Lira da gamba

Lira da gamba (It.), bass *lira da braccio little known outside Italy and France; it evolved in the mid-16th c. and fell into disuse in France by the mid-17th c. and in Italy by the end of the c. Earliest mention of the lira da gamba seems to occur in a Graz inventory of 1577: “ain gar grosse geigen, haist man lira de camba.” In shape it was similar to a viola da gamba but with wider neck and fingerboard, flat bridge to facilitate chordal playing, pegdisc with rear pegs, often a circular…