The Middle Ages: Dance Music Vocabulary

Question 1

Haut

Answer 1

French for “high”, indicating a high level of volume. It was one of the Medieval designations (for outdoor instruments), including sackbut and shawm

Question 2

Bas

Answer 2

French for “low”, indicating a low level of volume (soft). It was one of the Medieval designations (for indoor instruments), including dulcimer, lute, psaltery, and vielle

Question 3

Sackbut

Answer 3

a brass instrument with a slide; an ancestor of the trombone (a haut wind instrument)

Question 4

Shawm

Answer 4

a reed instrument with a piercing tone; an ancestor of the trombone (a haut wind instrument)

Question 5

Dulcimer

Answer 5

a stringed instrument with a wooden sound box with strings that are struck with small hammers to produce a delicate sound (a bas string instrument)

Question 6

Vielle

Answer 6

a bowed string instrument with a body in a figure-eight shape; an ancestor of the violin (a bas string instrument)

Question 7

Lute

Answer 7

A plucked instrument of Middle Eastern origin having a rounded body and frets. Its delicate sound served as an ideal accompaniment to the voice (a bas string instrument)

Question 8

Psaltery

Answer 8

an ancient stringed instrument with a trapezoidal wooden sound box that is plucked with the fingers or plectrum (a bas string instrument)

Question 9

Estampie

Answer 9

one of the earliest Medieval dances; it is danced by couples, has stately character, and involves elaborate body movements

Question 10

Heterophony

Answer 10

simultaneous variation involving two or more voices or instruments playing the same melody in more than one way at the same time; one part plays the original melody, the added voices are often improvised