Talk:Violin family

message: Should this page be merged with string instruments, or does it have the potential to be a full-length article? J Lorraine 11:05, 24 January 2006 (UTC)
replies: text: Absolutely. For one, the history (e.g. Viola da braccio) needs to be mentioned. --nkayesmith 06:15, 15 November 2006 (UTC)
thread_title: merge?

message: what's the difference between the viol family and the violin family? the instruments seem extremely similar, are played the same way, and even have almost the same name. if one showed a random person pictures of viols, he would probably recognize them as being in the violin family. why are these two types of instruments regarded as so different? 67.172.61.222 17:55, 1 October 2006 (UTC)
replies: text: The outward differences seem minor: proportions and the shape of the upper bouts are different; viols can be fretted; viols are tuned differently; etc.  Most of the major differences come not in how the instruments appear on the outside, but in how they are constructed on the inside and in how they sound.  (One piece of evidence listed on the double bass page against the double bass having descended from the viol family is that its insides are very violin-family-like, instead of viol-like.)  To make a comparison: scientific classifications like species, genus, family, order, phylum, kingdom, etc. are important divisions, but the random person probably makes some mistakes if asked to classify a set of photos. You could say that both the viol & the violin families are members of the same "kingdom" (string instruments), the same "phylum" (bowed string instruments), the same "order" (bowed string instruments of western european "descent"), but not the same "family".... then within each family there are subdivisions-- e.g. viols in the "genus" of having frets & those not, or of different sizes, etc.... and then each individual instrument would be its own "species".... J Lorraine 08:22, 2 October 2006 (UTC)
thread_title:  viols 

message: We need some substantial discussion here, best if it tends to consensus. Carry on...  __Just plain Bill 01:48, 5 April 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: According to that article, it represents the double bass as the lowest pitched of the "orchestral string family" -- which would be synonmymous with what this article presently calls the "modern violin family".  I wouldn't mind seeing the double bass UN-identified as part of the "modern violin family" and instead changing the references in this article to "orchestral string family" as in the contrabass article.  However I won't be surprised if others will disagree with my inclination. J Lorraine 09:07, 6 April 2007 (UTC)
thread_title:  [[Contrabass]]i have the [[double bass]] to represent [[string instrument]]s. Is it, or is it not, a member of the violin family? 

message: "Violone" historically was a somewhat generic term. The reference in this article to the violone is misleading. The violone that the cello recieved it's name from is not the contrabass violone from the viol family (decendent to the double bass). The violone here (the bass violin) was not exactly "replaced" by the double bass, it was an 8' instrument.
"A violin is a "little viola", a violone is a "big viola" or a "bass viola", and a violoncello (often abbreviated cello) is a "small violone" (or, literally, a "small big viola"). (The violone is not part of the modern violin family; its place is taken by the modern double bass.)"BassHistory (talk) 02:49, 21 November 2007 (UTC)
thread_title:  Violone 

message: The subject of the internal construction of the double bass is relevant, so I wouldn't necessarily blank all of that context, as in this edit. These issues are, however, discussed at Double bass#History. Badagnani (talk) 04:49, 25 November 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: I'm putting it later in the article.  Last time I looked, it was in the dbl bass article in a more detailed description (as it should be), but it should be referred to here as well. J Lorraine (talk) 14:04, 12 December 2007 (UTC)
thread_title:  Identity of the double bass 

message: Viola da braccio should redirect here. It is simply an early name for the violin family. Why is it redirecting to the article Lira da braccio? This is wrong. Contact Basemetal here 07:28, 10 May 2013 (UTC)
thread_title:  Viola da braccio should redirect here not to article lira da braccio 

message: The lead of this article cites a source that gives the lira da braccio and the Byzantine lira as ancestral ("in part", whatever that means) to the viola da braccio family. Chronology precludes that information from being right. The lira da braccio is entirely unlikely as an ancestor as it was developped concurrently with the violin and the viola in two entirely different social settings, although it might have influenced the development of these instruments (regarding shape for example, but so did the viol family). As to the Byzantine lira it may be (with the rebab) ancestral to the pear-shaped instruments tuned in 5ths that were used in Western Europe to accompany dances or the singing or recitation of popular poetry since at least the 11th century, such as the rebec or the instruments generally known as "vielle" (at least in French), but it is only through those instruments that it could be said to be ancestral to the violin. Chronologically there is a gap between the Byzantine lira and the violin which precludes its being able to be considered a direct ancestor. I'd welcome sources on this question. The source given dates back to 1901 which is getting a bit outdated. I understand that the relationships between these various instruments is a tricky question. Contact Basemetal here 14:46, 10 May 2013 (UTC)
thread_title:  Ancestors of the violin and the viola 

message: The Double Bass is NOT a member of the Violin family. This is a common misconception. 
It belongs to the family of the Viol, where it is known also as the Contra-bass Viol.
It is tuned in 4ths, whereas the violin, viola, cello are tuned in 5ths. The shape of the body is not that of a violin and its thickness relative to size is less, as are other viols. 2A00:6020:5004:300:741D:AA78:F32C:8992 (talk) 22:27, 15 April 2022 (UTC)
thread_title:  The Double Bass 

message: — Assignment last updated by Anacasb (talk) 14:17, 31 October 2022 (UTC)
thread_title: Wiki Education assignment: Introduction to Public Musicology