Viola da braccio is a term variously applied during the baroque period to instruments of the violin family, in distinction to the viola da gamba and the viol family to which the latter belongs. At first 'da braccio' seems to encompass the entire violin family. Monteverdi's Orfeo designates an entire six-part string section"viole da brazzo", apparently including bass instruments held between the knees like the cello and bass violin. His Selva morale contains a piece calling for "due violini & 3 viole da brazzo ouero 3 Tronboni", reflecting a general shift in meaning towards the lower instruments. Eventually it came to be reserved for the alto member, the viola. A famous example is Bach's Sixth Brandenburg Concerto, combining two viole da braccio with two viole da gamba. The German word for viola, Bratsche, is a relic of this last use.
The families of the Viola da braccio and the Viola da gambadiffer in size and form, the string tuning as well as in the posture as well as in the bow position.
History and development
Over the centuries in the history of the violin and viola da gamba families, there has been a constant development to the present form of the modern instruments known to us as violin/violin, viola/viola and violoncello. The double bass, however, has developed from both the violone and the bass-viola da gamba. The first instruments of the viola da braccio family were built in Italy from about 1530. After the early form with three strings, the four-stringed instrument developed into one without string frets with a tuning in fifth. In this family the instruments of different sizes and tunings are called soprano, alto, tenor and bass viola da braccio. The alto instrument in the tuning is comparable to today's viola. The tenor viola was tuned in the 16th century first to and later lower to like the alto viola. The soprano viola with its tuning on corresponds to today's violin. The bass instrument with the tuning on then developed in the further course more and more to today's violoncello with the string tuning
