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.

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.