- Lute: A string instrument with a pear-shaped body and gut strings. It could be plucked, strummed or bowed, and was often used for accompanying singing.
- Fiddle: A stringed instrument with four or more strings, played with a bow. It's an ancestor of the modern violin and was the most popular instrument in medieval Europe.
- Harp: A large, triangular string instrument with gut or metal strings. It was often used in courtly music for dancing.
- Pipe and tabor: A combination of a small wooden flute and a drum, usually played by the same musician. It was often used for accompanying street performers and dancers.
- Organ: A keyboard instruments with pipes, usually powered by bellows. It was used in churches for religious ceremonies.
- Shawm: A double-reed woodwind instrument, similar to a modern oboe. It was often used in military bands and as a part of outdoor dances.
- Recorder: A wind instrument that produces sound when air is blown into a shaped tube. It had seven fingerholes and was often played by children and shepherds.
- Dulcimer: A stringed instruments that was originally played by plucking the strings with feathers. It could also be bowed.
- Crwth: A bowed-string instrument with six strings, a curved pegbox and a flat bridge. It was often played in Wales.
- Hurdy- gurdy: A string instrument with a triangular sound box and a wheel that rubbed against the strings to produce sound. It was often used for dancing.