If you have looked for this page you probably know what a viol looks like. The chief characteristics of the viol family are that all are held on or between the knees, that the neck is fretted, that the bow is usually held under-handed so that the strong stroke is the pushing stroke, and not the pulling stroke as in the violin; and, most important, that there are normally six strings and that these are tuned in fourths with a third in the middle, like those of the lute.
The following comments on the difference between the sound of the violin family and that of the viols are quoted from the book: "The World of Baroque and Classical Musical Instruments" by Jeremy Montagu:
"On the violin there is a marked tonal difference between the sound of a fingered note, when the vibrating length of the string is terminated by the soft flesh of the finger, and the sound of the open strings, when the length of the string is terminated by the hard edge of the nut, the bar at the top of the fingerboard. On the viols, because the string is stopped just behind a fret, the fret acts as another nut so that even with gut frets, which are softer than a wooden nut, there is less difference of tone between stopped and open strings; this homogeneity of tone quality is the most important function of the frets. As a result, there is more ringing resonance in the sound of the viol than in the violin, and this is increased by sympathetic resonance from the other strings, for the lighter construction of the body and the lower tension of the strings, as well as the greater number of strings available to add their resonance, increases the probability of resonance in sympathy with any note played. Violin strings are tuned a fifth apart and there was therefore a considerable difference between their thicknesses in order to obtain so great a difference of pitch with approximately the same tension; the strings of the viols, on the other hand, being tuned only a fourth or third apart, show much less difference in this respect and this again increases their blend of sonority.
In sum, the viol was a restrained instrument used mostly for polyphonic music, capable of intense emotion but always held-in within its compass; the violin, on the other hand, was brash and extrovert, gay or moody, used for entertainment music of all sorts. Neither was of itself inferior or superior to the other, but the course of music from the early seventeenth century onwards, and the desired sonority, went the way of the violin not that of the viol, so that from the latter part of the seventeenth century viols were less and less used in consort and little new music was written for such groups."

Not to worry, though, there are several thousand  compositions for viol consorts of different sizes and there are recently written works for viols that are rather lovely and enchanting.

As for the popularity of the viol: The VdGSA has now in excess of 1000 members and continues to grow. Playing the viol can become a lifelong addiction - Watch out!

 For more information please go to the VdGSA web site:

www.vdgsa.org/pgs/stuff.html