Sunday, May 4, 2014

Why Violins Aren't Viol

by Andy Fein, luthier at Fein Violins,
 and Joe Peterson

At a glance, violin family and viol family instruments are very similar. They are both made of wood, both are played by bowing the strings, and both names share the same first four letters. But do not let that fool you! There are plenty of factors that separate violins from viols.

The head of a tenor viol, made circa 1693 by G. Karpp