Tudor Musical Instruments

King Henry VIII - Tudor Musical Instruments

Picture of King Henry VIII

 

Tudor Musical Instruments

  • New Tudor Musical Instruments
  • Categories
  • Stringed and Keyboard
  • Wind and Percussion
  • The Lute
  • Combinations - Consort Music

 

Tudor Musical Instruments

Tudor Musical Instruments
Music played an important role in the lives of both the rich and poor people who lived during the Tudor period. Sixteenth Century Music played its part as a major form of entertainment. The collection of Tudor musical instruments included those developed during the Medieval period of the early Middle Ages together with the musical instruments which emerged during the Renaissance and Elizabethan era. Music composed by the composers and musicians during the Renaissance period of the Tudor era rarely specified which instrument should be used when playing the composition. The Composers wrote the music and the musicians decided which instrument it should be played upon.

Tudor Stringed Musical Instruments
Tudor Wind Musical Instruments
Tudor Percussion Musical Instruments
Tudor Keyboard Musical Instruments

New Tudor Musical Instruments
The introduction of new musical instruments such as the early violin called the viol, the early oboe called the hautboy and the keyboard type instrument called the spinet, harpsichord and the virginals provided the sounds which produced a much more refined sound than had been produced during the Medieval period of the Middle Ages. The virginals was a keyboard instrument similar to a harpsichord. Combinations of Tudor musical instruments, as in the modern orchestra, were still in the experimental stage but provided the opportunity to create unusual and creative music.

Categories of the Tudor Musical Instrument
The Sixteenth Century Instruments fell into the following categories:

  • Stringed Instrument
    • A Stringed Instrument was played with a bow or plucked
  • Wind Instrument
    • A Wind Instrument which was blown like trumpets or bagpipes
  • Percussion Instrument
    • Different Types of drums and bells
  • Keyboard Instrument
    • Keyboards including the organ, spinet, harpsichord and virginals

For a detailed list of all musical instruments played during the Tudor times please click Tudor Music

Tudor Musical Instruments - the Lute
There were many new songs and hymns composed during the period of the sixteenth century. Tudor musicians and composers for the voice made use of two distinct styles which were called the Madrigal and the Ayre. A madrigal was a short love poem which could easily be set to music. An Ayre or Air, originated from the French word for "aria" - also spelt as ayr. The most popular instrument played in the period was the lute, a musical instrument from the Medieval era of the Middle Ages. The popularity of the lute led to a variety of different musical instruments to be developed. One of these new instrument was called the Chittarone lute, which was a lute measuring 6 feet tall. The Chittarone lute had an elongated neck to which long bass strings were attached to an additional peg-box.

Combinations of Tudor Musical Instruments - Consort Music
The Tudor musicians enjoyed experimenting with various combinations of musical instruments. But the most popular combination of Tudor musical instruments would become known as an 'English Consort'. The 'English Consort' was the first English string quartet! It proved to be so popular that in 1599 Thomas Morley published a book of 'Consort Lessons'. This combination initially consisted of 4 musical instruments. This quartet comprised of:

  • Violin
  • Flute
  • Lute
  • Viol

Tudor Musical Instruments
Each section of this Tudors website addresses all topics and provides interesting facts and information about music. The Sitemap provides full details of all of the information and facts provided about the fascinating subject of the Tudors!

Tudor Musical Instruments

  • New Tudor Musical Instruments
  • Categories
  • Stringed and Keyboard
  • Wind and Percussion
  • The Lute
  • Combinations - Consort Music

Tudor Musical Instruments

Sixteenth Century - 16th Century - History of Tudor Music - Information - Facts - Info - Era - Life - Entertainment - Tudors - Times - Life - History - Information - Facts - Info - Times - Musicians - Composers - Music - History - Information  - Facts - Info - Times - Musicians - Composers - Stringed and Keyboard - Written By Linda Alchin

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