Glossary of Medieval, Renaissance & Baroque Musical Instruments Contributed by Suzanne Levinson.   

Medieval  Citole, cet(e)ra: A wire-strung, plucked string instrument; the medieval form of the Renaissance cittern.

  Consort: An instrumental ensemble of two to eight players in 16th and 17th century England.  Course: A set of one to three strings tuned and played as one; the term is used for 16th to 18th century plucked instruments.  Duct Flute: A woodwind instrument blown at one end into a mouthpiece through a narrow passage and across the edge of a hole in the pipe. The upper end of the pipe is plugged by a block or a fipple. Fiddle: Any bowed instrument from the Middle Ages, beginning in the 11th century through the early Renaissance. The shapes included oval, elliptical, rectangular and spade-like. The normal playing position was on the shoulder or arm, but it was also played upright in the lap, like the viol. 

  

Jew’s Harp; Jaw’s Harp: A mouth-resonating percussion instrument composed of a single tongue of wood or metal fastened at one end to a U-shaped or keyhole frame. The player places the free end of the tongue in the front of the mouth and plucks it.  Kamanja, kamanche: A Persian bowed spike fiddle, dating from the end of 1 A.D., with a round or heart shaped body, long neck and spike, and two to four strings (originally silk) tuned a perfect 4th apart. It has also been called a rabab. Kithara: The most important plucked string instrument of Greco-Roman antiquity, larger and heavier than the lyre, which it resembles. The player held the instrument vertically resting upon the left side of the body. The classic kithara had seven strings and was used as a solo instrument and as accompaniment to song.  Lyre, lira: A string instrument whose strings are parallel to the soundboard and attached to a crossbar between two arms, extending beyond the soundboard. Along with the kithara, it was one of the most popular string instruments of Greco-Roman times. It had three strings, a pear-shaped body, and a broad neck without fingerboard.  Natural horn; slide trumpet: A brass instrument that lacks valves or keys and produces tones only in the harmonic series. A slide mechanism (additional tubing) is employed to increase the length and expand the variety of pitches produced. Pandora, pandoura: A Greco-Roman lute with a long, thick neck and small soundbox.  Pipa: A fretted, pear-shaped, short-necked lute of China. It has four silk strings and is held upright resting on the player’s lap. The strings are plucked with the fingernails of the right hand.  

Pipe and Tabor: A duck flute with three finger holes and a small snare from, both played by a single player, holding the pipe in the left hand and beating the tabor with a stick held in the left hand and beating the tabor with a stick held in the right. 

Psaltry: A plucked zither of medieval Europe with a flat, wooden sound box and a variable number of strings. Made in several shapes: trapezoidal, square, triangular, or pig’s snout (a trapezoidal with inward curving sides), it was popular from the 12th to 15th century. The psaltry descended from the ganun of the 11th and 12th centuries. 

 

Qanun: A plucked zither of the Middle East. It has 50 – 100 strings of metal, gut or nylon strung in three courses over a trapezoidal or half trapezoidal box. It was held in the lap horizontally and plucked or strummed.

 

Rebec: A bowed string instrument derived from the ancient rabab and documented in Europe in the 13th century. Used during the Middle Ages and Renaissance, it had a pear-shaped body, short, narrow neck, and three gut strings. It was played either vertically on the lap or on the shoulder with an outcurved bow. .

 

 Shawn: A conical-bore, double-reed woodwind instrument, used extensively in European music from late 13th

–17th century; ancestor to the oboe. It was made in seven sizes and performed in court ceremonial music and town bands. Its difference from the oboe is a pirouette (lip rest) below the reed to support the player’s lip.

 

 

Tablature: Musical notation using letters, numbers, or diagrams to specify pitch, rather than the conventional Western staff notation. Ud: A Middle Eastern, short necked, fretless lute with a bulging, pear-shaped body, and strings in double courses. Known since the 7th century, it has a shorter neck than the European lute and is played with a plectrum (a piece horn, tortise shell, plastic, quill or ivory) in monophonic style.

 Vielle: A term used for any variety of bowed string instruments of the Middle Ages, including the viol, fiddle, and vielle a roué, the hurdy gurdy. 

Vihuela: A large, waisted string instrument of Medieval and Renaissance Spain. Three varieties include vihuela de arco (bowed), vihuela de penola (plucked with quill) and vihuela la man (plucked with fingers). The latter became the most popular term. Similar to the lute in tuning, it was used for dances, accompaniment, and solo pieces. 

   Viola di fagotto: A bowed string instrument with the tuning and range of the cello but played on the arm like a viola. Some of its strings were overspun in copper, producing a buzzing sound like a bassoon.  Violetta: A term used in 1553 to describe an early form of violin; a three-string instrument without frets. In the 17th and 18th centuries, it refers to the viola.

 

Violone: In the 16th century it referred to any viol. After 1600, it was used to denote any bass or contrabass viol. In the early 18th century, it was sometimes designated the violoncello.  Whistle: A small, end-blown pipe, usually a duct flute, made of wood, cane, metal, or plastic. Zither: Any class of string instruments in which the strings are stretched over and run the length of the body that resonates. They may be plucked, bowed, struck, or set into vibration by the wind as Aeolian harps.

Renaissance Instruments

Bagpipe: A wind instrument in which one or more of the reedpipes are attached to a windbag made of animal skins. One or two pipes, called chanters, have finger holes and play melodies. The other pipes, called drones, have no finger holes and sound a single pitch. The Scottish Highland pipe has been in existence since the 16th century. The English type is the bellows-blown Northumbrian pipe. In France, the bellows-blown musette was fashionable in the 17th and 18th centuries.

Ceterone: A large cittern with extra bass strings like the theorbo, used during the late 16th and throughout the 17th century.

Chittarone: A large bass lute developed in Italy during the 16th century. Larger than the theorbo, it was designed as an accompanying instrument; however, a solo repertory exists.

Cittern: A small, wire-strung, quill plucked string instrument, second in popularity to the lure. It was designed in the late 15th century Italy from the “citole, cetra” to fill the role of the ancient “kithara.” The body is pear shaped with a flat back and a top bearing an ornate rosette of Gothic style.

Crumhorn; Krumhorn: A wind-cap, double reed woodwind instrument of the 16th and 17th centuries. It has a narrow cylindrical bore and is shaped like the letter J. Among the most common of its several sizes were the alto, tenor, and extended bass. Developed in 15th century Italy, it was played by court musicians and in larger town bands.

Curtal, dulcian: A double-reed wind instrument, ancestor of the bassoon, developed in the mid-16th century. It has a single U-tube and conical bore. There were 5 sizes; soprano, alto, tenor, bass and great bass.

Harpsichord: A stringed keyboard instrument, distinguished from the clavichord and piano by its strings being plucked by a quill. It had two keyboards and three sets of strings. Used from the 16th to 18th centuries and revived since, it was the chief chord playing instrument of the continuo parts and enjoyed substantial solo literature. The oldest surviving one is Italian, dating 1515.

Harp: A plucked instrument in which the plane of the strings is perpendicular to the soundboard. Normally triangular in shape, all harps have a resonator, neck, and strings. Renaissance harps had buzzing mechanisms (brays) attached near one end of the string. 16th century harps had two rows of strings producing four octaves, as the Italian arpa doppia.

Hurdy-Gurdy: A viol-shaped string instrument containing a set of melody and drone strings, a wooden wheel which acts as a bow, and a keyboard. It can also be called a barrel organ or barrel piano.

Lira da braccio: A bowed string instrument shaped like a violin, used by courtly Italian poet-musicians of the 15th and 16th centuries.

 Lute: A plucked string instrument with an oblong, rounded body, a short, fretted neck, and a flat soundboard featuring a rosette. Its predecessors are the Pandora and the ud. During the Renaissance, it was the dominant musical instrument for song accompaniment, dance music, consort music, and continuo parts. John Dowland, the leading lute virtuoso, composed many solo pieces; all lute music was written in tablature.

Mandolin: A small pear-shaped string instrument with a round back and a short neck developed from the 16th century mandora (an early lute). Originally having gut strings which were changed to metal, it had a playing style of using a tremelo to produce sustained tones.

Recorder: A woodwind instrument with seven finger holes, a thumb hole, and end-blown through a whistle or fipple mouthpiece. It was also known as a fipple flute, blockflote, or English flute. Originating in Italy in the 14th century, the recorder family includes sopranino, soprano, alto, tenor, bass, great bass, and contrabass. During the Renaissance, it was used primarily as a consort instrument but was given solo work in the Baroque period.

Sackbut: A long, narrow brass instrument with tube ends folded to overlap the center. Derived from the medieval trumped (the buisine), this early trombone appeared in Southern France and Northern Italy in the 15th century. Popular during the 16th and 17th centuries, it was traditionally played in groups of three (alto, tenor, and bass) in town and court bands with cornets for church services.

Sordun; sourdine: The early form of bassoon, also known as a courtaut. This wind instrument first appeared in the late 16th century and was made in several sizes. Sounding similar to the crumhorn, it had 12 finger holes, sometimes controlled by keys.

Trumpet - No valves which limited the number of notes that could be played.

Viol: Family of bowed string instruments popular in the 16th to 18th centuries. They have a fretted fingerboard, variable number of strings (usually six), and a body with sloping shoulders, broad ribs, and a flat back. It was made in different sizes and played upright, the larger ones resting between the knees. The bass viol, also known as the viola da gamba, was the precursor to the cello.

 

Viola bastardo: An Italian 16th and early 17th century small bass viol.

Viola da braccio: A 16th and 17th century bowed string instrument played played on the arm; later the term came to apply mainly to the viola.

 

Viola da gamba: A 16th and 17th century bowed string instrument played on or between the legs; any members of the viol family. It became a term closely associated to the bass viol, ancesto and cello. The modern cello has four strings, an end pin, and is bowed palm downward, as opposed to the gamba, which has six or seven strings, was held between the legs, and played in an underhand position.

Clavichord, Harpsichord, Violin, Flute (ebony or boxwood), Recorder, Oboe, Trompre Dauphine (Hunting Horn)

Baroque Instruments1600-1750

Archlute: A lute with two pegboxes, one of which has unfretted bass strings; it usually had 13 or 14 courses (single or double sets of strings). Invented by Alessandro Piccinini in 1623, it was used in Italy for solo and continuo playing from 1623 – 1730. In England it became an alternative to the theorbo.

Bandora: A wire-strung, plucked instrument with a festooned outline, invented by John Rose of London in 1562. A bass instrument originally with six courses but a seventh was added in the 17th century. It was used to accompany the first printed English solo songs (1596) and was one of the continuo instruments in a mixed consort.

Chamber Organ: An organ of modest size (usually four to seven stops) with a single keyboard, no pedals, and blown from a single wedge-shaped bellows, operated by the player’s foot. Popular in the 17th to early 19th centuries, it was intended for domestic use.

Continuo, thoroughbass: An independent bass line continuing throughout a piece, in which harmonies are improvised on keyboard or other chord-playing instruments. It was used during the Baroque period (1600 – 1750)Theorbo: A large, six course bass lute with an additional set of seven or eight contrabass strings. In total there are 13 or 14 sets of strings. Developed in the late 16th century to provide accompaniment for a new style of

singing (musica recitativa), it was quickly adopted throughout Europe and used as a continuo instrument in larger ensembles.

Courtaut, courtaud: A 17th century double-reed woodwind instrument of cylindrical bore.

Baroque Bassoon

Harp: A plucked instrument in which the plane of the strings is perpendicular to the soundboard. Normally triangular in shape, all harps have a resonator, neck, and strings. The single action pedal harp was developed in the 18th century.

Oboe: A conical-bode, double-reed woodwind instrument with a flared bell, descended from the Renaissance shawm. It originated c1660 at the French court by the elder Jean Hottreterre. The oboe da caccia is a mid 18th century tenor oboe with a large, open bell, predecessor of the cor anglais (English horn). Transverse Flute, cross flute: A German term denoting a side-blown flute as opposed to the end-blown recorder. During the mid-17th century woodwind instruments were redesigned, so the transverse flute acquired an additional key and a reverse conical bor. In 1850, Theobold Boehm invented the modern flute, which has additional keys, separate tone holes for each note, and an embochure hole (lip palate).

Viola d’amore: A bowed string instrument of the late 17th and 18th centuries, approximately the size of a viola and played on the shoulder, but having the body of a viol and provided with sympathetic strings (seven gut strings and seven metal sympathetic strings).

Viola pomposa: A bowed string instrument with five strings, played on the arm, between 1725 and 1770. Larger than a viola, it was used in Baroque works for high violoncello passages.

Violino piccolo: A small violin of the 17th and 18th centuries; its strings tuned higher than the violin. Violoncello piccolo: A small cello used in the early 18th century, called for in several of Bach’s cantatas.

Double Bass -Some early basses were conversions of existing violones. This 1640 painting shows a violone being played.

Clavichord, Baroque Guitar, Viola, Cello

CLASSICAL PERIOD INSTRUMENTS – 1750 – ca. 1820

Bassett Clarinet -The basset clarinet is a clarinet similar to the usual soprano clarinet but longer and with additional keys to enable playing several additional lower notes. The basset clarinet was most notably associated with the clarinet virtuoso Anton Stadler (1753-1812), a contemporary and good friend of Mozart.

Bassett Horn - Like the clarinet, the instrument is a wind instrument with a single reed and a cylindrical bore. However, the basset horn is larger and has a bend near the mouthpiece rather than an entirely straight body (older instruments are typically curved or bent in the middle), and while the clarinet is typically a transposing instrument in B♭ or A the basset horn is typically in F. Finally, the basset horn has additional keys for an extended range down to written C, which sounds F at the bottom of the bass staff. Its timbre is similar to the clarinet's, but darker.

Clarinette d'amour- The clarinette d'amour is a musical instrument, a member of the clarinet family. In comparison with the B♭ and A soprano clarinets, the clarinette d'amour had a similar shape and construction, but was larger, usually pitched in G. (Examples in A♭ and F are also known.) However, it had proportionally smaller tone holes and bore, and a pear-shaped or sometimes globular bell (called 'Liebesfuß') similar to that of the cor anglais; these features gave the instrument its distinctive timbre.

It first appeared around the middle of the 18th century and was popular in central Europe, but was regarded as obsolete by the mid 19th century. It has been conjectured that the basset horn, which shares the features of low pitch and small bore, was developed from the clarinette d'amour.

Clarinet - Johann Christoph Denner is generally believed to have invented the clarinet in Germany around the year 1700 by adding a register key to the earlier chalumeau. Over time, additional keywork and airtight pads were added to improve the tone and playability.

Chalumeau - The chalumeau plural chalumeaux;  kalamos, meaning "reed") is a single-reed woodwind instrument of the late baroque and early classical eras. The chalumeau is a folk instrument that is the predecessor to the modern-day clarinet. It has a cylindrical bore with eight tone holes.

Clavichord - The clavichord is a European stringed keyboard instrument known from the late Medieval, through the Renaissance, Baroque and Classicaleras. Historically, it was mostly used as a practice instrument and as an aid to composition, not being loud enough for larger performances (a problem that was solved when the Clavinet was invented in the mid-20th century). The clavichord produces sound by striking brass or iron strings with small metal blades called tangents. Vibrations are transmitted through the bridge(s) to the soundboard. The clavichord was invented in the early fourteenth century.[1][2] In 1504, the German poem "Der Minne Regeln" mentions the terms clavicimbalum (a term used mainly for the harpsichord) and clavichordium, designating them as the best instruments to accompany melodies.

Fortepiano - Fortepiano [ˌfɔrteˈpjaːno] designates the early version of the piano, from its invention by the Italian

instrument maker Bartolomeo Cristofori. The fortepiano has leather-covered hammers and thin, harpsichord-like

strings. It has a much lighter case construction than the modern piano and, except for later examples of the early nineteenth century (already evolving towards the modern piano), it has no metal frame or bracing. The action and hammers are lighter, giving rise to a much lighter touch, which in well-constructed fortepianos is also very responsive.

The range of the fortepiano was about four octaves at the time of its invention and gradually increased. Mozart (1756–1791) wrote his piano music for instruments of about five octaves. The piano works of Beethoven (1770–1827) reflect a gradually expanding range; his last piano compositions are for an instrument of about six octaves. (The range of most modern pianos, attained in the 19th century, is 7⅓ octaves.)

Fortepianos from the start had devices similar to the pedals of modern pianos, but these were not always pedals; sometimes hand stops or knee levers were used instead.

Pipe Organ -  the organ is a keyboard instrument of one or more pipe divisions, each played with its own keyboard, played either with the hands on a keyboard or with the feet using pedals. The organ is a relatively old musical instrument,[2] dating from the time of Ctesibius of Alexandria (285–222 BC), who invented the water organ. It was played throughout the Ancient Greek and Ancient Roman world, particularly during races and games.[3] During the early medieval period it spread from the Byzantine Empire, where it continued to be used in secular (non-religious) and imperial court music, to Western Europe, where it gradually assumed a prominent place in the liturgy of the Catholic Church.[3] Subsequently it re-emerged as a secular and recital instrument in the Classical music tradition.

Flute - During the 18th century, more keys were added and the length of the flute was extended. Pitch was not standardized in the whole period of the conical flute, and it was common to have interchangeable upper bodies (corps de rechange) to permit tuning to different standards. 

Oboe - The Classical period brought an oboe whose bore was gradually narrowed, and the instrument became outfitted with several keys, among them were those for the notes D-sharp, F, and G-sharp. 

Bassoon - At the beginning of the classical period still there can be seen Bach’s

effects so early examples bassoon still was continued to use as a bass line but with 3 great musicians Haydn, Mozart and Beethoven created their own styles and gave more importance for changing orchestral structure.

Viola - The modern viola was developed around the same time as the violin, in the mid-fifteenth century. Originally thought to have been developed by Gaspara da Salo, earlier violas have been found proving this theory untrue. During the classical period of music, composers viewed the viola as a lesser instrument, writing music only out of a sense of tradition. It was not until the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries that composers started to write better parts for violas, realizing the instrument could provide interesting music of its own.

Early Classical Orchestra

Conductor was added in the Classical Period - none before then.

Late Classical Era Orchestra

Trombone - Finally called a Trombone instead of a Sackbut. The use of the trombone in

the Classical era was mostly limited to Austria, where the repertoire of trombone solo and chamber literature has its beginnings with composers such as Leopold Mozart, Georg Christoph Wagenseil, Johann Albrechtsberger and Johann Ernst Eberlin who were featuring the instrument, often in partnership with a voice.

Joseph Haydn and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart used the trombones in a number of their sacred works, including two extended duets with voice from Mozart, the best known being in theTuba Mirum of his Requiem. Mozart also used trombones in several of his operas. The inspiration for many of these works is thought due to the virtuosic players in the courts at Vienna andSalzburg, including Thomas Gschladt and several members of a family named Christian.

The trombone retained its traditional associations with the opera house and the Church during the 18th century and was usually employed in the usual alto/tenor/bass trio to support the lower voices of the chorus, though Viennese court orchestra Kapellmeister Johann Joseph Fux rejected an application from a bass trombonist in 1726 and restricted the use of trombones to alto and tenor only, which remained the case almost until the turn of the 19th century in Vienna, after which time a second tenor trombone was added when necessary.

The construction of the trombone changed relatively little between the Baroque and Classical periods with the most obvious feature being the slightly more flared bell.

The first use of the trombone as an independent instrument in a symphony was in the Symphony in E♭ (1807) by the

Swedish composer Joachim Nicolas Eggert.[5] The composer typically credited with the trombone's introduction into the symphony orchestra, however, was Ludwig van Beethoven, who used it in the last movement of his Symphony No. 5 in C minor (1808). Beethoven also used trombones in his Symphony No. 6 in F major ("Pastoral") and Symphony No. 9 ("Choral").

Cello -  The size was finally standardized by 1750.

Romantic Instruments Buccin - The buccin is a visually distinctive trombone popularized in military bands in France between 1810–

1845 which subsequently faded into obscurity. It should not be confused with another instrument of the same name, revived in France in 1791 and modeled after the ancient Romanbuccina which could deliver only four distinct notes.

Arnold Myers, in the Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians (second edition, 2001) devotes but two sentences to this type of buccin: “A form oftrombone with a bell terminating in a stylized serpent’s or dragon’s head, often with a metal tongue, free to flap, protruding. Berlioz scored for buccin in the Kyrie and 'Resurrexit' of his Messe solennelle of 1824.”

The sound of the buccin is something of a cross between a trombone and a French horn. At soft volumes it has a very warm, delicate sound because the bell is made of hammered tin or very thin brass. But it is also capable of an extreme fortissimo. Not everyone agrees on how to pronounce the name of the instrument, with variants including “boo-san”, “bue-san”, “boo-seen”, "buk-kin" and “buck-sin.”