or Tenor Violin. A bow-instrument of the violin kind, intermediate in size and pitch between the viola and the violoncello. It has four strings, of which the third and fourth are covered with silvered copper wire. It is tuned C, G, D, A, reckoning upwards, and is an octave higher in pitch than the violoncello, and a fifth lower than the violin. See article Music.

or Alto Viola, an instrument of the violin kind, larger than an ordinary violin, and furnished with four gut strings, the third and fourth of these being covered with silver-plated copper wire. It originated from the viola di gamba, one of the ancient set of viols used in concerts. The English call it the tenor-violin, or simply the tenor. The name of alto-violin is derived from its music being written in the alto-clef on the third line of the stave. It is tuned C, G, D, A, an octave above the violoncello. For its compass, and use in orchestra, &c., see Music.

Viola d'Amore, an instrument no longer in use, but of which the tone and effect are said to have been very sweet and singular. It was played with a bow, and seems to have varied in the number of its strings and in its tuning. One species of it is described as having five gut strings, and five metal wires tuned in unison with the strings, but passing under the finger-board and bridge, and thus vibrating only as open wires, to arpeggios or harmonics, &c., played upon the open gut strings. The principle of this instrument seems to have been revived in the construction of some recent musical instruments.

Viola di Gamba, a musical instrument no longer in use, but which was the immediate predecessor of the violoncello. A clever musician, C. F. Abel, in the last century, drew away his fine talents upon this nasal and ungrateful instrument. A good viola di gamba affords excellent wood materials for making a fine tenor-violin.