Music during the Renaissance?

Since the Renaissance means "rebirth", it's no wonder that music has changed and grew into something more grande and creative. During that period, people found information from ancient Greek and Roman texts and that's when the rebirth of knowledge began. Wealth was increased, as well as the knowledge of medicine, arts and other sciences. Music during the Renaissance was grande and very creative. Back then, people found the Renaissance music very appeasing but as of today's time, we find them quite strange. This was because most of the composers during that time composed their pieces using modes, instead of major and minor scales.

There are two main types of Renaissance music. They were the church music (also known as "sacred music" and non-church music. They also had folk music but it wasn't much in use because the thought that it was for "common" people.

Musically, the Renaissance is also known as the "Golden Age" because of the "a capella" style. By this, it basically means singers without any use of any instruments. Vocal music was highly favoured and significant during the Renaissance. An example of this would be opera. Madrigals were also quite popular during that time. Madrigals are non-religious music and they were usually love songs. These song forms were performed in groups of 4,5 or 6 singers.

There was also the growth of instrumental music. Instruments such as the piano and lute were invented. This was the time when families of instruments started to develop. These families were known as consorts (in the present, we call in "concert").