gamba
Baroque stringed instrument
Gamba is the viola da gamba, a bowed string instrument held between the legs like a cello.
Popular in Renaissance and Baroque music, it has a softer, more intimate tone than modern string instruments.
The word comes from Italian for "leg," distinguishing it from instruments held at the arm (*viola da braccio*).
Gamba also appears in organ stops that imitate the instrument's reedy quality.
Bowed Renaissance instrument
- consortRoyal spouse
- frettedWorried persistently
- bowedCurved or bent over
- gut stringsInstrument strings from intestines
soundhole · rosette · luthier · pegbox · tailpiece · bridge · fingerboard · seven strings
Period of renewed vitality
- early musicPre-1750 Western compositions
- historical performanceArt recreating past styles
- polyphonySimultaneous independent melodic lines
- counterpointSimultaneous independent melodies
chamber music · continuo · recital · sonata · suite · fantasia · division · ground bass
viol
Bowed Renaissance instrument
gut strings · soundhole · rosette · luthier · pegbox · tailpiece · bridge · fingerboard · seven strings · chordophone
renaissance
Period of renewed vitality
- early musicPre-1750 Western compositions
- historical performanceArt recreating past styles
- polyphonySimultaneous independent melodic lines
counterpoint · chamber music · continuo · recital · sonata · suite · fantasia · division · ground bass · ornamentation
timbre
Sound's distinctive character
richness · mellow · sonorous · overtones · sustain · tone · intimate · soft · blend · intonation
ornament
Thing that beautifies
arco · division · diminution · fingering · fretting · tuning · tablature
- opening gambitInitial strategic maneuver
- queen's gambit
- The Queen's GambitPawn sacrifice opening move
- viola da gambaFretted bowed string instrument