Books › the history of the violin, 1864 › scan 178
Scan 178
the history of the violin, 1864
4 lines. Read by computer on 28 September 2026. Printed page 156. See the scan on archive.org.
1cello, but of somewhat longer form, and has six strings with seven frets, besides a small one in the middle of the strings for the octave. The lower string is tuned to the lowest D in the bass, while the others are successively G, C, E, A, D, being two octaves; the bridge is rounded so that each string may be taken separately. The strings are thirty inches in length from the nut to the bridge. The two other figures have deeper inward curvatures, and the upper part of the model slopes off towards the neck, instead of being rounded like the modern instrument; the strings and frets are as in the first figure (Fig. 56). The bow is stiff but not heavy, with the hair twenty-seven inches long, and used underhanded like the modern double-bass bow. From the examples given by Simpson, the performers in his time must have attained considerable facility of execution, though probably without much tone or power.
3Playford, in the "Introduction to Skill in Music," 1683, names the treble-viol in the G cliff, the tenor-viol in the C cliff, and the bass-viol, with six strings and seven frets, in the F cliff; usually called the viol de gambo or consort-viol, because the musick thereon is played from the notes of the gamut, and not as the lyra-viol by tablature. The bass is tuned as described by Simpson, the treble an octave higher, and the tenor a fourth higher than the bass; he also gives a method of tuning by tablature. He calls the treble violin a cheerful sprightly instrument, much practised of late, usually strung with four strings and tuned in fifths; there should be six frets, as on the viol, but this was rarely done, and was contrary to the character of the instrument; but, he adds, "This (tho tis not usual yet) is the best & easiest way for a beginner who has a bad ear;" the representation he gives has no frets. The treble violin seems to
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