The pardessus de viole is the highest-pitched member of the viol family of instruments. It is a bowed string instrument with either five or six strings and a fretted neck. The pardessus first appeared in the early 18th century, and was commonly played by women, particularly in French-speaking countries. Description The pardessus de viole is the smallest of the viol family. Its size is similar to the violin's, and its range is correspondingly similar. The strings are made of gut (like on any bowed string instrument until the 1970s) and the top string was tuned to g'', a fourth higher than the top string of the treble viol. Like the treble viol, the pardessus de viole was almost never used to play accompaniment chords, but was always a melody instrument. When played, it is played upright on the lap with a bow.Unlike the treble viol and other viol instruments, the pardessus usually has only five strings. The five string pardessus is tuned in fifths and fourths (g, d', a', d'', g''), while six stringed pardessus are tuned like other viols in fourths with a third (g, c', e', a', d'', g'' or g, c', f', a', d'', g''). ...