Medieval music

Clockwise, from top left:

• Musicians playing the Spanish vihuela in the Cantigas de Santa Maria, 13th century
• Troubadours, 14th century
• Excerpt from the Laudario Magliabechiano, an Italian manuscript

Medieval music encompasses the sacred and secular music of Western Europe during the Middle Ages,^[1] from approximately the 6th to 15th centuries. It is the first and longest major era of Western classical music and is followed by the Renaissance music; the two eras comprise what musicologists generally term as early music, preceding the common practice period. Following the traditional division of the Middle Ages, medieval music can be divided into Early (500–1000), High (1000–1300), and Late (1300–1400) medieval music.

Medieval music includes liturgical music used for the church, other sacred music, and secular or non-religious music. Much medieval music is purely vocal music, such as Gregorian chant. Other music used only instruments or both voices and instruments (typically with the instruments accompanying the voices).

The medieval period saw the creation and adaptation of systems of music notation which enabled creators to document and transmit musical ideas more easily, although notation coexisted with and complemented oral tradition.