viola da gamba
Americannoun
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Also called gamba. an old musical instrument of the viol family, held on or between the knees: superseded by the modern violoncello; bass viol.
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an organ stop of eight-foot pitch giving a stringlike tone.
noun
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of viola da gamba
First recorded 1590–1600; from Italian: literally, “viol for the leg”
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Harpsichord and viola da gamba act as soloists as well as continuo; a modern lute song is a lullaby.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 5, 2025
So Howard wrote music for old, hard-to-tune instruments such as the viola da gamba and cello d’amore and gut-string violin.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 25, 2021
Jordi Savall, the early-music specialist and viola da gamba virtuoso, and Yannick Nézet-Séguin, the music director of the Philadelphia Orchestra and the Metropolitan Opera, will also be featured in series.
From New York Times ● Jan. 28, 2020
As Elizabeth Weinfield, a viol player and Sonnambula’s leader, observed in a program note, Duarte’s music draws on the English viol-consort tradition, which is centered on the introverted, aching tone of the viola da gamba.
From The New Yorker ● Feb. 11, 2019
The violin’s absence of frets, which had been a feature of the viola da gamba family and the lute, also allowed its player greater freedom in the tuning and individuality of phrasing.
From "The Story of Music" by Howard Goodall
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
