[beys] 
[beys] | the largest instrument of the violin family, having three or, usually, four strings, rested vertically on the floor when played. |
| bass viol (bās) n.
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| double bass (bās) n. The largest bowed stringed instrument in the modern orchestra, also used frequently in jazz ensembles, especially played pizzicato. The double bass, usually considered a member of the violin family, is tuned in fourths and has the sloping shoulders and flat back characteristic of the viols. It has a deep range, going as low as three octaves below middle C. Also called bass fiddle, bass viol, bull fiddle, contrabass, string bass. [double, tuned an octave lower than (from the fact that a string or pipe that is twice the length of another gies a pitch an octave lower) + bass2.] |
| viola da gam·ba (gäm'bə, gām'-) n.
[Italian : viola, viol + da, of, for + gamba, leg.] |
The largest and lowest-pitched instrument of the strings, also called a bass fiddle or double bass. The player must stand or sit on a tall stool to play it.