A Brief History of Western Music
Secular Medieval Music
Although music from the Middle Ages was heavily focused on religion, the time period was not completely devoid of secular music. Both vocal and instrumental secular music was written in the Middle Ages. Secular music was not written down very often, unlike sacred music, which was recorded extensively by the Church. Because of this, a relatively small amount of secular music survived from the Middle Ages.
Vocal Music
The earliest surviving examples of secular songs are Goliard songs, from the eleventh and twelfth centuries. The Goliards were a group of young students and clerics who wandered from school to school. Very little of their music survived to the present day. Another type of medieval song is the Chanson de geste, or "song of deeds". These were melodies set to epic poems, detailing the deeds of national heroes.
In medieval France, musicians known as troubadours and trouvères composed secular music. The songs they composed are known as chansons, which literally translates to "song". Below, you can listen to one example of a chanson, called Ce fut en mai. This song was written in the 13th century by Monoit d'Arras, a French monk. The piece is monophonic; in the recording below, note that there is instrumental accompaniment. Improvising instrumental accompaniment to a piece was a common performance practice in the Middle Ages.
Instrumental Music
Instrumental music in the Middle Ages was often written as accompaniment for a dance. For instance, the estampie was a type of dance piece. Below is a recording of a 13th century estampie, "Royal Estampie No. 4". Just like the chanson above, this piece is monophonic, but improvised accompaniment is added in the recording.