The Unique Texture and Instruments of Medieval and Renaissance Music

In the Middle Ages, the texture of the music was monophonic and there was a melody line. Sacred vocals such as Gregorian chant are set in Latin, there is no accompaniment. It is the only kind of music allowed in the church, so the composer keeps the melody pure and simple.

Later, the church choirs added one or more melody lines to the Gregorian chant. This creates a polyphonic texture, which means it has more than one melody line

During the renaissance, the church did not have much power in music activities. On the contrary, the members of the king, the prince and other famous courts have greater influence. The size of the church choir continues to expand, with more names. This gives richer and more rich music. Polyphony was widely used during this time, but music quickly became homonyms

The composer wrote several pieces to convert between polyphonic harmony sound textures. This makes the melody more complex and sophisticated. Many factors contributed to the change in musical texture during these periods. Church influences, changes in the focus of music, changes in the position of composers, inventions of printing, and reforms of religion are some of the factors that brought about these changes.

In the Middle Ages, most of the music was sound and there was no accompaniment. Because that does not distract you, the church wants to keep music pure and solemn. Later on, the church allowed the use of instruments such as bells and organs, but it was mainly used to observe the important days of the etiquette calendar. Travel musicians and birds play instruments in street corners and courts. Instruments they use include violin, harp and cymbals. Biwa is a pear-shaped stringed instrument worn with a fingerboard.

During the renaissance, most music activities were transferred from the church to the court. Composers are more open to experiments. As a result, more composers use instruments for their work. For indoor activities, the first choice is a musical instrument that produces a softer, less bright sound. Outdoor activities are bigger and prefer larger instruments

Instruments used during this period are cornet, harpsichord, tape recorder and so on. Instruments called shawm are used for dance music and outdoor activities. Shume is the predecessor of oboe

Regarding music, the Renaissance was sometimes called the Golden Age of Capella Chorus Music. Music does not require accompaniment of instruments. The texture of Renaissance music is mainly polyphonic. Renaissance composers often use text painting. This is a musical expression of the image of a particular poem. The entire instruments of instrumental dance music in Renaissance began to flourish, consisting of many people, or more improvised. That name comes from our musicians who gathered most of the existing music and has been publishing it in various formats for many years. Here are some examples. Many of these forms of dance have been modified and developed by later composers and entered the baroque dance suite.

Vocal work (sacred and secular) is the main form of music between the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, and instrumental music is mainly accompanied by singers and dancers. Nonetheless, the Renaissance witnessed the rise of independent musical instrument music. Renaissance instrumental music consists mainly of cymbals, keyboard (accordion, harpsichord or string) or small ensemble (strings, woodwind instruments and / or brass instruments).

The violin called violin was played from early bow-shaped instruments in the Renaissance period: medieval violin, lira's 16th century Italian branch, Lila da Brasio, and Levec. The violin is probably the most famous and widely distributed instruments in the world. Like its predecessors, but unlike its cousin, the violin has a fingerless plate. The string is connected to the tuning shaft and the tail string fixed to the bridge by the pressure of the string. The bridge transmits the vibration of the string to the violin's abdomen and soundboard made of pine trees, and amplifies the sound. On the inside of the instrument, under the foot of the treble that is sandwiched between the belly made of maple and the back of the violin, there is a thin pine that conveys the vibration of the string to the back of the instrument. It helps to improve the sound. Sound of the violin