidence shows the viol’s origin was not the vihuela de arco from Aragon, as previously thought. He argues that the viol likely developed in Venice, not Italy, and evolved independently there. He believes it is unlikely that Italian instrument makers, rather than Venetian ones, caused the vihuela de arco to change so quickly. However, within ten years, a new family of instruments called viola da gamba (viols) appeared in Italy. These included instruments of different sizes, some as large as the violoni, which were described as "as big as a man" by Prospero Bernardino in 1493.
Pio also notes that the fifth string of the viola da gamba is called a bordone (drone) in writings by 15th-century theorist Antonius de Leno and Venetian musicians Silvestro Ganassi dal Fontego and Giovanni Maria Lanfranco. However, this string is not a drone and is played like the others. Pio explains this by suggesting that a larger instrument, based on the medieval violetta, was created in the late 15th century. This instrument added more strings to extend its low range. The fifth string was added to the neck, and later a sixth string (basso) was added to produce a deeper sound. Pio claims the viola da gamba evolved from the smaller violetta or vielle, which originally had a fifth-string "drone," and the name bordone remained even after the string no longer functioned as a drone.
Ian Woodfield, in The Early History of the Viol, states that the viol likely began with the vihuela, but Italian instrument makers quickly adapted their advanced craftsmanship to the early version of the instrument after it was introduced to Italy.
Construction
Viols most often have six strings, though some 16th-century models had only four or five strings. In 17th-century France, some bass viols had a seventh string. Viols are (and are still) played with gut strings that have less tension than those on violins. Gut strings make a sound described as softer and sweeter than steel strings. Around 1660 in Bologna, gut or silk strings wrapped with copper wire became available. These were used for the lowest strings on viols and other instruments. In 1664, a new type of string called a "gimped" string was created, with copper wire woven into the gut, inspired by embroidery patterns of the same name.
Viols are played with movable gut frets, similar to early guitars or lutes. A seventh string was added to the bass viol in France by Monsieur de Sainte-Colombe (c. 1640–1690), a musician whose student was Marin Marais, a famous composer. A painting from 1618 by Domenichino shows what may be a seven-string viol.
Unlike violins, which are usually tuned in fifths, viols are typically tuned in fourths with a major third in the middle. This tuning style was used on the vihuela de mano and lute in the 16th century and is similar to the tuning of a modern six-string guitar.
Early viols were built like vihuelas de mano, with flat slabs of wood bent to shape the instrument. Some later viols had carved tops, like those on violins. The sides of early viols were shallow, like those on plucked vihuelas. Over time, the sides became deeper, resembling the 17th-century design.
Most viols have flat backs with a sharp angle near where the neck meets the body. This angle helps the back taper to fit the neck. Traditional construction used animal glue, and internal joints were reinforced with linen or vellum soaked in hot glue, a method also used on vihuelas. The peg boxes (which hold tuning pegs) were often decorated with carved animal or human heads or with spiral scrolls.
Early vihuelas and viols had sharp waist cuts, a feature first seen in the mid-15th century. This design was used on many string instruments and helped connect plucked and bowed versions of vihuelas. Early viols did not have smooth, curved bodies like vihuelas or modern guitars. By the mid-16th century, "guitar-shaped" viols became common.
Early viols had flat bridges like vihuelas. Later, they used wider, high-arched bridges to help bow single strings. Early viols also had flat fretboard ends resting on the top of the instrument. Once the fretboard was raised, the top could vibrate freely. Early viols lacked sound posts, which allowed their tops to vibrate more, creating a "humming" sound. However, without sound posts, their sound was quieter.
C-holes (a type of sound port) are often used to distinguish viols from violins, which have F-shaped holes. However, early viols had round holes or rosettes like lutes. Some had two or four small C-holes. By the mid-16th century, C-holes faced outward, becoming a standard feature. Other viols had S-shaped or flame-shaped sound holes. In the Holy Roman Empire, viols often had round or oval ports, a feature that lasted until the end.
Historians, makers, and players usually divide viols into Renaissance and Baroque styles. Baroque viols are heavier and have a bass bar and sound post, like modern string instruments.
The viol bow is held underhand with the palm up, similar to a German double bass bow. The bow’s stick is curved outward, like violin bows of the time, not inward like modern ones. The frog (which holds the bow hair) is open, allowing the hair to move. This lets players press the hair against the stick with their fingers to control sound.
Different versions
Viols come in seven sizes: "pardessus de viole" (a rare, French instrument that appeared in the 18th century), treble (called "dessus" in French), alto, tenor (called "taille" in French), bass, great bass, and contrabass (the last two are sometimes called "violone," meaning large viol). The smaller violone is tuned an octave below the tenor (called "violone in G" or "great bass" in French) and the larger violone is tuned an octave below the bass (called "violone in D" or "contrabass viol"). This instrument should not be confused with the double bass.
The tuning of these instruments alternates between G and D: pardessus in G, treble in D, tenor in G, bass in D (the seven-string bass was a French invention with an added low A), small violone in G, large violone in D, and the alto (a smaller version of the tenor, located between the treble and tenor in size).
The treble is about the same size as a viola but has a deeper body. The typical bass is similar in size to a cello. The pardessus and treble were played vertically on the lap. The English made smaller basses called "division viols" and even smaller ones called "Lyra viols." The "viola bastarda" was a similar instrument used in Italy for complex music. German "consort basses" were larger than French instruments designed for ensemble music.
Not all viols were equally common. A typical Elizabethan group of viols (called a "consort") included six instruments: two basses, two tenors, and two trebles, or one bass, three tenors, and two trebles (see "Chest of viols"). This means the bass, tenor, and treble were the most important instruments for music written specifically for viols. The bass could also be played as a solo instrument or used as a continuo bass (a type of supporting instrument in ensembles). Smaller basses like the division viol, lyra viol, and viola bastarda were made for solo performances. The "pardessus" was a French 18th-century instrument created so women could play music meant for violin or flute, but it later developed its own music. The alto was a rare, smaller version of the tenor. The violones were rarely part of a viol ensemble but were used as bass or contrabass in various musical groups.
Tuning
The standard tuning of most viols is in fourths, with a major third in the middle, similar to the Renaissance lute, or with a major third between the second and third strings, like a modern guitar. A table shows the tunings that became popular during the revival of viols in the 20th and 21st centuries. (Lyra viol tunings are not included in this table.)
Alternative tunings, called scordatura, were often used, especially in solo lyra viol music. This style used techniques like chords and pizzicato, which are not common in group playing. A unique pizzicato technique was called a thump. Lyra viol music was often written in tablature, a type of musical notation. There is a large collection of this music, some by famous composers and many by unknown musicians.
Many viol pieces were written before musicians used equal temperament tuning. The movable frets allow players to adjust the instrument's tuning. Some musicians use meantone temperaments, which work better with Renaissance music. Some fretting methods use unevenly spaced frets to create better-sounding chords in certain keys. In some cases, the two gut strands forming a fret are separated, letting the player play slightly sharper or flatter notes (like G♯ or A♭) depending on the situation.
Treatises
Drawings and descriptions of viols appear in many books from the early 1500s about music. These books were written by:
- Sebastian Virdung: Musica getutsch, 1511
- Hans Judenkünig: Ain schone kunstliche Vunderwaisung, 1523
- Martin Agricola: Musica instrumentalis deutsch, 1528
- Hans Gerle: Musica Teusch (or Teutsch), 1532
Agricola’s and Gerle’s books were printed in different versions.
Later, many important books focused on the viol. The first was written by Silvestro Ganassi dal Fontego: Regola Rubertina & Lettione Seconda (1542/3). Diego Ortiz published Trattado de Glosas (Rome, 1553), a key music book for the viol that includes examples of decoration and pieces called Recercadas. In England, Christopher Simpson wrote the most important book, with the second version published in 1667 in both English and Latin. This book has sections at the back that are valuable for playing. A little later, Thomas Mace wrote Musick's Monument in England, which focuses more on the lute but includes an important part about the viol. After this, French books by Machy (1685), Rousseau (1687), Danoville (1687), and Etienne Loulie (1700) show improvements in how to play the viol.
Popularity
Viols were the second most popular instrument after the lute, though some people disagree about this. Like lutes, many people who were not professional musicians played viols. Wealthy families sometimes owned a special chest of viols, which held one or more instruments of each size. Groups of musicians called consorts, made up of gamba instruments, were common in the 16th and 17th centuries. These groups played both vocal music, such as consort songs or verse anthems, and music written only for instruments. Only the treble, tenor, and bass sizes were regular members of a viol consort, which could have three, four, five, or six instruments. Music for consorts was very popular in England during the Elizabethan era, with composers like William Byrd and John Dowland. During the time of King Charles I, composers such as John Jenkins, William Lawes, and Tobias Hume also wrote for consorts. The last music written for viol consorts before their modern revival was likely composed in the early 1680s by Henry Purcell.
A type of group called a mixed or broken consort (also known as a Morley consort) was even more common than pure viol consorts. Broken consorts combined different instruments, forming a small band. These groups often included social amateurs and typically had instruments like a bass viol, lute, orpharion (a lute with metal frets and a flat back), cittern, treble viol (or violin as time passed), and sometimes early keyboard instruments like a virginal, spinet, or harpsichord. The most common pairing of instruments was always the lute and bass viol, which were played together for centuries.
The bass viola da gamba remained in use as a solo instrument into the 18th century. It was also used to support the harpsichord in basso continuo. This instrument was especially favored by Louis XIV and became linked to courtly style and French culture. Composers such as Marc-Antoine Charpentier, François Couperin, Marin Marais, Sainte Colombe, Johann Sebastian Bach, Johannes Schenck, DuBuisson, Antoine Forqueray, Charles Dollé, and Carl Friedrich Abel wrote music for it. Georg Philipp Telemann published his Twelve Fantasias for Viola da Gamba solo in 1735, when the instrument was becoming less popular. Viols eventually fell out of use as concert halls grew larger, and the louder sound of the violin family became more favored. In the 20th century, early music enthusiasts revived the viola da gamba and its music, with Arnold Dolmetsch being an early supporter.
The treble viol in D and the smaller pardessus de viole in G (often with five strings) were also popular in the 18th century, especially in France. Composers like Jean-Baptiste Barrière, Georg Philipp Telemann, and Marin Marais wrote music for these instruments. It was common to play music originally written for violins or flutes on small viols.
Many historic viols still exist today, though few are in their original condition. They are often found in museum and university collections. Some examples at The Metropolitan Museum of Art include:
– Division Viol by Barak Norman, London, 1692
– Bass Viol, labeled Richard Meares, London, ca. 1680
– Bass Viol by John Rose, ca. 1600, London
– English viol, unsigned, 17th century in excellent original condition
– Division Viol, School of Tielke, Hamburg, ca. 1720
– Bass Viol by Matthias Humel, 18th century, Nuremberg
– Bass Viol, Germany, 18th century
– Bass Viol by Nicolas Bertrand, Paris, 1720
Other items include:
– A painting by Abraham Bosse, Musical Society, French, c. 1635. This shows people playing music together in a social setting, with a lute, bass viol, and singers, and music sheets on a table. This represents a type of broken consort with minimal instruments.
– A portrait of French composer and viola da gamba master Marin Marais, by André Bouys, 1704.
– A portrait of Carl Friedrich Abel, a German-born composer and viol master who lived most of his life in England, holding his viola da gamba. By Thomas Gainsborough, c. 1765.
– Gambenspielerin (The Viola da Gamba Player), by Bernardo Strozzi, c. 1630–1640; the painting shows composer Barbara Strozzi (1619–1677), from the Gemäldegalerie, Dresden.
– A viol player in the Honfleur Église Sainte-Catherine, c. 1550–1600.
– A painting of a viola da gamba and viola da braccio (viol of the leg and violin of the arm) by Matthias Grünewald (1480–1528).
Modern era
During the 20th and early 21st centuries, more people became interested in the viol, especially among amateur musicians, fans of early music, and music schools. This may be because companies now produce viol instruments more affordably using automated methods, and early music scores and old musical guides are easier to find. The viol is also seen as a good instrument for adults to learn. Percy Scholes wrote that viol music "belongs to an age that demanded musicianship more often than virtuosity." Today, many groups exist for people who enjoy the viol. The first was the Viola da Gamba Society, started in the United Kingdom in 1948 by Nathalie and Cecile Dolmetsch. The Viola da Gamba Society of America followed in 1962. Similar groups have since formed in other countries. In the 1970s, the now-closed Guitar and Lute Workshop in Honolulu helped increase interest in the viol and traditional instrument-making methods in the western United States.
A well-known youth viol group is the Gateshead Viol Ensemble. It includes young musicians aged 7 to 18 and is famous in northeast England. The group gives young people the chance to learn the viol and performs concerts in the North East and internationally. Groups like this show that the viol is becoming more popular again. A museum of historical musical instruments was created at the University of Vienna to help revive the viol. This museum, called the Orpheon Foundation Museum of Historical Instruments, has over 100 instruments, including about 50 playable violas da gamba. These instruments are used by the Orpheon Baroque Orchestra, the Orpheon consort, and other musicians who borrow them. The museum displays the instruments in temporary exhibitions, and violin makers study and copy them to learn more about the viola da gamba’s design and construction.
The 1991 movie Tous les matins du monde (All the Mornings of the World), directed by Alain Corneau, focused on the lives of Monsieur de Sainte-Colombe and Marin Marais. The film highlighted their viola da gamba music and introduced it to new audiences. The film’s soundtrack, which became very popular, features performances by Jordi Savall, a well-known modern viola da gamba player. Today, many skilled musicians play the viol, including Alison Crum, Vittorio Ghielmi, Susanne Heinrich, Wieland Kuijken, Paolo Pandolfo, Andrea de Carlo, Hille Perl, and Jonathan Dunford. Several ensembles, such as Fretwork, the Rose Consort of Viols, Les Voix Humaines, and Phantasm, also perform and record viol music. The Baltimore Consort specializes in Renaissance songs, often using groups of instruments that include viols.
Many modern composers have written music for the viol, and some musicians have asked composers to create new pieces for the instrument. Fretwork has been especially active in this area, commissioning works from composers like George Benjamin, Michael Nyman, Elvis Costello, Sir John Tavener, and others. Many of these pieces are on their 1997 CD Sit Fast. The Yukimi Kambe Viol Consort and the New York Consort of Viols have also commissioned new music, with some of these works appearing on their CDs Illicita Cosa and others.
The Viola da Gamba Society of America has helped promote new viol music. The Society publishes a series called New Music for Viols and sponsors a competition called the International Leo M. Traynor Composition Competition. This competition, first held in 1989, encourages composers to write music for groups of three to six viols, similar to Renaissance music that is accessible to skilled amateur players. Winning pieces are performed and published by the Society, which aims to grow the viol’s presence in modern music.
The Palazzo Strozzi in Florence asked composer Bruce Adolphe to write a piece based on poems by Bronzino, called Of Art and Onions: Homage to Bronzino, which includes a viola da gamba part. Other composers who have written for the viol include Jay Elfenbein, Moondog, Kevin Volans, Roy Whelden, Toyohiko Satoh, Roman Turovsky, Giorgio Pacchioni, Michael Starke, Emily Doolittle, and Jan Goorissen. Composer Henry Vega wrote pieces for the viol, including Ssolo and Slow slower, which were performed by different ensembles. The Aston Magna Music Festival has also commissioned new viol music from composers like Nico Muhly and Alex Burtzos. The Italian composer Carlotta Ferrari wrote two pieces for the viol: Le ombre segrete (2015) and Profondissimi affetti (2016), the latter based on the RPS modal harmony system.
Since the early 1980s, instrument makers such as Eric Jensen, Francois Danger, Jan Goorissen, and Jonathan Wilson have experimented with creating electric viols. These instruments use pickups or microphones connected to amplifiers or PA systems, making them louder. Amplifiers allow musicians to change the instrument’s sound using effects like reverb or graphic equalizers. Electric viols range from Danger’s Altra line, which has minimal electrical features, to Jensen’s solid-body design. In the early 21st century, the Ruby Gamba, a seven-string electric viola da gamba with adjustable nylon frets, was developed in the Netherlands. It has a playing range of more than six octaves. Modern musicians like Paolo Pandolfo, Tina Chancey, and Tony Overwater have used electric viols in their performances.
Similar names and common confusions
The viola da gamba is sometimes mistaken for the viola, which is the alto instrument in the modern violin family. The viola is a standard part of both the symphony orchestra and the string quartet. In the 15th century, the Italian word "viola" was a general term for any bowed instrument, or fiddle. The word "viola" was used in Italy before the vihuela, or first viol, was brought from Spain. In Italy, "viola" was first used to describe a braccio instrument that was an early version of the modern violin, as noted by Tinctoris in his writings around 1481–3. Later, the term was also used to describe the first Italian viols. Depending on the context, the unmodified term "viola da braccio" usually referred to either an instrument from the violin family or specifically the viola, which was called "alto de viola da braccio." When Monteverdi wrote "Orfeo," he requested "viole da braccio," which included violas, as well as treble and bass instruments. Over time, the full name "alto de viola da braccio" was shortened to "viola" in some languages, like English, Italian, and Spanish. Other languages, such as French and German, used different parts of the phrase, like "alto" and "Bratsche" (from the Italian "braccio").
Other instruments have "viola" in their names but are not part of the viola da gamba family. These include the viola d'amore and the viola pomposa. The baryton, though it does not have "viola" in its name, is sometimes included in the viol family. Whether it is considered a member of this family depends on how people define the group. The baryton is closely related to the viola da gamba in structure but is not typically included in the group of differently sized instruments that play together in consorts. In the 15th and 16th centuries, the terms "viola" (Italy) and "vihuela" (Spain) were used interchangeably. According to viol historian Ian Woodfield, there is little evidence that the vihuela de arco was introduced to Italy before the 1490s. The term "viola" was not used exclusively for viols during the 15th or 16th centuries. In 16th-century Italy, both early viols and violins developed at the same time. While violins, such as those made by Amati, reached their classic form before the first half of the century, the viol's design became standardized later in the century by English instrument makers.
Alternative names for viols include "viola da gamba," "viola cum arculo," and "vihuela de arco." The terms "vihuela" and "viola" were originally used in a general way, covering even early violins (viola da braccio) under their categories. Today, it is common for modern players of the viola da gamba to call their instruments "violas" and themselves "violist." The term "alto violin" eventually became known simply as the "viola" due to historical context, though the name's ambiguity can cause confusion. The violin, or "violino," was originally the soprano viola da braccio, or "violino da braccio." Because the soprano violin was popular, the entire group of instruments came to be called the "violin family." Other names for viols include "viole" or "violle" in French. In Elizabethan English, the word "gambo" (for "gamba") appeared in many forms, such as "viola de gambo," "gambo violl," "viol de gambo," or "viole de gambo," used by figures like Tobias Hume, John Dowland, and William Shakespeare in Twelfth Night. The terms "Viol da Gamba" and "Gamba" also appear as string family stops on the pipe organ. These stops are sounds created by organ pipes designed to imitate the sound of the viol da gamba.