A Guide to Baroque Instruments
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Welcome to the world of Baroque music! While most of the instruments you’ll find here still exist today–with a few exceptions!–each one was a bit different during the Baroque period of classical music (roughly 1600–1750) than it is now. Let’s explore the differences between Baroque and modern instruments!
Bowed String Instruments
Instruments in this category are played with a bow, or a long, thin piece of wood that holds “hair”–either synthetic or from a horse’s tail–under tension. Instruments from the violin family–the violin, viola, and cello–are in this category, as well as instruments from the viol family–a similar yet distinct family of instruments which have frets, more strings, and a different bowing technique (all explained below).
Violin
The violin is the smallest member of the violin family (other than the very rarely used violino piccolo). It was invented in the 16th century, during the Renaissance period (roughly 1400–1600), but really came into its own and became a virtuosic solo instrument in the Baroque period. The main differences between the Baroque and modern violin are that the fingerboard is at a less steep angle and is shorter on the Baroque violin, and the Baroque instrument has gut strings instead of the metal modern ones. The Baroque violin is also played with a bow this is tapered at one end, which allows for naturally strong down bows and weaker up bows, unlike the modern violin bow which has equal-weight down and up bows.
Viola
The viola is a member of the violin family and is the next largest in size after the violin. It also has four strings and pretty much just looks like a large violin. All the same differences between the Baroque and modern violin also apply to the viola. However, it does have a lower range and its lowest string is tuned the interval of a 5th–or the “Star Wars” interval–lower than the lowest string on a violin.
Cello
Like the violin and viola, the cello also has four strings. Unlike them, however, it is played between the legs instead of held up by the arms. The Baroque cello has all the same differences from the modern cello that the violin and viola both do–such as a less steeply-angled neck, a shorter fingerboard, and gut strings. But, unlike the modern cello, it also has no endpin, which is the thin metal rod sticking out of the bottom of the modern cello that helps hold the instrument up off the floor. Baroque cellos are simply held up by the player’s legs.
Bass/Violone
The bass is actually a member of the viol family instead of the violin family. In fact, it is the only member of the viol family that still exists today. It has three or four strings, but some of them are tuned in 4ths–the “Hear Comes the Bride” interval–instead of in 5ths–the “Star Wars” interval–as on the violin, viola, and cello.
The Baroque version of the bass was sometimes called a violone, but there was also a separate instrument also called a violone. . . confusing, I know. Check out this video to hear a little bit about the differences between the two:
And here’s a video just on the Baroque bass:
Viola da gamba
This is the first instrument on our list that has no modern version: it was invented in the 15th century but went out of style in the 1700s. It has more strings than most of the other bowed string instruments on our list–either 6 or 7, versus the 4 strings found on the violin, viola, cello, and bass–and also has frets, or strings tied around the fingerboard which the player uses to change pitch.
It is bowed underhand–literally with the hand holding the bow from underneath instead of from the top. Bowings are also in the opposite direction from instruments in the violin family, with the strong bow being the “push” and the weak bow being the “pull.”
The viola da gamba is a member of the viol family, which developed separately from but at the same time as the violin family, and is played between the legs–“gamba” means “leg” in Italian. It was frequently used in small groups, called “consorts,” with other viols–which came in a variety of sizes like the members of the violin family–but was also used in larger ensembles with other types of instruments before it went out of fashion.
Violino Piccolo
The very rarely used violino piccolo is the smallest member of the violin family; it has no modern equivalent. It has a higher range than the violin, but was used in the Baroque period only for special circumstances and was never a regular member of the orchestra.
Viola da Spalla
Another very rare Baroque instrument with no modern version is the viola da spalla. Also known as the violoncello da spalla or cello da spalla, it is essentially a cello (or a slightly smaller cello) held across the body instead of between the legs. It is a member of the violin family and like the violino piccolo, it was used only in special circumstances, though it may have been used by the famous composer Johann Sebastian Bach (1685–1750) in some of his music.
Lirone
The lirone was a popular instrument in Italy during the 16th and 17th centuries–i.e. the late Renaissance and early Baroque periods of classical music. It is held between the legs like a cello but is not a member of either the violin or viol family: it is a larger version of the lira da braccio, which was an instrument popular during the Renaissance (roughly 1400–1600).
It has a lot of strings which make it look very unique and it plays chords–or three or more notes at one time–like a keyboard instrument instead of one note at a time like most other bowed strings. It was never very popular outside of Italy, however, and went out of style by the end of the 17th century. It is considered a “rare” Baroque instrument and it has no modern version.
Viola d’amore
The last instrument our list of bowed strings, the viola d’amore is another rare instrument used only in special circumstances. It is sort of a cross between a viola and a small viol–it has a lot of strings and the body-shape of a viol, but does not have frets and the bow is held overhand like a violin. There was some Baroque music written specifically for the instrument, but not that much and it has no modern version.
Plucked String Instruments
Like bowed string instruments, plucked string instruments also have strings, but they are played by strumming or “plucking” rather than bowing. The strings are strummed with either the hand or with a pick of some kind.
Lute and Theorbo
The lute was a very popular instrument during the Renaissance period (roughly 1400–1600). It developed from the Middle Eastern instrument known as the oud or ‘Ūd.
The lute and guitar are related, with the guitar generally considered to be a type of lute, but the lute itself has no modern version. It was still in use during the first part of the Baroque period but mostly died out by the beginning of the 18th century. A special member of the lute family, however, was created just before the dawn of the Baroque period and was used throughout the Baroque (roughly 1600–1750): the theorbo.
The theorbo is the biggest and lowest-sounding member of the lute family. It was invented as a basso continuo instrument (What’s “basso continuo”? Find out here.) but did have some Baroque solo repertoire written for it. It’s popularity lasted into the 18th century, but it went out of fashion before the Classical period of classical music (roughly 1750–1800). Like the other members of the lute family, there is no modern version of the instrument.
Here’s a video on the Baroque lute (there’s also a Renaissance lute and various other lutes that are different from the Baroque one):
And here’s a video introducing the theorbo:
Guitar
The guitar is considered to be a member of the lute family. It, obviously, still exists today, though the modern guitar is somewhat different from the Baroque guitar. Like the modern guitar, the Baroque guitar had frets, but they were moveable and made of animal gut (as were the strings) instead of nylon or metal. The body of the Baroque guitar was also much smaller than that of the modern version and it had four or five pairs of strings rather than the six single strings common on the modern guitar.
Woodwind Instruments
Flute/Traverso
The Baroque flute–which is also called a traverso–looks and sounds quite different from the modern flute. It is made of wood instead of metal and it has only one key; the holes on the Baroque flute are covered, instead, by the fingers. It has a more gentle and “warmer” tone than the modern flute since wood is a softer material for the soundwaves to bounce off of than metal. Because there are no keys, certain finger combinations called “cross fingering” have to be used to play some of the notes and this gives different notes different tone colors across the instrument.
Recorder
While you may have learned in elementary school the basics of playing the recorder, the Baroque recorder was actually a virtuosic instrument that took great skill to play. It was sometimes called a “flute” or “flauto,” not to be confused with the instrument we now call a flute, which was called a “traverso” or “transverse flute” in the Baroque period.
The most common size of recorder has no keys at all, but some larger recorders have keys because their finger holes are too far apart to reach otherwise. The Baroque recorder was made of wood and has a rather mellow, soft sound. It was used as a solo and orchestral instrument, as well as in small instrumental ensembles–called “consorts”–with other recorders.
Oboe
The oboe is played with a reed (a double-reed, to be exact), which vibrates the air within the instrument to produce sound. Like the Baroque flute, the Baroque oboe also had essentially no keys, unlike its modern counterpart.
The Baroque oboe comes in several different types, similar to how other instrument families have members of various sizes. The most common Baroque oboes were the Baroque oboe itself, as well as the oboe d’amore (literally the “oboe of love”), the oboe da caccia (the “oboe of the hunt”), and the taille.
The oboe d’amore is larger than the regular Baroque oboe and has a lower range, similar to how the English horn relates to the modern oboe. But the oboe d’amore is actually in between the oboe and English horn in terms of size and pitch.
The Baroque taille is more related to the modern English horn in terms of size and pitch, but they are not really the same instrument. The Baroque oboe da caccia, too, is at the same pitch level as the modern English horn, but its construction is very different: the oboe da caccia has a very curved body and a brass “bell”–which is the end of the instrument where the sound comes out–instead of a wooden one.
Here’s a video on the Baroque oboe:
And here’s one of the very interesting oboe da caccia:
Bassoon
The bassoon is similar to the oboe in that it is a double-reed instrument. It is a much lower sounding instrument, however. The Baroque bassoon, like the Baroque flute and Baroque oboe, has very few keys, unlike its modern version. It was sometimes used as a basso continuo instrument (What’s “basso continuo”? Find out here.), though it was used in other circumstances, as well.
Like many other instruments, there was another size of the Baroque bassoon: the Baroque contrabassoon, which was a much larger, lower-pitched instrument. Both the Baroque bassoon and Baroque contrabassoon have modern versions, but the modern contrabassoon, in particular, looks very different from the Baroque version, which doesn’t double over on itself but is instead very tall.
Here’s a video introducing the Baroque bassoon:
And here’s one on the Baroque contrabassoon:
Brass Instruments
Cornett
The cornett–also called a “cornetto” in Italian or “Zink” in German–is actually made of wood or bone instead of metal like the other brass instruments. It can be considered a brass instrument, however, because of the shape of its mouthpiece and its related playing technique, which is the same as for other brass instruments.
It was most popular in the Renaissance period (roughly 1400–1600) and early Baroque (starting around 1600), but died out before the end of the Baroque period (when ended around 1750). It was considered to be the instrument that sounded the most like the human voice and was often used in combination with sackbut–early trombone–though it played with other instruments as well. It has no modern equivalent.
Sackbut/Trombone
The modern version of the sackbut is the trombone, though it was always called the “trombone” in Italy (pronounced “trom-BOW-nay” in Italian), even in the Baroque. The sackbut, like the cornett, was popular in the Renaissance (roughly 1400–1600) and Baroque (roughly 1600–1750) periods, but unlike the cornett it did not die out. The Baroque and Renaissance sackbut came in several different sizes, but overall the sackbut/trombone is one of the instruments that changed the least between the Baroque period and today.
Trumpet
The Baroque trumpet is quite different from the modern trumpet. It has no valves–occasionally called “keys,” though different from the keys on woodwind instruments–and is much longer than the modern trumpet. It sometimes has fingerholes to help the player change pitches, but not always. In the Baroque period (roughly 1600–1750) it was used mostly in orchestras and for ceremonial music, much like the modern trumpet.
Horn
Like the Baroque trumpet, the Baroque horn had no valves. Instead it had different sized “crooks”–the looped, metal part of the instrument–that could be changed between music pieces so that it could play in more keys (a “key” in this case mean the musical scales a piece of music uses). This type of horn was invented in France in the 17th century, but the origins of the horn a much, much older, when it was used as an instrument during hunting.
The modern version of the horn has valves and is sometimes played with the hand inside the “bell”–the end of the instrument where the sound comes out–to change pitches or mute the sound (a technique developed in the Classical period [roughly 1750–1800]). The modern horn is sometimes called the French horn (not to be confused with the English horn, which is a type of oboe).
Keyboard Instruments
Harpsichord
Despite its outwardly similar appearance to the piano, the harpsichord is actually a completely different instrument with no modern version. It has keys like a modern piano (though they can be a variety of different colors and not just black and white), but those keys move “plectra” that pluck the strings, rather than moving felt hammers that hit the strings as in a piano.
Since the plectra in a harpsichord pluck the strings with essentially the same force regardless of how quickly or slowly the keys are depressed, the harpsichord has a very small dynamic range compared to the piano. It does have some dynamic capabilites, however, based on the weight and type of finger motion with thich the keys are depressed.
Baroque harpsichords could have either one or two keyboards–also called “manuals”–and were called single-manual or double-manual, respectively. Small harpsichords were also made with strings perpendicular to (rather than parallel with) the keys and those instruments were called virginals. Harpsichords also did not all have the same number of keys and design styles and construction details varied a lot from country to country.
While the instrument was invented at the end of the 14th century and was immensely popular during the Baroque period (roughly 1600–1750), it became much less popular during the Classical period (roughly 1750–1800) and had all but died out by the Romantic period (roughly 1800–1900).
Clavichord
The clavichord is another common Baroque instrument that has no real modern equivalent, though versions of it were made as late as the 19th and early 20th centuries, unlike the harpsichord. Unlike either the harpsichord with its plectra or the piano with its felt hammers, the keys on a clavichord move “tangents,” which are pieces of metal that strike the strings and stay in contact with them until the keys are released.
The clavichord is shockingly quiet–so much so that it’s difficult to get a sense on recordings of how quiet it really is. It was mostly used for practicing at home because it was too quiet to be used with almost any other instruments.
Pipe Organ
Perhaps the most grand of all Baroque instruments–and maybe all instruments ever!–is the pipe organ. Usually installed in churches, the pipe organ–often just called an “organ”–is a completely immobile instrument. There were (and still are) small moveable pipe organs called positive organs, and these were frequently used as basso continuo (What’s “basso continuo”? Find out here.) instruments since they could be moved around.
The Baroque pipe organ is made up of metal and wooden pipes–often a few thousand!–that have air passed through them to make sound. Bellows push the air through the pipes and during the Baroque period (roughly 1600–1750) the bellows had to be operated by extra people inside the organ. In the modern organ the bellows are operated electronically.
Not all the pipes have to be “on” at the same type (and usually aren’t) and which sets of pipes are on is controlled by the “stops”–levers near the keyboard that can be pulled out or pushed in to turn sets of pipes on or off. The keys played by the hands and pedals played by the feet control which notes sound. Different combinations of stops can be on at the same time to create what are called “registrations.”
The three main types of stops on a Baroque organ were called flute stops, principal stops, and reed stops, and each had a unique sound that usually imitated another instrument. Organs from the Romantic period (roughly 1800–1900) and later had additional kinds of stops, including what are called string stops.
The pipe organ is also one of the oldest instruments with roots back to the 3rd century BCE. Between the Baroque period and today, however, its construction changed little except for the addition of electricity to operate the bellows and often the stops, as well, so that the keyboard does not have to be physically attached to the pipes.
The pipe organ in this video was build in 1976 and is not (to my knowledge) a copy of an original instrument, so it is not a historical instrument. It is, however, modeled after 18th-century instruments and works the same way as an actual Baroque organ does.
Common Modern Instruments That Did Not Exist in the Baroque Period
Piano
Many keyboard instruments existed during the Baroque period (which roughly spanned from 1600–1750), but the piano was not one of them. The piano was invented near the end of the Baroque–around 1700 by Bartolomeo Cristofori–but did not become popular until the Classical period, which lasted from about 1750–1800. And even that version on the piano–what we now call a “fortepiano,” which literally means “loud soft”–was very different from the modern piano, which was not standardized until the end of the 19th century.
Clarinet
Like the piano, the clarinet was invented in the Baroque period (roughly 1600–1750) but little used until the Classical period (roughly 1750–1800). It is a single-reed woodwind instrument and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756–1791) was one of the first well-known composers to use it in his music.
Saxophone
The saxophone–another single-reed woodwind instrument–was invented much later than the Baroque period (which lasted from roughly 1600–1750). It was first made by a man named Adolph Sax in the 1840s and didn’t become really popular until the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
Most Percussion Instruments
While there was Baroque music that included timpani and likely other types of drums, most of the percussion instruments in the modern orchestra–such as cymbals and xylophones–did not yet exist and/or were not used in classical music at that time.