Though the English were the first to start the movement, the French dominated the genre for the first half of the century. Burgundian composers were the first to develop what is now known as chansons, a musical derivation composed of one leading voice and two lesser melodies for accompaniment. The most notable application of chansons was its use in masses and religious services. Chansons slowly came to replace the standard Gregorian chants; eventually, the mass style became an impressive and highly regarded style, comparable in length and scope to the symphonies of the 19th century.

It was also during the Renaissance Era that the technique of imitation came widely into use. Though it had been around almost a hundred years before, it was not until the 15th century that imitation became an integral structural element...which thus led to the creation of the canon, a span of music in which one voice part is repeated consistently for a relatively long span of time.

Burgundian composers led the movement from its start up until their decline in the mid-15th century. For the hundred years which followed, the Renaissance "torch" was passed to the Netherlanders, a group of composers named after the relative area in which they resided (present-day Holland, Belgium, and the adjoining French territories).

The reign of the Netherlanders was marked by a more homogenous style, often composed of a single melody without accompaniment. When more than one voice was involved, all voices were generally of equal importance.

As the era moved toward its end, the traditional mass and chanson styles were slowly abandoned, due in part to the fact that they had become so formulaic as to limit the creative directions of the composer. Ornate and clever arrangements slowly moved back into vogue as the evolution of music followed its next step: the Baroque.