Musical Instruments of the Middle Ages: A Historical Overview

Posted on Dec 10, 2024 in Music

Musical Instruments of the Middle Ages

During the Middle Ages, many instruments were performed on several occasions, such as by troubadours and minstrels to accompany their songs, liven up parties, or even in church musical ensembles.

Plucked String Instruments

• Harp: Was triangular with ten or twelve strings.
• Psaltery: An instrument of the zither family, played with a plectrum. It is triangular in shape and small in size. After the thirteenth century, it became popular to play with a bow, and in the fifteenth century, it was named Rotta, synonymous with the violin.
• Lyre: Was similar to the ancient lyre. Its strings were of equal length and plucked with the fingers.
• Teutonic Cythara: Was a rounded variant of the lyre without arms attached to the box.
• Lute: A plucked string instrument with a neck and arched back. In the middle of the soundboard, it has a hole. It originally had four strings, then more, and with double strings. It was imported to Spain by the Arabs.
• Mandora: Of Eastern origin, it was a small variety of the lute family.
• Guitar: There were two varieties: the Moorish, which was a kind of lute, and the Latin, with the characteristics of the one we know but with one less string. In the sixteenth century, the fifth string (low E) was added.
• Vihuela: Similar to the guitar, vihuelas differed between barbed and arc. The arc was the predecessor of the viola.
• Cytol: Was a kind of lute, more circular and with a flat bottom. It first had metal strings and was played with a plectrum, and then with fingers.
• Mandolin: Similar to the cytol, it is played with a plectrum.
• Tymphanon: A stringed instrument played with a trapezoidal enclosure. In the Middle Ages, it was called a dulcimer.

Bowed String Instruments

• Rebec: Pear-shaped, derived from the ancient Arabic Rabab. With three strings, it was played on the lap or shoulder.
• Crotta: Of Breton origin, its three strings rested on a flat bridge so they could not be played independently but as a chord.
• Rote: A type of large three-string viola.
• Viola: There were two types, one with a flat soundboard and the other oval, with an independent sound box, two ears on the table, and five strings. The total length was two octaves.
• Rubeba: Had two strings tuned a fifth apart and had a length of ten notes. The box was curved and narrowed towards the headstock.
• Giga: Was characterized by contrasts. Its box was bulging and was the smallest model of violas. It had three to four strings. There were several different tessitura types.
• Tromba Marina: A monochord variety, triangular and long. It had a thick string and a metal plate on the box. With the thumb, the string was touched to shorten it, and only harmonics were obtained. It had a bright sound similar to the trumpet.

String and Keyboard Instruments

• Organistrum: A wheel rubbed its three strings at once, driven by a crank. It looked like a large guitar and was played by two people. The strings produced a drone and a melody. Later called the hurdy-gurdy. Later, the instrument was reduced in size and played by one person.
• Echiquier: A keyboard stringed instrument derived from the psaltery.
• Clavichord: Using a keyboard, strings are plucked from below. It had the same number of keys as strings. Derived from the Psaltery, it had a length of four octaves. Its strings were made of metal, decreasing in length.
• Clavichord: A swinging string instrument under a brass tip activated by a keyboard. It was rectangular, comprising three octaves plus a third. All strings were of equal length, so the same strings were used for different sounds, changing only the area where they were struck. This prevented two sounds from being produced simultaneously using the same string.

Woodwind Instruments

• Flutes: The peak, double, transverse, and syrinx.
• Flageolet: A small flute that was played accompanied by a tambourine.
• Flutes: Instruments with a double-reed mouthpiece and nine holes.
• Shawm: A kind of pipe. There are seven sizes, and they were usually one piece. Its voice was shrill.
• Oboe: A double-reed instrument, similar to the shawm. It had eight holes and is considered the forerunner of the modern oboe.
• Albogon: An instrument similar to the bassoon. It was the most serious type of oboe.
• Txistu: A straight flute of Basque origin, used to accompany dancing.
• Horn: Made with a cast animal horn. Some were called trunks. It was used for signals. They were of various sizes and were used in hunting and war.
• Bagpipe: Consisting of a leather bag where the airflow is deposited by the performer. This bag had drone tubes, and another had holes for the melody.

Brass Instruments

• Trumpet: It was made of wood, bronze, or silver. It was short, straight, and in one piece. By extending the length of the curved metal, it was made more comfortable. When the tube was first used artistically, it was extended even further, establishing the sackbut, the predecessor of the trombone.
• Anafil: Moorish straight trumpets. They differed from the Christians’ in that they were straight.
• Horn: A small metal natural horn or ivory.
• Cromorne: Double-reed instruments. They are rod-shaped tubes reversed. They have a hole for the thumb and seven for the other fingers.

Wind and Keyboard Instruments

The first keyboard instruments used to have the bass to the right of the keyboard. Later, this was reversed.

• Organ: Imported from the East, it filled churches and cathedrals. At first, it had three octaves, and gradually the number of tubes was increased. Later, tubes were made of tin and lead, and the keyboard was colored.

Percussion Instruments

• Drums: Their name is of Arabic origin.
• Tambourine
• Cymbalum: Were small dishes.
• Rattles: An instrument with small rattles that sound when shaken.
• Bells