Why was medieval music played by monks?

Answer 1

The Church in the Middle Ages thought that music should be performed only for the purpose to worship God and celebrate religious holidays. Music and instruments were banned everywhere else but in churches because of this belief.

Answer 2

Medieval monks (not the same thing as Friars) spent around one third of their time attending 8 daily church services, which were called the liturgy, Opus Dei (the work of God) or Holy Offices. These consisted of prayers and hymns, but the major part of every service was chanting the Psalms in Latin.

The 150 Psalms in The Bible were seen as a ready-made hymn book and over the course of a week the monks in any one monastery would have chanted all 150, starting again on Sunday night. These Psalms were chanted in Plainsong (also known as Gregorian Chant), without any musical accompaniment. New monks would have to learn the tunes for all 150 Psalms, as well as learning Latin so they could understand exactly what they were singing.

The monk in charge of services (usually called the Sacrist or Sacristan) was also responsible for composing the tunes used for the Psalms, which he would do with the aid of a small portable organ. The monks would have to spend time learning any new tunes he devised. Sometimes the monk in charge of the Infirmary would ask for music to be played for the sick and elderly - this could be on a harp or some other instrument.

So music was played by monks, but not in their services.

Answer 3

Generally, there was no music in everyday services, but there was some sung and played at special times such as Christmas and Easter.

Answer 4

The church influenced the entire society so all of the music and art had a religious theme.

Answer 5

used only as a discreet accompaniment