300 – 1300
Medieval or Middle Ages: 300 – 1300 Most music was vocal: Sacred – religious Secular – non-religious (worldly)
Popular or Folk Performed by traveling musicians who sang and played string or percussion instruments.
Small Harps Lutes Viols (Ancestor to modern guitar)
Drums Cymbals Bells
Flutes/Recorder Bagpipes
Influence of the Roman Catholic Church Through 1150, mostly monophonic, single melody by one person or group
Singers were almost always men. Music of Hildegard was first to be sung by women. Priests would sing prayers on various notes, this was called chant.
First organized musical notation. Mostly square, white notes Allowed singers to learn many more chants.
Eventually, horizontal lines were added to clearly show how far apart the neumes were. Neumes = Notes Lines = Staff
900 – 1200 Added a second melody to chant Usually apart by a 4 th or 5 th
Hildegard von BingenGuillaume de Machaut
John DunstableGuillaume Dufay
Charlemagne: 742 to 814
Pope crowned Charlemagne the Holy Roman Emperor: Dec. 25, 800
Carcassonne: A Medieval Castle
Medieval Universities
Oxford University – 12 th century
Late Medieval Town Dwelling