Journey Through Ancient Music: From Prehistoric Times to the Middle Ages

1. LESSON 1 ANCIENT MUSIC

2. Approximately 50,000 years ago, early prehistoric humans began migrating northward from Africa. • Prehistoric humans were called that because they had yet to write down their history. • That all changed around 4,000 B.C.E. when humans developed written language. • Now there was all of a sudden a history that later generations could read about.

3. Talk Like An Egyptian (or write like one)

4. Just as humans learned to write, their music started to become more standardized—not just random rhythms and pitches—but rather conscious patterns and repetitions of defined beats and melody. • Music that was created in this literate, post-prehistoric era is called Ancient Music. (4,000 B.C.E.- 476 C.E.)

5. Developers! Developers! Developers! Developers! • The development of Ancient Music would have been an EXTREMELY slow and inconsistent process! • An ancient musician who discovered a new series of pitches in Mesopotamia wasn’t able to share that development with a pan-flute player in China. • This caused an extremely slow learning curve- but luckily music began to assimilate aspects of each native culture and commence its evolution.

6. Egypt • Ancient Egypt unified the many disparate cultures of the Nile Valley under a single pharaoh. • Known as being an ‘advanced society’, Egyptians regarded music as a gift from God. • The appearance of early musical instruments had symbolic significance in Egyptian culture, where music played an important role in religious practice. • While no examples of notated ancient Egyptian music exist, many music scholars believe that their music was based on a simple scale of five tones. • Past the bone flute, other early instruments included stringed harps and lutes. • Lyres and early clarinets were played as early as 3500 B.C.E. • Even the tambourine made its debut ca. 1500 B.C.E.

7. Inventing Music is a Mes(s)-y Business!

9. The Cradle of Civilization • The fertile land between the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers. • All known societies in this region made music central to their religious rites and festivals. • Starting around 1800 B.C.E., Babylonian liturgical services were known to comprise a variety of psalms and hymns. • The musical style consisted of two different voices alternating in chant (antiphonal). • The earliest known written music was found in Sumer in southern Mesopotamia. • This music was in the form of a cuneiform tablet. • More of a ‘set of directions’ on how to perform the song, rather than how we think of written music today. • Around 800 B.C.E., the first known musical scales, incorporating up to seven notes, began to appear in Babylonian music. • This would set the scene for further development by Greek Culture.

10. It’s Greek To Me!

11. Music, Math……..and MYSTICISM! • As time progressed, northern Mediterranean culture became dominant in the ancient world- in particular the culture of Greece • This was an even further advanced society… consider: • Homer’s The Iliad & The Odyssey • The philosophy of Aristotle • The teaching of Socrates • The work of Plato • The mathematics of Pythagoras • Under the Greeks, civilization was advancing leaps and bounds, therefore it is not surprising to learn that the first truly European music evolved in Greece, in the period from 500 B.C.E. – 300 C.E. • The Greeks were concerned with explaining and defining the natural world, and scientists who discovered patterns then created formulae to define those patterns (Pythagoras’s Theorem).

12. Pythagoras Put simply, Pythagoras discovered that when two notes whose frequencies form a ration of 1:2, they sound one octave apart. Other ratios create variations of intervals. These intervals combine to create the scales (modes) on which all Western melodies and harmonies are based! Aristotle would take this foundation and argue for why teaching music is beneficial. Thanks to him, I have a job!

14. Rome wasn’t built in day… it stole from Greece! • The cultural dominance of the northern Mediterranean area was eventually passed on to the Romans, who under Julius Caesar, began to make much of Europe their own! • Fortunately, the musical concepts developed by the Greeks were preserved, and interestingly Roman music would then become influenced by every other kingdom of which it conquered. • From 27 B.C.E. – 192 C.E. slave musicians and dancers were recruited from throughout the Empire- this caused a blending of musical cultures and helped bring some diversity to existing music. • This amalgamating of styles would exist until the fall of the Roman Empire in 476 C.E., leading us into the MIDDLE AGES!