The composers of the Renaissance concerned themselves with three different areas of music:

• Sacred music: Composers continued to work with the older forms such as the motet and Mass. It is in this music that we find the clearest international style.
  
• Secular music: Composers created new forms that reflected national trends, such as the Italian madrigal and the French chanson.
  
• Instrumental music: The rise of music printing encouraged the spread of instrumental music for amateurs, and more specific types emerged.
  

All three types of music share many musical features:

• The use of four-voice choirs or groups of like-sounding instruments (consorts).
  
• Imitative or homorhythmic textures (often alternating within a single piece).
  
• Smooth, gentle rhythms.
  
• Melodies with balanced phrases.
  
• Harmonies that use full triads.
  
• Vocal forms tied to structure of texts. Dances based on simple binary forms.