With the verse-making impulse ran a musical one. The Troubadour songs were meant to be sung, not recited or read. Probably some of them were written for popular airs already in use, but most of them necessitated new melodies. The forms chosen were essentially different from the traditional Plain-Song. They show a fairly clear sense of tonality as now understood, often in the major mode. Their phrases are well defined, corresponding to the lines of the words, usually with but one tone to a syllable, ending with a cadence, and based upon a regular accentual rhythm. Many airs, therefore, have attractiveness to the modern ear. Their historic importance is obvious. Wherever this minstrelsy penetrated, it fixed a taste for styles quite diverse from that of the Church, one close to the feeling of the common people and apt for their use. It thus prepared the way for the transformation of scholastic music in the 16th century. In viewing the musical situation prior to 1500 this factor cannot be neglected.
It is not clear what was the source of the musical side of the Troubadour
song. It has been thought that in Provence and northern Italy
traditions of the ancient popular song of the Romans may have lingered.
Keltic influences were strong in Provence, and the Kelts have always been
musical. It is likely, too, that something came from the experiences of
the Crusaders, possibly hints from Saracenic or Byzantine songs or from
reports of the Moorish culture in Spain.
The Troubadours made increasing use of 'joglars' or 'jongleurs,'
singers or players who might or might not have independent
poetic genius. These helpers were of various classes and
served for pay. Through them the scope of the movement was
greatly extended, so that it ultimately reached the lower classes
generally. Thus a style that was at first aristocratic became
truly popular.
Probably the jongleurs were often drawn from the itinerant mountebanks
that were numerous in southern and western Europe. These
artistic 'tramps' had varied accomplishments, like singing, dancing,
gymnastic and sleight-of-hand tricks, etc.—as their English names,
'juggler' and 'gleeman,' signify. They thrived on the popular craving
for diversion at a time when diversions were few.
Incidentally, the use of hired assistants served to differentiate a class who made music a business or occupation—of which curious consequences have continued ever since.
Both poets and singers made use of portable instruments,
