, was made before 1510. It depicts poet Giovanni Filoteo Achillini playing the instrument The
vihuela, as it was known in Spanish, was called the
viola de mà in
Catalan,
viola da mano in Italian and
viola de mão in
Portuguese. The two names are functionally synonymous and interchangeable. In its most developed form, the vihuela was a guitar-shaped instrument with six double-strings (paired courses) made of
gut. Vihuelas were tuned identically to their contemporary Renaissance
lute;
4ths and one
major 3rd (44344, almost like a modern
guitar tuning, with the exception of the third string, which was tuned a
semitone lower). Plucked vihuelas, being essentially flat-backed lutes, evolved in the mid-15th century, in the
Kingdom of Aragón, located in north-eastern Iberia (Spain). In Spain, Portugal, and Italy the vihuela was in common use by the late 15th through to the late 16th centuries. In the second half of the 15th century, some vihuela players began using a bow, leading to the development of the
viol. There were several different types of vihuela (or different playing methods at least): • Vihuela de mano: 6 or 5 courses played with the fingers • Vihuela de penola: played with a plectrum • Vihuela de arco: played with a bow (ancestor of the
viola da gamba) Tunings for 6 course vihuela de mano (44344): • G C F A D G • C F B D G C Although mainstream use of the vihuela has faded away, traces of the complex polyphonic music that was its repertoire in the late 16th century, along with the other primary instrument of the Spanish and Portuguese Renaissance, the
cross-strung harp, both of which can be heard in Mexican Mariachi music. The vihuela's descendants that are still played are the
violas campaniças of
Portugal. Much of the vihuela's place, role, and function was taken up by the subsequent
Baroque guitar (also sometimes referred to as vihuela or bigüela). Currently, the vihuela is in widespread use in Mexican Mariachi music, where its distinctive sound is featured in solos. Additionally, the vihuela is used for the performance of
early music, using modern replicas of historical instruments. Today, instruments like the
tiple are descendants of vihuelas brought to America in the 16th century. == Construction ==