About the Book:”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 MusicThe 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.Table of Contents: Preface1. A Short History of the Lira da Braccio2. Some Early Citations3. Extant Instruments4. The Lira da Braccio in Works of Art5. Chords and Fingering Charts6. Selected Repertoire Marco Cara, S’io sedo a l’ombra amor Jacob Arcadelt, O felici occhi miei Annonymous, Con pianto e con dolore Marco Cara, Io non compro piu speranza Alfonso della Viola, Music tol Sacrificio Anonymous, Romanesca, Pasamezo de lira (fragment) Anonymous, Aime sospiri Biagio Marini, CapriccioAppendix Pesaro Manuscript and Transcription Anonymous, Ayme sospiri (Excorial Manuscript) Biagio Marini, Capriccio per Sonare il Violino con tre corde a modo di Lira Fingering Chart for Alto Tuning List of Instrument MakersBibliography