<Tr> <Td> <Ul> <Li> </Li> <Li> </Li> <Li> </Li> </Ul> </Td> </Tr> <Ul> <Li> </Li> <Li> </Li> <Li> </Li> </Ul> <P> Medieval music consists of songs, instrumental pieces, and liturgical music from about 500 A.D. to 1400 . Medieval music was an era of Western music, including liturgical music (also known as sacred) used for the church, and secular music, non-religious music . Medieval music includes solely vocal music, such as Gregorian chant and choral music (music for a group of singers), solely instrumental music, and music that uses both voices and instruments (typically with the instruments accompanying the voices). Gregorian chant was sung by monks during Catholic Mass . The Mass is a reenactment of Christ's Last Supper, intended to provide a spiritual connection between man and God . Part of this connection was established through music . This era begins with the fall of the Western Roman Empire in the fifth century and ends sometime in the early fifteenth century . Establishing the end of the medieval era and the beginning of the Renaissance music era is difficult, since the trends started at different times in different regions . The date range in this article is the one usually adopted by musicologists . </P> <P> During the Medieval period the foundation was laid for the music notation and music theory practices that would shape Western music into the norms that developed during the common - practice era, a period of shared music writing practices which encompassed the Baroque music composers from 1600--1750, such as J.S. Bach and Classical music period composers from the 1700s such as W.A. Mozart and Romantic music era composers from the 1800s such as Wagner . The most obvious of these is the development of a comprehensive music notational system which enabled composers to write out their song melodies and instrumental pieces on parchment or paper . Prior to the development of musical notation, songs and pieces had to be learned "by ear", from one person who knew a song to another person . This greatly limited how many people could be taught new music and how wide music could spread to other regions or countries . The development of music notation made it easier to disseminate (spread) songs and musical pieces to a larger number of people and to a wider geographic area . However the theoretical advances, particularly in regard to rhythm--the timing of notes--and polyphony--using multiple, interweaving melodies at the same time--are equally important to the development of Western music . </P>

Popular styles of music in the middle ages