67 Medieval Music Facts For Those Interested In Instrumental Music

Medieval music is essentially western music that was written in the early medieval period.

Around the fifth century, trouble started brewing in the Roman Empire, which led to its collapse, and it was this period that came to be known as the medieval era when medieval music flourished. However, despite the start, medieval music was not recognized until the 15th century, when secular music began spreading to the European countries.

The music and artists of the Middle Ages may not be as well-known or appreciated as those of the succeeding centuries. Yet, the period is significant for a variety of factors that lead to the development of music.

It saw several significant theoretical and compositional advancements that laid the framework for the periods that followed and cultivated some beautiful music, much of which was created and produced in a religious environment, leading to its popularity.

Most music nowadays is a mix of vocals and electronic or purely instrumental music. But back in the Middle Ages, instruments were rarely used in medieval music.

Thus, the rhythmical practice is near lost, even though chanting may be monophonic or polyphonic, meaning it had numerous or a single melody.

What brought this about began with sacred and church music for the religious community and secular, non-religious music, primarily vocal medieval songs, including Gregorian early chant traditions and choir music. Medieval music also includes music that uses both voices and musical instruments.

Music from the medieval era and the Renaissance merged over time to create new sounds and melodies. There was no single period in history when music significantly changed; thus, it only evolved as artists became more uniquely talented and imaginative. Renaissance music drew on the advances of medieval music while also benefiting from the Renaissance era's advancements.

Renaissance music, for example, employed a developing style of alternate tunings based on that produced by medieval holy music composers.

Because Renaissance musicians and players used to shape western music and polyphonic music, a form of the musical pattern made of two or even more parallel lines of separate melody, that is why the music of Renaissance sounds much fuller than the late medieval music.

Continue reading to learn more medieval music era facts.

Introduction To Medieval Music

The catholic church was the central focus for medieval music. Despite the fact that sacred music began developing during the Middle Ages, a majority of existing medieval composers composed religious medieval music.

The sacred and cultural music of Central Europe throughout the Middle Ages, roughly from the sixth to 15th centuries, is referred to as high medieval music theory.

It is the first and longest important era of Western classical music, accompanied by Renaissance-era music; the two eras are collectively referred to as early music by composers, as they occur before the standard practice period.

The foundation for musical notation and theoretical methods that would mold Western classical music into the conventions that formed throughout the Standard Style period of global music writing practices, which covered the Classical and Romanticism eras, was formed during the medieval time period.

The invention of a thorough music notation method, which allowed medieval musicians to draw out their musical melodies, known as the written rhythmic system, is the most important of them. Songs and parts had to be learned 'by hearing' before the introduction of rhythmic notation via one person who understands a tune to another.

This severely reduced the number of people who could be trained and perform medieval music and the spreading of music to other regions of the world.

Music notation made it much easier to spread songs and musical compositions to a bigger audience and over a larger geographic region. Hypothetical advancements, notably in the areas of rhythmic modes (the frequency of notes) and polyphony (the simultaneous use of several interwoven melodies), are equally crucial to the evolution of Western music.

Medieval Music Period: Overview

Gregorian chant, which is titled after Pope Gregory, who is acknowledged for introducing the Gregorian chant to the West, was perhaps the most popular type of church music in the late Medieval era. It was religious, indicating priests performed it as a traditional aspect of Communion in Roman Catholicism and is also known as the earliest medieval music.

There was no notational system in place for early secular music. The songs were mostly music of medieval instruments and were passed down by oral history.

On the other hand, this type of notation was solely used as a learning medium for singers who were already aware of the tune. The adoption of numerous signals printed above the chant lyrics, known as neumes, was the first step in resolving this issue in secular music.

The foundation of neumes is unknown and controversial; nevertheless, most academics believe that their nearest forebears are the old Greek and Roman grammatical marks that recorded the ups and downs of the sound to highlight crucial points of chanting.

Characteristics Of Medieval Music

Medieval period music had a distinct tone because it was the first recorded and is the most extended medieval era. In reality, there are five qualities of medieval music theory that distinguish it from music from other times.

Medieval era music had a dictatorial nature to it. In the late 1800s, the word 'monophony' was developed. It's a type of music (medieval) that simply contains a single melody line. The Gregorian chant, for instance, is a singular vocal melodic line chanted by priests and nuns.

The majority of Medieval chants adopted rhythmic patterns, which gave the Medieval period a unified taste. These sounds were described in Johannes de Garlandia's 13th musicology textbook named De Mensurabili Musica.

The melodic notation used in the Medieval Period is not the same as that used nowadays. The system was made up of cords and did not represent any rhythmic component.

Troubadours and trouvères produced several of the most famous medieval times' music of the Middle Ages. Songwriters were musicians who traveled with string musical instruments such as lutes, vielles, dulcimers, psalteries, and hurdy-gurdies to accompany their own vocals.

Although vocal music (vocals) makes up the majority of the Medieval tradition, instrumental music was written on a wide musical instrument range. Woodwind instruments like the flute, pan flute, and recorder were among these, as were string musical instruments such as the lute, psaltery, dulcimer, sitar, and also brass instruments such as the sackbut.

Instruments Used In Medieval Music

Many of the instruments which were used to produce medieval music in the middle ages are still in much use in the early 21st century but are in different structures and usually in much more advanced forms.

The medieval flute was made out of wood instead of silver or other metals, and it could be played either end-blown or side-blown.

Unlike current symphonic flutes, which are typically made of steel and have complicated mechanisms involved and sealed pads, medieval flutes featured gaps that the musician had to hide with his fingers.

The recording device was initially made out of wood in the medieval era, and while it may now be made of artificial recycled plastic in the twenty-first century, it has mostly preserved its original shape.

The gemshorn looks like a recording device because it has thumb openings over the front but belongs to the ocarina tribe. The pan flute, another of the flute's forerunners, was famous in medieval times and is thought to be of Greek origin.

The pipes of this device were constructed of wood and were graded in height to generate various tones.

More plucked string devices were utilized in medieval music, including the lute, a plucked instrument with a hollow almond body that predates the contemporary guitar. The mandore, citole, gittern, and psaltery were among the most-used plucked musical instruments.

The dulcimers, which are similar in form to the zither and psaltery, were initially plucked, but in the 14th century, singers began striking the dulcimer using hammers.

The Ancient Dynasty's bowed Lyra was indeed the earliest recorded European bowed stringed medieval musical instruments. A musician made sound by sliding a bow with a tensioned brush across braced strings, similar to the present violin.

The hurdy-gurdy still is a mechanical violin instrument that 'bows' its strings with a rosined hardwood wheel coupled to a lever. The Jew's harp, for example, was a famous instrument without the need for a soundbox. Pipe organs, fiddles, and a forerunner to the current trombone (known as the sackbut) were also utilized.