The lyra viol is a somewhat smaller cousin to the bass
viola da gamba. These bowed instruments, unlike their namesake
the modern viola, are held vertically between the legs like a cello and
are bowed at
waist level. Viols additionally differ from "modern" string
instruments by coming equipped with six or seven strings and frets like
a guitar.
The
lyra viol is further distinguished from other
gambas by the practice of utilizing a large variety of different tuning
systems. This practice enables the performer to make a single
lyra viol often sound like several instruments at once and achieve
different sonorities and qualities of resonance. Fingering
patterns yield ever-changing sets of pitches each time a tuning is
altered. In addition to the twenty-two
different tunings found in the Manchester Lyra Viol Book, over
twice that number have been found overall.
Lyra music is often extremely emotionally and
intellectually engaging and presents yet another example of the depth
and power of the Elizabethan
culture that produced this unusual musical form. All the written
music
for the viol "played lyra-way" appears in tablature, a simplified
system
of notation often preferred by modern beginning guitar players.
