Baroque Bowed-Bass Instruments

by Joëlle Fancher Morton

(based on Jack Ashworth and Paul O’Dette’s work, as published in A Performer’s Guide to Seventeenth Century, Schirmer, 1997)

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CountryNameModern TerminologyTuningFeaturesUsesDates
Francebasse de violon
basse de viole
violoncelle
contrebasse
bass violin
bass viol
cello
contrabass
Bb F C g
A D G C e a d
C G d a
C G D A OR
E A D G
overhand bow
7 string

overhand bow
en
solo, cham
en, some solo
theater
to c.1700

after c.1700
after c.1700
Germanyviola da gamba
violoncello
violoncello piccolo
violone

bass violon
bass viol
cello
piccolo cello
G violone OR
D violone
G violone OR
Viennese Double Bass
(A) D G C e a d
C G d a
C G d a e
G C F a d g
D G C E A D
G C F a d g
(F) A D F# A
underhand bow
overhand bow
can be 8′ or 16′
only 16′
8′ or 16′
only 16′
solo, cham
solo, cham, en
solo
cham, en
en
cham, en
solo, cham, en
after c.1700
after c.1715
to c.1735
to c.1735
to c.1735
to c.1830’s
Englandbass violin
viola da gamba
violoncello
great bass viol
double bass

bass violon
bass violin
bass viol
cello
A violone
contrabass

Vienne Double bass
Bb F c g
D G C e a d
C G d a
A D G b e a
(E) A D G OR
G D A
(F) A D F# A
underhand bow
underhand bow
underhand bow
underhand bow
under/overhand bow
under/overhand bow
underhand bow
mostly en
solo, cham
solo, cham, en
viol consort
theater
theater
theater
to c.1700

after c.1700
to c.1650
after c.1700
after c.1700
from c.1690
Italybasso da braccio
violoncello
violoncello da spalla

violoncello piccolo
violone grande
contrabasso
bass violin
cello
shoulder cello

piccolo cello
D violone
contrabass
Bb F c g
C G d a
(C) G d a e

C G d a e
D G C E A D
G D A OR
(G) A D G
under/overhand bow
under/overhand bow
played across breast, overhand
overhand bow
only 16′
overhand bow
overhand bow
mostly en
solo, cham, en
en
solo, cham
en
en
en
to c.1665

to c.1700
to c.1740
*** “Violone” (with no other qualification) in Italian repertoire may mean cello (with Bb or C tuning), bass viol (not so often), or either G or D violone, depending on time period.
“Violone” in Art Music
c.1610-1665:
G violone OR
D violone
G C F a d g
D G C E A D
can be 8′ or 16′
only 16′
solo, cham, en
en
“Violone” in Music
c.1665-1695:
celloC G d a (e)under/overhand bowtrio sonatas, solo sonatas & concesti, en
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