to 1600

Violin History and repertory to 1600

Dissemination

Italy

According to the first detailed description of the violin family, in Lanfranco's Scintille di musica, there were four sizes of ‘Violette da Arco senza tasti’ (also called ‘Violetta da Braccio, & da Arco’), ‘Soprano’, ‘Contraalto’, ‘Tenore’ and ‘Basso’, with three tunings; the alto and tenor were tuned in unison.