Play the Viol meets the need for a comprehensive guide to playing technique which provides for the specific requirements of the adult beginner. The book covers the treble, tenor, and bass viol, and assumes no knowledge beyond an ability to read music.

This book traces the development of the viol from its late medieval Spanish origins to the sixteenth century, when it became the most widely played bowed instrument in western Europe. Ian Woodfield examines the two most important ancestors of the instrument, the Moorish rahab and the vihuela de mano. From these two instruments emerged an early form of viol, the Valencian vihuela de arco, which spread rapidly across the Mediterranean during the papacy of Rodrigo Borgia. The viol was enthusiastically accepted by the d'Este and Gonzaga families and other Italian arbiters before migrating across the Alps and into the rest of Europe. The author discusses all aspects of the viol during its Renaissance hey-day: the growing perfection of viol design at the hands of Italian craftsmen; the gradual evolution of tuning systems; the development of advanced playing techniques and the wide range of music, both solo and consort. The final chapter examines the growth of a viol playing tradition in sixteenth-century England, in particular in the London choir-schools. Dr Woodfield brings iconographic evidence and an interesting approach to this study which will be of interest to musicologists, iconographers, organologists and viol players.

"The Early Music revival has had far-reaching consequences on how music of the past is performed, both by specialists and non-specialists. This timely book is a practical step-by-step course of lessons for violinists and violists in both these categories, covering the interpretation, technique, culture and historical background of the Baroque violin repertoire. Written by a violinist and teacher specialising in Baroque music over many years, it guides readers from the basics (how to hold the violin) to Bach, via music from a wide variety of styles. Avoiding obscure musicological jargon, it is eminently readable and accessible. Packed with information, detailed observations on the music under discussion and relevant quotations from historical and contemporary sources, it covers everything the Baroque violin student should know and may be considered as equivalent to two to three years of individual lessons. The book contains over 100 Exercises devised for and tested on students over the years. The author's holistic approach is evident through the Exercises aimed at bringing out the individual voice of each student, and his insistence that what happens within, the identification and manipulation of Affects, is a vital part of successful performance. Imitating the voice, both spoken and sung, is a constant theme, beginning with the simple device of playing words. There are 50 Lessons, including five Ornamentation Modules and ones on specific topics: Temperament, Rhetoric, the Affects etc. All the music, transcribed for both violin and viola, is downloadable from the website, where there is also a series of videos"--

The viola da gamba was a central instrument in European music from the late fifteenth century well into the late eighteenth. Bettina Hoffmann offers an introduction to the instrument-its construction, technique and history-for the non-specialist with a wealth of original archival scholarship that experts will relish.

Written for musicians by a musician, Meantone Temperaments on Lutes and Viols demystifies tuning systems by providing the basic information, historical context, and practical advice necessary to easily achieve more satisfying tuning results on fretted instruments. Despite the overwhelming organological evidence that many of the finest lutenists, vihuelists, and viola da gamba players in the Renaissance and Baroque eras tuned their instruments in one of the meantone temperaments, most modern early instrument players today still tune to equal temperament. In this handbook richly supplemented with figures, diagrams, and music examples, historical performers will discover why temperaments are necessary and how they work, descriptions of a variety of temperaments, and their application on fretted instruments. This technical book provides downloadable audio tracks and other tools for fretted instrument players to achieve more stable consonances, colorful dissonances, and harmonic progressions that vividly propel the music forward.

This app for Apple iPad presents the 22 stringed musical instruments in the Caldwell Collection of Viols, including fine, rare, and important examples by Amati, Bertrand, Norman, Rose, Tielke, and others. Lavishly illustrated listings provide: * more than 200 photographs, including full-page portraits of each instrument by Roger Mastroianni * over 90 minutes of music, in 40 audio tracks * details of provenance, dimensions, and restoration history * technical descriptions of each instrument by the contemporary viol builder John Pringle * essays on the makers by the musicologist Thomas G. MacCracken The publication contains Catharina Meints Caldwell's moving and humorous memoir as well as a catalogue, telling the story of how the collection was shaped by the forty-year musical life together of its principals, and by their conviction that "instruments, no matter how beautiful, are meant to be played and heard, not just looked at."