Music for Viol Consorts

This is what we're trying to do!

Author with tenor viol, bow poised a bit too far from the bridge (working on that!). The slippers are adopted to emulate the seventeenth-century French nobility’s lives of leisure—they were viol players.

I’ve been rehearsing with a few people at a college, as part of a viol consort. Each of us plays bass, tenor, or treble viol (all members of the viola da gamba family of instruments). I am learning tenor, which uses the alto clef; so, I am learning the alto clef. I’ve played guitar for many years, so treble clef is what I’ve known. Viols are often expected to play bass, alto, or treble clefs, so I’ll be working on sight reading all three clefs. It’s a lot of fun! Granting the rare exceptions, it’s otherwise never too late or too early to play some kind of music!

Here’s some sample of what we’re trying to go for: the viol consort.