Books › The music of the Bible : with an account of the development of modern musical instruments from ancient types, 1879 › scan 85
Scan 85
The music of the Bible : with an account of the development of modern musical instruments from ancient types, 1879
8 lines. Read by computer on 3 September 2026. Printed page 75. See the scan on archive.org.
1Italian viola-lyra¹ (lyre-viol), once a favourite instrument in this country.² This transition is also implied by the fact that all early viols had frets like a lute or guitar; the frets were still in use when the instrument was called a violin and no longer a viol.³ Nor have efforts been wanting to combine the effects of keys and bows; several instruments have from time to time been made in shape like a pianoforte, but containing catgut strings, "bowed" by a rotating resined wheel against which the action of the keys forced the strings. The modern zither combines the use of the plectrum of the ancient lyrist with the flat resonance-box and wire strings of the dulcimer. It has also certain strings over frets, thus possessing something in common with the lute family.
3It will be plainly seen from what has been said that there are but few original progenitors—perhaps, indeed, only one—of the very large number of string-instruments now in existence.
5¹ See Les Instruments a archet, par Antoine Vidal. (Paris, 1876.)
6² See History of the Violin, by Sandys and Forster. (London, 1864.)
7³ See Playford's Introduction to the Skill of Music, where instructions are given for playing on this "cheerful and sprightly instrument . . . . much practised of late." (14th edition, 1700.)
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