Welcome back to the blog! Today we’ll be talking about medieval music, specifically the instruments used in that period, its history, significance, and more! Sounds good? Well then, take a seat, grab your tea and snacks and let’s dive into the world of music back in the Middle Ages.
History of Music in the Middle Ages
Before we go any further let’s travel back in time and see the history of medieval times to understand the landscape of that specific period. The Medieval period of music history is said to have begun around the fall of the Roman Empire in 476 AD. This period roughly spans from 476 - 1450 AD, Music progressed throughout this period till the late 14th century when it gave away to Renaissance music.
Now up until the Renaissance, Music was monophonic, meaning a single voice or melody line. But as time passed, polyphony developed (multiple melodies). So things like music notations were nonexistent then. Middle Ages music originally had no rhythmic structure, but as the music became more complex, a need for rhythmic structure and unity emerged. With this complexity came rhythmic notation.
It’s best noted that The Early Medieval period was dominated by religious vocal music, with plainsong or Gregorian chant the best-known examples of this. But, later on, the rise of secular music and music for the purposes of entertainment arose.
Characteristics of Medival Music
As the earliest form of classical music, Medieval music is characterized by some of the following attributes:
1. Monophony: Until the late Medieval period, most Medieval music took the form of monophonic chant (meaning a single voice or melody line).
2. Standardized rhythmic patterns: Most Medieval chants followed rhythmic modes that brought a uniform sensibility to the Medieval era. There still wasn’t any sense of meter at this point, but various patterns of long and short rhythms added a little more structure to the music.
3. Troubadours and trouvères: Some of the most prominent secular music of the Medieval period was performed by troubadours and trouvères. Troubadours were travelling musicians who accompanied their singing with string instruments like lutes, dulcimers, vielles, psalteries, and hurdy-gurdies. Troubadours were particularly popular during the twelfth century. Trouvères were poet-musicians who typically belonged to the nobility. They usually sang in an Old French dialect called langue d'oil.
4. Limited instrumental music: The majority of Medieval music is of course, vocal music, but instrumental music was composed for a wide array of musical instruments. These included woodwinds like the flute, and recorder; string instruments like the harp; and brass instruments like the sackbut (fun fact it’s closely related to the modern trombone).
Medieval Musical Instruments
Okay now that we have some background about music in that period, why don’t we talk more about the instruments used in that time? Medieval Musical instruments would be used by the musicians of the period, these are typically divided into 3 categories: wind, string and percussion.
But back in that time instruments would have been divided into two groups: haut, meaning loud bas, meaning soft
Haut instruments were suitable for playing outdoors and would have included many wind instruments such as shawms, sackbuts, trumpets and so on. Meanwhile, Bas instruments were more suited for indoor chamber music – the recorder and most string instruments – would have fallen under this umbrella
Many Medieval Musical Instruments can be described as part of the following categories:
Woodwind Instruments - Musical instruments which were blown like trumpets, flageolet or bagpipes. String Instruments - Musical instruments which were played with a bow or plucked like The harp or rebec. Percussion Instruments - This includes various forms of drums and bells that were used during the Medieval times. Along with these were many other types of instruments such as The Organistrum and the Pipe Organ.
Now, in the next few weeks we will be going over some of the most iconic medieval musical instruments with... Interviews! Yes, we will be bringing your voice into the next blog series with what you love about these medieval musical instruments. There will be facts, stories, and so much more! So stay tuned because your interview might be shown next.
Written by Stella Lockwood
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