Strings Recent outing

[Tenor Viol]

Some pictures from orchestra's recent concert in Chester

 

[Taz]

I'm going to show my ignorance here, but is that a tenor viol? Does it sit somewhere between a cello and a violin?

 

[Ads]

Well either that or TenorViol plays both Tenor sax and Viol

The Viol

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viol

 

[kevgermany]

I was wondering where the sax was.

Taz, no frets, not a viol. He's conning us. Cellos at the ready.

 

[Colin the Bear]

When I saw the header for this thread I thought you'd bought a pink saxophone lol

 

[Tenor Viol]

OK clarifications needed

• I play cello in an orchestra
• I play cello in a small string group
• I play alto or tenor sax in the beginners' orchestra
• I play tenor sax in a wind band
• I play tenor and bass viol, but not with any groups at the moment
• I play piano, at home when no one is listening

The photos are of the main orchestra in which I play cello

 

[Tenor Viol]

When I saw the header for this thread I thought you'd bought a pink saxophone lol

I did hesitate whilst naming the thread, but thought, "They wouldn't, would they?"...

 

[Tenor Viol]

Well either that or TenorViol plays both Tenor sax and Viol

The Viol

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viol

Here are the bass and tenor viols

 

[Ads]

I like the idea of frets on a Violin type instrument - when I had a quick go at Violin the lack of such markers drove me nuts, it was like playing the theremin (IE:- guess the note) only harder because there are four strings.. Also like the idea of the flat fretboard, I`d imagine you can bow guitar chords if you tune it as such

Viol seem the wrong name as it Does conjour up an instrument between the Viola and Cello . now seeing it and how its laid out , Guitarolin would be more apt (or Oudalin or Lutalin at the time but it`s more guitarlike than either of those)

 

[Tenor Viol]

Time for some musicology...

The viol is the English name, the Italian is Viola da Gamba, meaning it's played 'on the leg' instead of 'on the shoulder' ('da spalla') or on the arm (da braccio).

The viol is descended from the vihuela (Spanish name - which morphs into 'viola' in Italian). The vihuela da mano is played with the hand. This becomes the guitar. The version played with a bow becomes the viola da gamba.
The tenor is the size of a guitar and is tuned (from the bottom) GCFADG. The bass is DGCEAD (a fourth lower than the tenor). The treble is an octave higher than the bass.

 

[old git]

Is it true that cowboys used to play them as it helped to find a space for the horse?

Played, well attempted to play violoncello in my schooldays and had to put up with the "How do you get that under your chin?" remarks.

 

[aldevis]

I did hesitate whilst naming the thread, but thought, "They wouldn't, would they?"...

We would.

The tenor is the size of a guitar and is tuned (from the bottom) GCFADG. The bass is DGCEAD (a fourth lower than the tenor). The treble is an octave higher than the bass.

Am I the only one that finds that third between the third and fourth string irritating?

Played, well attempted to play violoncello in my schooldays and had to put up with the "How do you get that under your chin?" remarks.

You actually use the spike. Sometimes it could affect the blood flow in your jugular or damage your windpipe, though.

 

[Ads]

Am I the only one that finds that third between the third and fourth string irritating?.

Weird, if it carried on the tuning it`d be G/C/F/Bb/Eb/Ab which is probably why they did it the way it is, i`d tune it lke a Guitar to make it easy.....
As it happens diatonic squeezebox rows are setup like this, common 3 rows in Germany and Texas, Mexico & Columbia are G/C/F (great for vocalist work) and Bb/Eb/Ab (great for brass & woodwind accompaniment) in the UK it`d be A/D/G or in other parts of Europe E/A/D though the likes of UK, France and Italy tend to prefer 2 row boxes (D/G, G/C, Bb/Eb etc) .

 

[Colin the Bear]

Am I the only one that finds that third between the third and fourth string irritating?

Yes. I find the same irritation with the guitar. I find the mando family more logical being tuned in 5ths.

 

[Ivan]

(or Oudalin or Lutalin...)

Nah... they sound like cough remedies

 

[Ivan]

Yes. I find the same irritation with the guitar. I find the mando family more logical being tuned in 5ths.

I've never played a guitar but I'm prepared to be irritated if it helps

 

[Tenor Viol]

Yes. I find the same irritation with the guitar. I find the mando family more logical being tuned in 5ths.

There is a style of viol playing called Lyra Viol or 'lyra way'. This involves playing from lute tablature rather than standard staff notation. One of things about lyra viol is the tuning - there are many different tunings used, the commonest being 'harp-way' and 'sharp-way'.

You have to be very careful to select how to tune as strings don't like to be tuned too sharp (they snap and as a full set of 6 strings could easily be £160 or more). Here's a wiki about it. Here's some playing.

Tunings:

I have some lyra viol music (e.g. the Manchester Book) but I find it hard. My tutor had me playing some in my last lesson - it's brain warping!

 

[Taz]

OK clarifications needed

I thought this was clarification

 

[old git]

Some old time banjo tunes,. well fiddle and banjo tunes were played in individual tunings, and various guitar tunings were popular amongst folk guitarists.

Banjos have five strings full stop. Any other form of the instrument is a (prefix) banjo or banjo (suffix), yet with only five strings, there were 69 separate tunings counted by some authorities, less than half a dozen known to me. With six strings, how many viol tunings, please TV?

 

[Tenor Viol]

OG - don't know, other than 'lots'. We're at the mercy of what documentary evidence has survived. No doubt a web search will turn up a lot. Here's one reference which has 58...