List of European medieval musical instruments

This is a list of medieval musical instruments used in European music during the Medieval period. It covers the period from before 1150 to 1400 A.D. There may be some overlap with Renaissance musical instruments; Renaissance music begins in the 15th century.

Percussion

Names and variations	Description	Ethnic connections, regions	Pictures
Adufe^[1]	A frame drum brought to Iberia by Muslims and played mainly by women.^[2] Used in the charamba in Portugal, a circle dance for couples.^[2] The adufe is a square or rectangular frame drum usually made of pine, over which is mounted a goat's skin. The size of the frame usually ranges from 12 to 22 inches on each side, and 1 to 2 inches thick. The skin is stitched on the sides, with the stitches covered by a coloured ribbon. In the interior small seeds or small stones are placed to make pleasing sounds.	Iberia Portugal Spain	Musicians, Crusader Bible, MS M.638, fol. 29r	1240s A.D., France. An adulf (square held over the group's head) Circa 1320, Barcelona. Woman playing an adufe, from an illustration in the Golden Haggadah.
Bells				Bell table
Bumbulum (legendary)
Clappers cliquettes	Clappers from the Carolingian Empire appear to have been disks or possibly chimes attached to sticks. Other versions were blocks of wood held in the palms. The palm-held blocks could make clicking and rattle noises like castanets. Other similar instruments worldwide include the Thai/Cambodian krap sepha, Indian/Nepali khartal, Uzbek/Tajik qairaq, or North African krakebs.		795 A.D., France or Germany. Carved ivory bookcover, showing man playing clappers, from the Dagulf psalter Circa 850 A.D. Musicians in the Utrecht Psalter holding a lyre and clappers.	Circa 1250 A.D. Crusader Bible (MS M.638, fol. 39r) cropped for cliquettes. Also a bell and a clarinet. 1280 A.D. Cliquettes or clappers (in the woman's hands) from the Musician's Codex, Cantigas de Santa Maria.
Cymbals			970 A.C. Cymbals in the Valcavado Beaus, Spain	Cymbals in the Golden Haggadah, circa 1320
*Frame drum
Jew's harp^[3]
Nakers				Troubadors playing nakers and vielle, from the Olomouc Bible, folio 276R
Pandeiro^[4]
Tabor Pipe and tabor	A three-hole pipe or reed pipe paired with a snare drum, the musician playing both at once. A variation of this is the Tambourine de Bearn, in which a dulcimer or string drum replaces the snare drum.		Pipe and tabor, from the Cantigas de Santa Maria, circa 1280 A.D.	Pipe and tabor Tambourine de Bearn. This instrument is still used in Basque-language areas in Spain, called the ttun-ttun.
Tof Timbrel^[5] Tambourine	Tof was the Hebrew instrument which Miriam played, "most commonly translated" into English as timbrel^[6] Near eastern origin, used by Gauls, Greeks, Romans (tympanum), Egyptians, Assyrians. ^[7] Jingles were probably originally separate from this instrument.^[7] Also related to Daff.^[7]		1300-1325 Belgium/Netherlands. Angel with tambourine in Maastricht Book of Hours, folio 129R	1320 A.D., Barcelona, from the Golden Haggadah; Miriam was known for playing the timbrel
Triangle				Musician plays triangle in Olomouc Bible, folio 276R

String instruments

Names and variations	Description	Pictures
Citole^[8]^[9]			Circa 1310 A.D. Citole from the Robert de Lisle Psalter.
Dulcimer Hammer dulcimer	A box zither; see psaltery. "Little is known of the dulcimer before the mid-15th century."^[10] Earliest known depiction is on ivory carving for book cover, 12th century A.D.^[10]^[11]		Hammer Dulcimer in painting Assumption of Mary by Bartolomeo della Gatta, circa 1473.
Fiddle see also Gusle Kemenche Kemenche of the Black Sea Kemane of Cappadocia Shikepshine Lijerica Lyra Byzantine lyra Calabrian lira politiki lyra Cretan lyra Gadulka Gudok Pochette Rebec Rabel Vielle Vihuela de arco			Fiddle from Theodore Psalter, folio 191R, 11th century A.D., Byzantine Empire
Gittern^[9]
Guitarra latina	One writer has summed up the guitarra latina, which is not well defined, saying "For musicians in Alfonso’s time it may have meant only 'a plucked stringed instrument: not the Muslim one.'"^[12]	Instrument on left has been called guitarra latina and citole. Instrument on right has been called guitarra morisca (Moorish guitar) and vihuela peñola (quill plucked guitar).	Fiddle at left could be called a vielle. Instrument on left has been called both guitarra latina and citole.
Guitarra morisca^[13]		unknown guitarra unknown guitarra	Possible guitarras morisca. The Moors (if they mean Africans) had a tradition of wood-bowed lutes covered with leather. Arab/Persian Muslims had a different carved wood with leather tradition (barbat and gambus). Either group was called Moors in Spain.
Medieval harp (Medieval form of the modern harp)			Harp from Theodore Psalter, 11th century A.D., Byzantine Empire
Lute^[14]		Rebec or rebab (left), lute right.
Lyra Byzantine lyra Cretan lyra	Fiddle, related to rebec	Later versions of the Cretan lyra, from a museum in Athens.	Circa 900 – 1100 A.D. Lyra on a Byzantine ivory casket, Museo Nazionale, Florence
Lyre		Five-string lyre from the Durham Cassiodorus, 8th-century A.D., England	King David with his lyre, Vespasian Psalter, 8th century A.D.
Organistrum (large form of medieval hurdy-gurdy) Hurdy-gurdy Nyckelharpa Symphonia		Possible symphonia, a name that meant hurdy-gurdy or organstrum from the 12th century on.^[15]
Psaltery			1280 A.D. Cantigas de Santa Maria. Psaltery being played with two hands, probably base at bottom to treble strings higher.
Rabel	Fiddle, probably variation of rebec. Survives today in Basque speaking areas; historically had leather soundboard; modern instruments may have wooden soundboard. The instrument traveled to the Spanish colonies in America, where it can be found today in Panama.	Modern Galacian rabel Rabel or possibly rebec. Line around edge of soundboard indicates this instrument had a skin soundboard. Musicians from the arch of the 12th entury A.D. West portal of Santo Domingo Church, Soria, Spain Rabel from Cantabria, at the Ethnographic Museum of Cantabria	Unnamed fiddle. Possibly rabel or vihuela de arco or rebec. Santiago Catedral Quintana 18th century, Cantabria. Rabel constructed in area where tradition still existed. Asturias. An arrabita or rabela (Basque) with a wooden resonance box in the shape of a figure 8 and a leather cover. It has three gut strings. The bow has a string of white bristles. Rabel at the Ethnographic Museum of Cantabria
Rebab Rabé morisco	Rebab is a word for various kinds of fiddle in the Muslim world. Spelling is loose, because Arabic does not write down vowels sounds. Rabab, rebab, rubab, ribab have all been used, and some of them are used for plucked instruments in Asia as well.	Bowed instrument resembling Maghreb rebabs. Spanish and Catalonian names for this include Rebac and Rabel (both are instruments played on the arm, rather than the knee), but its shape closely resembles these. circa 1437. Angel or possiby Mary, Queen of Heaven playing a rebab. Panel of the Altarpiece of Santa María la Mayor of Albalate del Arzobispo (province of Teruel). It is preserved in the Museum of Zaragoza.	Rebabs from 1280 A.D. that resemble modern Maghreb rebabs. These have also been called rabé morisco (Moorish rebecs). Instrument seen only in Cantigas de Santa Maria. Resembles guitarra but is played vertically like a rebab or a later viol (viola de gamba or vihuela de gamba). Unlike these, it is shown played vertically while standing.
Rebec^[16]			Modern rebec
Rotte
Vielle			Possible vielles. Could also be vihuela de arco
Vihuela de arco Vihuela de arco pequeña (small bowed vihuela)	The vihuela de arco may be a variant of the vielle. Spain had a variety of fiddles (which predate the violin) in the cathedral artwork and manuscript miniatures.	Possibly the vihuela de arco (bowed vihuela) and vihuela de penola (quill plucked vihuela) The bowed instrument could be called a vielle	Vihuela de arco (bowed vihuela). The downward bowed fiddles came to be called Viols, as in Viola de gamba (viol of the legs). Vihuela was the Spanish name, and in Spain the vihuelas became plucked more than bowed. Spain, "second third of 10th century".^[17] Vihuelas de arco or Violas de arco played with a bow. From Commentary on the Apocalypse, Codice VITR 14.1.^[18]
Zither

Wind instruments

Names and variations	Description	Pictures	Pictures
Albogón^[19]	Double-reed instrument or type of shawm, possibly adapted from Muslim al-buq horn.^[20]		1280 A.D., Spain. Cantigas de Santa Maria, Codex of the Musicians, folio 268v. Instrument called Albogón.^[19]^[20]
Alboka	Spanish hornpipe. The musician blowns into a horn cup, which channels his breath through one or more single reeds. Each reed is connected to pipe with fingerholes.	Modern alboka. This one was constructed in a the Basque region of Spain or Southern France.	1280 A.D., folio 304v from the Musician's Codex, Cantigas de Santa Maria. Depiction of alboka.
Bagpipes^[21] Bellows pipe Zampogna		1280 A.D., Spain. Bagpipes in the Cantigas de Santa Maria, Musician's Codex	1280 A.D., Spain. Bagpipes in the Cantigas de Santa Maria, Musician's Codex, folio 330. 1280 A.D., Spain. Bagpipes in the Cantigas de Santa Maria, Musician's Codex.
Bladder pipe		1280 A.D., Spain. Bladder pipes in the Cantigas de Santa Maria, Musician's Codex, folio 209R.	1280 A.D., Spain. Bladder pipes in the Cantigas de Santa Maria, Musician's Codex, folio 277R.
Bombard	Bagpipe of Brittany
Buisine Anafil Nafir	Europeans used horns for trumpets until adapting the Muslim nafir. It was renamed the anafil in Spain and the buisine in France. Europeans developed the instrument further into the herald trumpet or clarion near the end of the medieval period.	Utrecht Psalter, 9th century, France. Horns showing signs of assembly (bands around outside) into the shape of cows horns.	1280 A.D., Spain. Anafils in the Cantigas de Santa Maria.
Clarion Fanfare trumpet Herald trumpet	Clarion today implies high, angelic, pealing notes. That sound was developed, however, as Europeans began to learn to shape and bend sheet-metal tubes. Earlier Europeans showed angels playing horns.	1248 A.D., Italy. Angels playing trumpets. Trumpets before the anafil were horns or were constructed of wood. Larger instruments kept the cattle-horn shape. Circa 1255 A.D., England or France. The Seventh Seal: The Distribution of the Seven Trumpets and The Altar Censed. From Apocalypse Picture Book. The top trumpets have fingerholes and could be cornetts.	1511, England. Heralds, including John Blanke, with clarions or herald trumpets. Circa 1412, France. Clarion trumpet, buisine trumpet, 2 shawms
Cornett	Although known mainly in the 1500ss-1600s, cornett-like instruments were known in the medieval period. Possibilities for medieval horns include long sheep horns. Possibly the instruments depicted in illustrations are hornpipes, long reeds made into pipes with fingerholes and attached to horns.	Cornett or fingerhole horn.	1000-1050 A.D., Harley Psalter, England. From the left a fingerhole horn/trumpet, harp, fingerhole horn/trumpet, lute. Harley Psalter; art copied or inspired from earlier Utrecht Psalter.
Crumhorn
Flageolet
Flute			1280 A.D., Spain. Transverse flute in the Cantigas de Santa Maria, Musician's Codex.
Gemshorn	Fingerhole horn, related to cornett.		Gemshorn.
Horn Blowing horn Hunting horn Signal horn Battle horn Olifant	Trumpets made from cattle horns (or from other materials and shaped like cattle horns). Carved ivory horns of this style were called oliphants.	Adarra (Basque, horn) 11th century A.D., Italy. Olifant, ivory hunting horn.	1280 A.D., Spain. Possible horns in the Cantigas de Santa Maria, Musician's Codex, folio 243V. Horns appear to have mouthpieces; possible shawms (with a disk at the mouth, where a reed goes into the mouth), but shawms would have fingerholes.^[22] Basque blowing a horn.
Organ
Portative Organ			1280 A.D., Spain. Portative organ in the Cantigas de Santa Maria, Musician's Codex, folio 185V
Recorder
Reed pipes Clarinet Launeddas Zummara	Europeans made pipes out of reeds, splitting a reed to make a single reed. A single 3-hole reed pipe could be used for the pipe and tabor. The Launeddas was a more elaborate reed pipe, with multiple pipes; each might have its own reed or one reed might sound multiple pipes. Reed pipe traditions around the world include Asia, Southeast Asia, the Middle East and Africa.	1280 A.D., Spain. Single-reed pipes, held together as a pair, called zummara. Cantigas de Santa Maria, Musician's Codex, folio 350R.	1280 A.D., Spain. Reed pipes, possibly a launeddas, in the Cantigas de Santa Maria, Musician's Codex. The illustration shows multiple pipes sounded by a single reed.
Sackbut^[23]	Renaissance instrument, ancestor of the trombone. Medieval variant was clarion
Shawm^[24] oboe	Double-reed instruments. The reed bundle is inserted through a disk (used for breath control, for uninterrupted sound, playing while the musician breathes.)	Shawm and clappers in the Cantigas de Santa Maria, Musician's Codex, folio 330.	Shawms in the Cantigas de Santa Maria, Musician's Codex, folio 350R. Shawms in the Cantigas de Santa Maria, Musician's Codex, folio 276V.
Tabor Pipe	A 3-hole reed pipe, played with the tabor; the combination is called pipe and tabor.		Circa 1240smThe Morgan Bible, Folio 25. Pipe and bell. Like the tabor pipe, this is played with one hand, while the other hand plays a different instrument.

Gallery

References

^ Gutwirth, Eleazar (1998). "Music, Identity and the Inquisition in Fifteenth-Century Spain". Early Music History. 17: 161–181. doi:10.1017/S0261127900001637. ISSN 0261-1279. JSTOR 853882.
^ ^a ^b Schechter, John M. (1984). "Adulfe". In Sadie, Stanley (ed.). The New Grove Dictionary of Musical Instruments. Vol. 1. p. 25.
^ The Jew's harp : a comprehensive anthology. Leonard Fox. Lewisburg: Bucknell University Press. 1988. ISBN 0-8387-5116-4. OCLC 16356799.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link)
^ Mauricio Molina (2006). Frame Drums in the Medieval Iberian Peninsula. pp. 101–. ISBN 978-0-542-85095-0. Retrieved 25 December 2012.
^ "TIMBREL - JewishEncyclopedia.com". Jewishencyclopedia.com. Retrieved 2016-05-13.
^ Sadie, Stanley, ed. (1984). "Timbrel". The New Grove Dictionary of Musical Instruments. Vol. 3. p. 585.
^ ^a ^b ^c Sadie, Stanley, ed. (1984). "Tambourine". The New Grove Dictionary of Musical Instruments. Vol. 3. p. 511.
^ [1] ^{[dead link]}
^ ^a ^b Baker, Paul. "The Gittern and Citole". Retrieved 4 December 2016.
^ ^a ^b Kettlewell, David (1984). "Dulcimer". In Sadie, Stanley (ed.). The New Grove Dictionary of Musical Instruments. Vol. 1. p. 627.
^ "A marvel in gold and ivory: Queen Melisende's Psalter". 26 May 2022. [Caption for photograph of the book cover. The dulcimer is in bottom right corner of book-cover carving] The Melisende Psalter, Upper cover with scenes from the life of David: Egerton MS 1139/1
^ Bouterse, Curt. "Medieval Instruments V: Fiddles – Curt Bouterse".
^ Galpin, Francis William (1911). Old English Instruments of Music. Chicago: A. C. McClurg and Company. pp. 21–22.
^ "A Panoply of Instruments for Medieval, Renaissance, and Baroque Music". Music Educators Journal. 65 (9): 38–69. 1979. doi:10.2307/3395616. ISSN 0027-4321. JSTOR 3395616.
^ Brown, Howard Mayer (1984). "Symphonia". In Sadie, Stanley (ed.). The New Grove Dictionary of Musical Instruments. Vol. 3. p. 483.
^ Spohnheimer. "The Rebec". Music.iastate.edu. Archived from the original on 2016-05-04. Retrieved 2016-05-13.
^ "Título uniforme [In Apocalipsin] Title Beati in Apocalipsin libri duodecim". bdh.bne.es. BIBLIOTECA DIGITAL HISPÁNICA. Retrieved 10 December 2016.
^ "Título uniforme [In Apocalipsin] Title Beati in Apocalipsin libri duodecim". bdh.bne.es. Biblioteca Digital Hispánica. Retrieved 10 December 2016.
^ ^a ^b Centre Int. de la Música Medieval. "ALBOGÓN. Ms. b.I.2. fol. 268v. RBME. Cantiga de Santa María 388". youtube.com. [note: video of a modern recreation of the Albogón
^ ^a ^b Bouterse, Curt. "Medieval Instruments VI: Winds". Another unusual instrument depicted in the Cantigas is the albogón. This was derived from the Arabic al-buq, originally a generic word for horns and trumpets, but latterly restricted to horns. Supposedly, in the 10th century, during the reign of the Spanish Umayyad caliph, al-Hakam II, a horn was fitted with a double reed and fingerholes...Cantiga 300 shows a huge one being played, accompanied by an hourglass-shaped drum.
^ Jones, G. Fenwick (1949). "Wittenwiler's "Becki" and the Medieval Bagpipe". The Journal of English and Germanic Philology. 48 (2): 209–228. ISSN 0363-6941. JSTOR 27713052.
^ Bouterse, Curt. "Medieval Instruments VI: Winds".
^ Spohnheimer. "The Sacbut". Music.iastate.edu. Archived from the original on 2016-05-04. Retrieved 2016-05-13.
^ Spohnheimer. "The Renaissance Shawm". Music.iastate.edu. Archived from the original on 2016-05-25. Retrieved 2016-05-13.

[1] Gutwirth, Eleazar (1998). "Music, Identity and the Inquisition in Fifteenth-Century Spain". Early Music History. 17: 161–181. doi:10.1017/S0261127900001637. ISSN 0261-1279. JSTOR 853882.

[GroveAdulf-2] Schechter, John M. (1984). "Adulfe". In Sadie, Stanley (ed.). The New Grove Dictionary of Musical Instruments. Vol. 1. p. 25.

[3] The Jew's harp : a comprehensive anthology. Leonard Fox. Lewisburg: Bucknell University Press. 1988. ISBN 0-8387-5116-4. OCLC 16356799.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link)

[Molina2006-4] Mauricio Molina (2006). Frame Drums in the Medieval Iberian Peninsula. pp. 101–. ISBN 978-0-542-85095-0. Retrieved 25 December 2012.

[jewish_encyclopedia-5] "TIMBREL - JewishEncyclopedia.com". Jewishencyclopedia.com. Retrieved 2016-05-13.

[Grove-6] Sadie, Stanley, ed. (1984). "Timbrel". The New Grove Dictionary of Musical Instruments. Vol. 3. p. 585.

[Grove2-7] Sadie, Stanley, ed. (1984). "Tambourine". The New Grove Dictionary of Musical Instruments. Vol. 3. p. 511.

[8] [1] ^{[dead link]}

[auto-9] Baker, Paul. "The Gittern and Citole". Retrieved 4 December 2016.

[GroveDulcimer-10] Kettlewell, David (1984). "Dulcimer". In Sadie, Stanley (ed.). The New Grove Dictionary of Musical Instruments. Vol. 1. p. 627.

[11] "A marvel in gold and ivory: Queen Melisende's Psalter". 26 May 2022. [Caption for photograph of the book cover. The dulcimer is in bottom right corner of book-cover carving] The Melisende Psalter, Upper cover with scenes from the life of David: Egerton MS 1139/1

[12] Bouterse, Curt. "Medieval Instruments V: Fiddles – Curt Bouterse".

[galpin1-13] Galpin, Francis William (1911). Old English Instruments of Music. Chicago: A. C. McClurg and Company. pp. 21–22.

[14] "A Panoply of Instruments for Medieval, Renaissance, and Baroque Music". Music Educators Journal. 65 (9): 38–69. 1979. doi:10.2307/3395616. ISSN 0027-4321. JSTOR 3395616.

[GroveSymphonia-15] Brown, Howard Mayer (1984). "Symphonia". In Sadie, Stanley (ed.). The New Grove Dictionary of Musical Instruments. Vol. 3. p. 483.

[iastate-16] Spohnheimer. "The Rebec". Music.iastate.edu. Archived from the original on 2016-05-04. Retrieved 2016-05-13.

[Spanishfiddle-17] "Título uniforme [In Apocalipsin] Title Beati in Apocalipsin libri duodecim". bdh.bne.es. BIBLIOTECA DIGITAL HISPÁNICA. Retrieved 10 December 2016.

[14-1-18] "Título uniforme [In Apocalipsin] Title Beati in Apocalipsin libri duodecim". bdh.bne.es. Biblioteca Digital Hispánica. Retrieved 10 December 2016.

[Albogon-19] Centre Int. de la Música Medieval. "ALBOGÓN. Ms. b.I.2. fol. 268v. RBME. Cantiga de Santa María 388". youtube.com. [note: video of a modern recreation of the Albogón

[Curt-20] Bouterse, Curt. "Medieval Instruments VI: Winds". Another unusual instrument depicted in the Cantigas is the albogón. This was derived from the Arabic al-buq, originally a generic word for horns and trumpets, but latterly restricted to horns. Supposedly, in the 10th century, during the reign of the Spanish Umayyad caliph, al-Hakam II, a horn was fitted with a double reed and fingerholes...Cantiga 300 shows a huge one being played, accompanied by an hourglass-shaped drum.

[21] Jones, G. Fenwick (1949). "Wittenwiler's "Becki" and the Medieval Bagpipe". The Journal of English and Germanic Philology. 48 (2): 209–228. ISSN 0363-6941. JSTOR 27713052.

[Curt2-22] Bouterse, Curt. "Medieval Instruments VI: Winds".

[iastate2-23] Spohnheimer. "The Sacbut". Music.iastate.edu. Archived from the original on 2016-05-04. Retrieved 2016-05-13.

[iastate3-24] Spohnheimer. "The Renaissance Shawm". Music.iastate.edu. Archived from the original on 2016-05-25. Retrieved 2016-05-13.

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