The Lira da Braccio

The Lira Da Braccio may be the missing link between the medieval fiddle and the modern violin. By analyzing iconographical representations and instruments in museums, this work identifies several categories of design and shape. It provides charts of chords and fingerings, and arrangements of pieces that can be performed on the Lira Da Braccio.

"This is an essential book for those interested in renaissance instrumentation as well as for potential players." —Early Music Review "Sterling Scott Jones wrote a marvelous and very welcome work which can be warmly recommended to all musicians, musicologists, and instrument makers interested in early music, its instruments, and performance pratice. . . . This work is of the highest scholarly and, at the same time, practical value (which is extremely rare!): It certainly opens up a new era in the research and use of the lira da braccio." —RIdIM/RCMI Newsletter "Sterling Scott Jone's exceptional book is . . . welcome as a practical study of the instrument, with its emphasis on iconography, and with its fingering charts, tuning instructions and playable musical examples." —The Consort: European Journal of Early Music The 16th-century lira da braccio may be the missing link between the medieval fiddle and the modern violin. This is a brief history of the lira da braccio, a handbook for its use, and selected repertoire.