The Tudor Society

Medieval and Tudor Musical Instruments Quiz

Medieval and Tudor Musical Instruments

Q1) What type of instrument was a virginal?

string

wind

percussion

keyboard

Q2) How many recorders is Henry VIII recorded as owning?

15

78

24

101

Q3) How is a hurdy gurdy played?

By blowing into it

With a bow

By turning a wheel

By plucking its strings

Q4) What shape was the rebec?

pear-shaped

round

square

diamond-shaped

Q5) What was a shawm?

A type of drum

A woodwind instrument

An English bagpipe

A type of harp

Q6) This instrument is a capped reed instrument similar to a bagpipe chanter. It creates a strong buzzing sound. What is it?

A psaltery

A sackbut

A crumhorn

A naker

Q7) The modern version of this instrument is the trombone...

Tabor

Jingles

Cittern

Sackbut

Q8) John Blank was an African attendant of Catherine of Aragon and a royal musician at the English court , which instrument did he play?

Trumpet

Viol

Harp

Sackbut

Q9) Which of these instruments does not belong to a "pure consort"?

Bagpipe

Violin

Dulcion

Crumhorn

Q10) "Woodycock" is one of the most well-known pieces of music from the Tudor era. Which instrument was it written for?

Citole

Orpharion

Harp

Solo bass viol

Q11) What is the shape of the sound hole in a viol?

An "s"

A "c"

An "f"

It doesn't have a hole

If you enjoyed this quiz then you'll also enjoy Tudor music expert Jane Moulder's regular column in Tudor Life magazine.

There are 6 comments Go To Comment

  1. J

    Fascinating quiz! I didn’t do very well (5 of 11), but it was fun to see a quiz on a piece of Tudor history I haven’t really noticed to any extent.

  2. T

    I did terribly on this, but the information was very interesting!

    God Bless,

    Tahlia

  3. L

    Didn’t do to badly , can still hold my head up high. Definitely fed my little grey cells

  4. C

    I would like to learn more about Tudor instruments. do you have any written in the archives?

    1. C - Post Author

      Hi Caren,
      Jane Moulder, a member of the Renaissance music group Piva, used to write for our magazine and her husband Eric makes Renaissance musical instruments, so I’ll have a look through the archives and see what I can find.

    2. C - Post Author

      Jane has an article in the January 2015 edition of Tudor Life on instruments – see https://www.tudorsociety.com/tudor-life-january-2015/ and she gave a talk for us on Tudor music – see https://www.tudorsociety.com/expert-talk-jane-moulder/. I hope those help.

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Medieval and Tudor Musical Instruments Quiz