Elizabethan Era Instruments
The Elizabethan era saw a rise in the popularity of instruments that would evolve into some of the most popular instruments in modern Western society. Shakespearean performances often feature instruments like the lute and the guitar.
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String Instruments
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Some Elizabethan stringed instruments have remained fairly common to this day, such as the harp, the fiddle and the dulcimer. The fiddle was a popular street instrument, as it was portable and easy to play while moving. The lute is another stringed instrument from the era and one that perhaps represents the époque the most, even though it can be traced back to the Medieval era. The chittarone was a lute with an elongated neck that could reach six feet in height. Other Elizabethan stringed instruments include the viol, the psaltery, the rebec and the hurdy-gurdy.
Wind Instruments
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Many wind instruments of the Elizabethan era were created in the Medieval period, but Shakespeare's time saw the rise of some new wind instruments, as well. People still use some of these instruments, like the flute, the trumpet, the pipe, the recorder and the bagpipe. Other instruments include the lizard with its S-shaped horn, the hautboy, which sounded similar to the oboe, and the crumhorn, which was a curved horn double reed instrument.
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Percussion Instruments
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Because of the way percussion instruments are played, the design has not drastically changed over the centuries. The function of the drum and the cymbal are still largely the same as they were in Elizabethan days. The drum is basically a hollow cylinder with tambours, or a membrane, placed across each end, and the cymbal is a concave brass disk that crashes when hit. Other Elizabethan percussion instruments include the tambourine and the triangle.
Keyboard Instruments
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Elizabethan keyboard instruments are rare, but the key instruments of that time served as precursors to the wide variety of keyboards used today. One keyboard instrument of the Elizabethan era was the spinet, a small upright piano that makes sound by plucking the strings. The harpsichord also plays strings by plucking them, while the church organ generates notes by pushing air through pipes. The clavicytherium was like a vertical harpsichord.
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