In Portugal, "modinha" was, from the last third part of the 18th to the beginning of the 19th century, a general term designating sentimental songs in Portuguese.
They designated 'modinhas' (aristocrats') salon songs of academic composers, many times with texts of Portuguese Arcadia poets, sometimes with one vocal line, others two voices in counterpoint, in both cases with a more or less elaborated accompaniment of a harmonic instrument, generally harpsichord.
But the term was also used many times by foreign travelers referring to songs of farmers of Lisbon's neighboring regions and of blind beggars of the capital's street.
[citation needed] Roughly speaking, the modinha, as well as the lundu, had parallel diffusion in both Portugal and Brazil.
The modinha of the late 19th century was sung in the streets or as an outdoor serenade, usually accompanied by flute, guitar, and cavaquinho.