COMMON ANCIENT INSTRUMENTS

 The VIOL Family(Ancestors to the modern violin family): These bowed instruments come in a variety of sizes, and they have a lighter sound than that of the modern violins

The LUTE Family (Ancestors to the modern guitar family): The lute is a pear-shaped guitar-like instrument with a rounded back and a short, wide fingerboard. The lute, and its larger relative the chitarrone (Bass-lute) were the most sophisticated polyphonic string instruments of the Renaissance.

Ancient WIND instruments(ancestors to the modern woodwind family). Recorders (the preferred wind instruments of the Renaissance period) are various-sized wooden instruments that play much like a flute, but are softer in sound. The shawm, the crumhorn, and the racket are raucous-sounding reed-instruments that are ancestors to the modern oboe and bassoon

Ancient BRASS instruments(ancestors to the modern Brass family). Sackbuts are trombone-like instruments of various sizes used in the Medieval, Renaissance and Baroque eras. The cornetto and the serpent are trumpet-like wooden and leather instruments that use finger holes instead of valves to produce their pitches. The natural horn is a valveless brass instrument that evolved into the modern "French horn.