Medieval Music During The Middle Ages

During the time of the Middle Ages, 500 to 1400 A.D. the world that we know was vastly changing and historic events were unfolding daily. Music was a way to express beliefs, ideas, or even intimidation. Medieval music consisted of mostly instrumental music and music with voices used as instruments, such as the Gregorian chant which was used by monks during Catholic Mass. Medieval music helped shape the base of Western music.

Many instruments were used in the songs written during the Middle Ages. Woodwind instruments such as the flute and gemshorn were used because of their different pitches. Medieval music also used a variety of string instruments such as the lute, mandora, gittern, citole and psaltery. Most Medieval songs used instruments

However, musicians can see the similarities between how the notes fluctuate, similar to the note system that the Catholic Church used. Monks used greek letters to symbolize the key or pitch that had to be played in the song. However, this note system that was created by the Catholic Church was used by all musicians. The Catholic Church wanted to get rid of the Gregorian chants however, getting rid of the chant was considered unthinkable because of the impact the chant had on the Catholic Church. However, monks added notes to the Gregorian chant to add harmony and make the Gregorian chant sound better. Catholic Church composers were able to make changes because the composers never got rid of the original Gregorian chant because they never got rid of the original notes they added a harmony above the original chant. The Gregorian chant had messages inside them using symbolism to link the song with the bible. Symbolism was an important key to writing religious music. In the year 367 a council by the name of the Council of Laodicea decreed that music should be sang by choirs alone. To get these choirs singing schools were established in

Religious music was used to unify the different Christian practices that were all throughout Europe. Reason being that throughout the 11th century there were numerous Christian practices flourishing throughout Europe, and in effort to standardize Catholicism the Gregorian Chant was written. Secular music had the purpose of creating an image for people in different parts of Europe what the rest of Europe was like. Trouveres painted a vivid picture with their poetry style music that drew the ears of people all throughout Europe. Most folklore about gods and goddesses in Ancient Greece was played in the same style the Trouveres used to describe their travels. Medieval music left a legacy as well, by the end of the Middle Ages a new style was fully developed and included aspects of French and Italian traditions, this style is known as Ars subtilior. Music from the Middle Ages had more of a purpose then some modern-day artists. Each song had a story behind it that told of an adventure someone went on. It’s amazing to see how much instruments have changed since the Middle Ages. Every instrument had an original design that musicians and music theorist worked on as years went on. Music from the Middle Ages helped form ideas and theories on how music should be played and