A Survey of Historical Pedagogical Materials for the Viola da Gamba

Abstract

The viola da gamba, or viol—a bowed, fretted stringed instrument—first appeared near the turn of the sixteenth century and enjoyed a period of popularity through the middle of the eighteenth century. However, the viol fell out of fashion in the second half of the eighteenth century, and was mostly not a part of musical life for the next hundred years; much of its history was lost. Due to the viol’s interrupted history, finding comprehensive sources of playing techniques and teaching materials the viola da gamba can pose a challenge; information on how to play the viol is in a scattered state. The lack of a comprehensive book of viol pedagogy is the need that this current document will try to address. It is the goal of this paper to provide the English-speaking teacher of the bass viol with a resource detailing, comparing, and contrasting the many historical (pre-1800) sources of viola da gamba pedagogy. This paper will introduce the reader to the major historical sources of pedagogical writings on the viol, twenty-three in all. In the first section, I will present biographical information for each author; describe the history and publication information (if any) for each work; offer a general description of the contents of each work; describe its main contributions and intended audience; and detail its modern publication history and availability of an English language translation (if applicable). In the second section, I will compile and contrast the authors’ thoughts on various aspects of viol technique, including: how to position the instrument; how to carry the body; bow hold and technique; different kinds of bow strokes; bowing rules; the carriage of the left hand and arm; left hand technique; and chordal technique.