60,000 BCE - 500 CE Flashcards
What was the first source of music?
The human voice/human body
What was used as some of the first instruments?
Natural environment - pieces of wood, stone, horn, bone, etc.
Finish the quote “Musical notes were first acquired for the sake of…. “ -Charles Darwin
“… charming the opposite sex.”
What are Idiophones?
Instruments made from solid resonate materials that vibrate to produce sound
What is a didgeridoo?
A hardwood wind instruments made from naturally occurring hollow tree trunk or branch which is then shaped and decorated
Did these instruments such as idiophones and the didgeridoo have any significant melodic potential.
Not early on, no. Even the music was rarely made up of complex harmonics
What is the spiritual role with music early on?
It was used as a means of commuting with the benign or malevolent spirits that controlled the fate of a society or individual.
What is a Shaman?
Someone who acts as an intermediary between the spirit and human worlds. A music specialist in that his “song” could only be performed by him.
What was the importance of musical improvisation in social attributes?
It was considered a necessary social skill.
What is the oldest existing stringed instrument?
A Sumerian lyre (Lyre of Ur)
What instruments did the Sumerians play?
Lyres, harps, flutes, wood flutes, reed pipes, percussion instruments of drums, tambourines, clappers, and metal shakers.
How were musicians helpful in the Assyrian Army during its campaigns?
Their drums and trumpets were used to signal simple orders and messages
How did Egyptian music compare to Sumerian?
It was more freely enjoyed. Sumerians kept the music for direct purposes such as celebrating a victory or religious purposes. Egyptians would let their peasants dance to pipes and drums, as well as their people more freely in general.
What is the Veena?
A group of plucked instruments that are still prominent to Indian classical music today. For example, the sitar and tabla.
What is the Sheng?
A form of mouth organ with bamboo pipes that have remained central to Chinese music through history
What distinctive aesthetic did the Chinese develop?
The effects of sounds fading into silence
How did Chinese imperial rulers perceive the importance of music?
They were convinced that the correct performance of ritual music was essential to upholding the harmony of the state.
From what period did a popular music scene flourish in Chinese cities and the strict music escaped official control?
During the Tang Dynasty.
Who inherited a musical tradition founded in early Mesopotamia and Pharaonic Egypt?
The Ancient Greeks
Was there musical notation in China as far back as the 5th century BCE?
Yes, there is evidence of the use of musical notation.
How did some Ancient Greek philosophers perceive music?
As a close connection with astronomy. They believed that studying music was central to gaining an understanding of the nature of the universe.
Who is Pythagoras of Samos?
570-493 BCE. The first Greek philosopher to have developed a theory around music and its importance in the universe. He studied the relationship between the pitch and note and the length of a string, then figured out numerical ratios between notes and how they affected the musical harmony.
What is the oldest surviving written music?
Written on a clay tablet found at Sumer, Mesopotamia. Dates from around 2000 BCE. The marks only give a rough idea of the pitch
What is the oldest completed notation to have survived
Seikilos Epitaph, which has words and melody of a song. It’s likely to date from the 1st century BCE.
