Tablature: a widely-used form of notation which indicated finger positions rather than pitches. This was particularly convenient for playing in different tunings: the musician could thus play the right notes without having to learn a whole set of new pitches each time the viol was tuned differently!
This was in fact a favourite practice. Each tuning brought forth new, unexpected resonances from the viol, especially when its six strings were exploited to the full in chordal or even polyphonic writing. This approach to the viol, in which it was treated somewhat like a lute, was called 'playing lyra-way' by the English, the term 'lyra viol' thus designating a technique rather than an instrument.
Seventeenth-century 'lyra-way' music provides the viol with one of its most extensive and enchanting repertoires.
