Stringed instruments during the Middle Ages were larger than their counterparts we use today. One instrument that went through significant changes in the way that it was played during the Middle Ages was the dulcimer (dull-sim-err). The dulcimer is a large, board-like instrument covered in strings of different lengths to produce different tones. Originally, the instrument had to be plucked like a lute – the ancestor of the guitar – but once metal strings became cheaper and easier to make, they were hit with small hammers. The way the hammered dulcimer – as it was now called – operates is like a piano, in that a piano has eighty-eight small hammers that pound on small metal strings to produce tones. 
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Another stringed instrument we will look at is the vielle, a predecessor of the violin. The vielle was a large, handheld instrument that was played much like a violin, with a bow. The vielle was shaped a bit like a figure-8 and could have different numbers of strings. In the image below, you can see a three-stringed vielle.
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The different instruments used in the Middle Ages were all varied and had different uses. Even though some of them may look strange, there is no denying the connection between the instruments used then and those used now. Learning about where our musical instruments came from helps us to appreciate them all a lot more.
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    Medieval music is divided into three periods: early medieval music, high medieval music, and late medieval music. Early medieval music was mostly composed of chants or what is called ‘plainsong’ which is just the combination of the words ‘plain’ and ‘song’. This song was a single melody without an accompanied harmony, like we see in more modern music. Eventually, chants would incorporate another voice in parallel above the first voicing. This was called “organum” and is the prelude to modern counterpoint and harmony.
    High medieval music was more advanced than the previous plainsong of the early period. In this time, there were poet-musicians called Goliards who wrote and sang songs in Latin. Many of the songs at this time were religious, but the Goliards sang songs about everyday life among other topics. Many of these lyrics have survived in the medieval text The Carmina Burana, although the music itself did not. At this time, professional musicians called troubadours (troo-buh-doors) and trouvères (troo-ver-ays) were developing more complex melodies but were removed from the religious tradition of older music. Troubadours wrote music that was for the common people, using common language. Many of their melodies survive to this day.
    Late medieval music was incredibly diverse. As the groups of people who made the music got more advanced, so did the music itself. In fact, music began to get so specific in different parts of the world that different countries began making their own kinds of music. In France, they began working with a practice called ‘Ars nova’ which means “new art”. In this new art secular (meaning non-church) music gained a more advanced type of melody. Even though this term mostly applies to French music, it is often used to describe all music from this part of history. In Italy, their musical movement was called ‘Trecento’. Much of the musical traditions of this time would continue into the next major time period, the Renaissance. 
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In our last blog about articulations in music, we explored detached staccato notes, fermata pauses, and legato slurs. In this blog, we will be looking at the less common of musical articulation notations. 
Remember from last time that articulations in music are important in that they tell us how to read and play the music. They are an extension of the composer and knowing how to read them will help you play, read, or sing music more accurately.

Articulations in music are incredibly important to learn about because they are signs which show the composer’s intention for how a piece of music should be played, read, or sung. Ignoring articulation marks will change the nature of a piece of music entirely. Practice reading articulation markings in the music you play.

One thing you will often see when reading and playing music are articulations. Articulations in music are ways of showing how a set of notes should be played with respect to pitch, duration, or dynamic. One way to think about articulations in music is that they serve as a sort of punctuation in music. In the same way that punctuation in writing tells you whether a sentence is a statement – with a period – a question – with a question mark – or a loud exclamation – with an exclamation mark, articulations in music help us to read and play music. Articulations in music are important because they change the way we play or sing the music. 
In this two-part blog series, we will explore all the articulations in music, starting with staccato.

Being one of the most common articulations in music, staccato is one of the musical articulations you’ll want to master quickly. Stacatto means (when translated) “short” or “detached” and is notated with a dot either above or below the note. 
Stacatto notes are not held for the entire duration of the note but shortened to help detach it from the next note in line. Let’s look at an example.

In the example, you can see a series of notes. These notes are each notated with a staccato musical articulation. That means that each of these notes would be played shorter than their notated length.

​Another common articulation in music is the slur also known as legato. Legato is a word which means “smooth” or “together”. Legato expressions tells us that notes should be played continuously together without any gap in the notes.
Legato phrasings are shown with a curved line we also call a phrase mark. Let’s look at an example.

​In the image above, you can see that the phrase mark follows the quarter notes, showing that they should be played together smoothly.

Fermata is a word which translates to “pause” and is indicated with a dot and a crescent above the note. It can be seen as somewhat the opposite of staccato. This articulation in music shows that the  note should be held longer than the time written in the music. Because of its special job, it is the only articulation mark in music which changes the beat of the song.