Middle Ages Music

Middle Ages Music

By Mr. Gooding

About the Middle Ages

•Middle Ages, also called Medieval Period 400 AD- 1400 AD

•A time of warfare, religious devotion, and royal pageantry.​

•Three classes of people:​

• •First class- Nobility: Royals, Knights, rich landowners

• •Second class- Clergy: Priests and Monks

• •Third (lowest) class: Peasants: Anyone else. 

• The largest group. They were very poor and lived up to 30 years of age.

​•The Catholic Church, under the leadership of the Pope of Rome, was important part of life during this time.

​•Two types of music:

Sacred and Secular

Multiple Choice

The Middle Ages lasted for 1000 years.

• True

• False

Open Ended

Who make up the second class in the Middle Ages?

Open Ended

Who make up the Third Class in the Middle Ages?

Multiple Choice

Third Class in the Middle Ages lived up to 50 years of age.

• True

• False

Sacred Music

•Sacred Music=Religious Music

Mostly vocal music until 1100

•After 1100, the church allowed instruments to be played.

•The organ was the most popular then.

•Most notated music was sacred​

•Why? The church had control over learning.​

•Most composers were anonymous because they were taught that it was wrong to take credit and brag about their works. 

• They were taught that God would be unhappy with them.

​

Open Ended

Why most notated music were sacred music in the Middle Ages? (Write in Complete Sentences)

Open Ended

Why were most composers in the Middle Ages anonymous?

Sacred Music continued

•The earliest form of sacred music was called plainchant or plainsong.

•Plainsong- single melody (Monophony) with words in the Latin language.

​

•Melody was simple and the words are easily understood by others.

​

•Written without a fixed rhythm or meter.

​

•Words were part of Catholic liturgy (church service).

​

•The most well-known form of plain song is called Gregorian chant

​

•In honor of Pope Gregory the First

•The lyrics to songs were in Latin

Multiple Choice

Can you dance to Plainsong music?

• yes

• no

Gregorian Chant:

•Gregorian Chant: The earliest music of the Middle Ages was sung slowly and without rhythm or harmony. Everyone sang the same thing.

•These tunes are also called Gregorian Chant, which were named after Pope Gregory I.

​What notated music looked like

Notation of music in the Middle Ages is very different in Modern Times.

• The staff had four lines and three spaces

• people used Nuems: Square notes that are on a 4-line stave​

Open Ended

What is the difference between Middle Ages Notation and Modern Music Notation?

Secular Music

•Secular music: Non-Religious Music

•People called Minstrels sing songs of stories about life, love, and chivalry for entertainment.

•People called Troubadours traveled the country, singing their love songs. 

•They used drums, bagpipes, harps, and recorders.

•Secular music was simple and had one melody

•Tempo is usually faster than sacred music

•Songs are in common language instead of Latin

•Stringed and percussion instruments are often used.

Why do you think they didn’t notate their music?

​Replace this with a header

•Ballads were sung outside of churches and told stories.

​

•Topics included love, war, and heroes.

​

•Every other line rhymes within a verse–ABAB Form

​

​

•Verse One:                    Verse Two:

•…..A                               ….C

​•…..B                               ….D

•….A                                ….C

•….B                                ….D

Vocabulary for Middle Ages

•Monophonic music: Music with single melody

•Polyphonic music: Music with two or more melodies

•Sacred Music: Religious Music

•Secular Music: Non- Religious Music

•Neumes: Square notes on a 4 line staff

Open Ended

Neumes are..........

Open Ended

What is Polyphonic Music?

Instruments in the Middle Ages

•Voice

•Organ: A keyboard in which bellows forced air through pipes to make sound; Use primarily in churches.

•Kettle drums: used for battles, noble ceremonies, and secular music

​

•Bagpipes: Use for secular music

Harps and Lutes

​Stringed instruments; used by minstrels for secular music

​

​a reed woodwind with a distinct sound similar to the modern oboe

Shawm

​

​Used in noble ceremonies and battles

​​Valveless Trumpet

​

​Used for secular music

​​Recorders

Fill in the Blanks

Fill in the Blanks