Orientus Partibus on Plucked Psaltery

Happy Epiphany! In Medieval France, the Epiphany celebration focused primarily on celebrating the donkey that carried Mary and Jesus to Egypt. The Medieval tune “Orientus Partibus“ is about this story. This song eventually evolved into the Christmas carol, “The Friendly Beasts“. This is a short and simple tune. I use it as an opportunity to show six simple Medieval style accompaniments in the left hand: 1. Drone on the tonic 2. Drone on the tonic and the 5th 3. Rhythmic drone on the tonic and 5th 4. Back and forth ostinato on the tonic and 5th 5. Walking up and down a tonic, 5th, and octave above tonic scale 6. A shorter arpeggio on the tonic, 5th, and octave above the tonic. Also, my sister crocheted me a rosette for my psaltery. Isn’t it nice?