Medieval Songwriting Introduction

Although human beings have been writing songs throughout history, we can only learn about early songs by studying musical notation.

A highly developed, literate culture is a prerequisite for the development of musical notation.

While a few fragments of Greek musical notation have been discovered, the earliest European musical sources are from the ninth century AD (CE). European musical notation did not develop until around the seventh century.

Musical notation was usually written by members of the clergy, so most of the early western music that has been preserved is church music.

There are records of secular songs that go as far back as the seventh century, but their notation is too rudimentary to be transcribed. These early secular songs are written in Latin and have only one part.

The very early Latin songs include fragments of the Aeneid, poems by Boethius and six odes by Horace, some fragments of the Aeneid. There were also laments for people such as Charlemagne and Chindasvinthus, the Visigoth King.

O Roma Nobilis, a pilgrim's song, has been preserved on staves in alphabetical notation. The original text was a love song known as O Admirabile Veneris y Dolum.

We don't know what rhythms songs had, although they seem to sound best with duple rhythms.

Aurea Personet Lyra, a song addressed to the nightingale, has heavy accents on the first and third beats of a 4-4 bar, which also implies the use of duple rhythm.

The Goliards, wandering scholars and clerics, left behind many secular Latin songs in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries. The most famous of these is the Carmina Burana, a collection of songs from the library of the monastery of Benediktbeuren.

Many of these songs, known as conductus, had powerful moral content. However, there were also love songs, drinking songs and satirical songs.

The conductus were monodies, written for one part. They may have been accompanied by music that was improvised on a monastery organ or other instrument.

Musical compositions for more than one part were not written until the thirteenth century.

Songwriters before the thirteenth century did not use staves in their musical notations, so we cannot tell exactly which notes were used.

The staff had come into general use by the thirteenth century. However, measured notation was rarely used, so while we can tell the notes of the songs, we often cannot determine their rhythms.

According to a few late sources, triple time was commonly used.

A musical piece would usually have a basic rhythmic pattern that was repeated throughout the work.

There would be a stop at the end of line of verse. If a line was very short, there could be two or three lines in a rhythmic group.

There were six rhythmic patterns, which in modern notation, would be written as:

These rhythms would fit into 3-6 or 6-8 bars.

Axe Phebus Aureo, from the Carmina Burana, has many repeated notes and is representative of these types of rhythms. Fas et Nefas Ambulant, also from the Carmina Burana has metrically paired stanzas that are set to music that is repeated.

Songs of the twelfth and thirteenth centuries usually had instrumental accompaniment.

Today, it is hard for us to know what types of instruments were played and how they were played. Manuscripts only show the part for solo voice.

However, illustrations of the time show musicians playing instruments, and viols, bagpipes, trumpets, flutes and other instruments are mentioned in descriptions of performances.

A professional instrumentalist of that time was known as a minstrel or a jongleur. He usually played and sang at the same time.

Musical accompaniment was probably very simple, and might include the doubling of drone basses at the unison, fifth or octave, while the voice became more ornamented at the same time.

Counterpoint may also have been used.

The same music may have been used repeatedly, with voice and instrument alternating with one another.

Of all the musical instruments, the viol was extremely popular. Harps, lutes, recorders, guitars, psalteries, rotes (similar to lyres) and other instruments were also used. A minstrel would play a portative organ by holding it in one hand and blowing it with the other.

Percussion was very simple, consisting only of simple drum patterns used in dances.