Early music instruments
Just to get one thing straight ... you can play early music on PERIOD instruments or MODERN instruments. Or on foreign ('ethnic') instruments or synthesizers or whatever you like. It'll sound different on each one, of course.
The thing about using early instruments is that we seem to be discovering more about the music by trying it on the instruments of the time. EXAMPLES TO SAY MORE ABOUT- viols, baroque flutes, baroque violin ...
If you're completely new to early music, and especially if you've never played any instrument before, the chances are that you'll think first about buying a recorder. If you've had absolutely no experience of playing the recorder you'll find some really elementary notes to help you get started on the 'recorder' pages. If you've already played an instrument – say you played violin at school – you'll already know a lot of basic stuff about your instrument in its modern form, but you might want to know more about older forms; some of that on the violin and flute pages.
Likewise, if you've played guitar, you might want to know about lutes, theorbos, gitterns and citterns – see the lute/theorbo page. And there are various other instruments of early music. Check out crumhorns, curtals, and shawms.
Keyboards (harpsichords. clavichords, etc) might come later ...
The thing about using early instruments is that we seem to be discovering more about the music by trying it on the instruments of the time. EXAMPLES TO SAY MORE ABOUT- viols, baroque flutes, baroque violin ...
If you're completely new to early music, and especially if you've never played any instrument before, the chances are that you'll think first about buying a recorder. If you've had absolutely no experience of playing the recorder you'll find some really elementary notes to help you get started on the 'recorder' pages. If you've already played an instrument – say you played violin at school – you'll already know a lot of basic stuff about your instrument in its modern form, but you might want to know more about older forms; some of that on the violin and flute pages.
Likewise, if you've played guitar, you might want to know about lutes, theorbos, gitterns and citterns – see the lute/theorbo page. And there are various other instruments of early music. Check out crumhorns, curtals, and shawms.
Keyboards (harpsichords. clavichords, etc) might come later ...