Clavichord
An early keyboard instrument that produces a unique delicate sound as its thin wire strings are struck from below by brass tangents attached to the keys.
Lute
This pear-shaped plucked string instrument with a fretted neck was by far the most popular household solo instrument of the Renaissance.
Sackbut
A Renaissance/Baroque trombone, more similar to a trumpet except it uses a telescopic slide to change pitch.
Shawm
This is a term for a double-reed instrument used in “high” (haut) ensembles.
Vihuela
A guitar-shaped string instrument from 15th- and 16th-century Spain, usually with 6 doubled strings.
Viola da Gamba
A bowed instrument held between the legs, having 6 or 7 gut strings and movable gut frets. A member of the family of viols that pre-dated the modern violin family.
Virginal
This is a common English name for a harpsichord (in honor of Elizabeth I–the Virgin Queen of England).
