We did have a field trip Friday today.  It was near by and quite interesting.  I will tell you all about it on Sunday.  I still have two more posts to write about all of the wonderful things we saw at Belsay Hall.

Last Saturday on our trip to Belsay Hall one of the things that I was most interested in experiencing was the music of the Medieval and Renaissance time periods.

There were two musicians present and we were able to hear, touch and see a large variety of strange and wonderful instruments.One of those instruments,  the ancestor to the classical violin,  is the Hurdy Gurdy.  Strange name isn’t it?  The Hurdy Gurdy is thought to have originated from the Rebab of Middle Eastern origins.

The Hurdy Gurdy

As a music teacher I have taught our students for many years about the instruments of this time period and seen many reports and posters about them, but it was a thrill to see and hear these instruments up close.

We saw a Lute.  All of my students who remember the fiction story the “Song of the Unicorn” will recall that Princess Megan played this instrument as she sang to draw the unicorn to her.

Cupped tuned bells hung on an oak frame and were played with mallets or “tapping sticks”.   It was all very interesting.  I took a good video that I will upload this week so you can hear it all for yourself.

Cheers,

Beth