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- The origins of musical instruments date back to prehistoric times. Archaeological discoveries suggest that early humans used natural objects such as stones, bones, and shells to create sound. These primitive instruments were likely used in rituals and for communication.
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- Mesopotamian lyre. This imposing silver lyre was played in Mesopotamia (modern-day southern Iraq) over 4,000 years ago. Music was an important aspect of many celebratory and ritual occasions in ancient Mesopotamia.
- Medieval citole. This richly decorated instrument, dripping with carved foliage, has an interesting story. It was originally made between 1280 and 1330 as a citole, a medieval guitar-like instrument, usually with four strings.
- Ancient Egyptian harp. Harps like this highly decorated example were played at ancient Egyptian banquets – they're often shown in scenes covering the walls of tombs.
- Arabian lute. This Arabian lute (oud in Arabic) was made by the famous Iraqi luthier Fawzi Monshid of Basra in 1981. The cedar wood soundboard has decorative details in ebony, rosewood and bone and the belly is made of strips of north Indian rosewood.
Where do musical instruments come from? You may be familiar with musical instruments such as the drums, guitar and piano. These are very well-known instruments, used in lots of music we...
- Mary Bellis
- Accordion. An accordion is an instrument that uses reeds and air to create sound. Reeds are thin strips of material that air passes over to vibrate, which in turn creates a sound.
- Conductor's Baton. In the 1820s, Louis Spohr introduced the conductor's baton. A baton, which is the French word for "stick," is used by conductors primarily to enlarge and enhance the manual and bodily movements associated with directing an ensemble of musicians.
- Bell. Bells may be categorized as idiophones, or instruments sounding by the vibration of resonant solid material, and more broadly as percussion instruments.
- Clarinet. The clarinet's predecessor was the chalumeau, the first true single reed instrument. Johann Christoph Denner, a famous German woodwind instrument maker of the Baroque era, is credited as the inventor of the clarinet.
Oct 25, 2024 · The origins of musical instruments date back to prehistoric times. Archaeological discoveries suggest that early humans used natural objects such as stones, bones, and shells to create sound. These primitive instruments were likely used in rituals and for communication.
- Overview
- General characteristics
The principal types of musical instruments are percussion, stringed, keyboard, wind, and electronic.
How long have musical instruments existed?
Archaeology has revealed musical instruments such as pipes and whistles in the Paleolithic Period and clay drums and shell trumpets in the Neolithic Period. Ancient cultures of Mesopotamia, the Mediterranean, India, East Asia, and the Americas all possessed diverse and well-developed assortments of musical instruments, indicating that a long previous development must have existed.
musical instrument, any device for producing a musical sound. The principal types of such instruments, classified by the method of producing sound, are percussion, stringed, keyboard, wind, and electronic.
Musical instruments are almost universal components of human culture: archaeology has revealed pipes and whistles in the Paleolithic Period and clay drums and shell trumpets in the Neolithic Period. It has been firmly established that the ancient city cultures of Mesopotamia, the Mediterranean, India, East Asia, and the Americas all possessed diverse and well-developed assortments of musical instruments, indicating that a long previous development must have existed. As to the origin of musical instruments, however, there can be only conjecture. Some scholars have speculated that the first instruments were derived from such utilitarian objects as cooking pots (drums) and hunting bows (musical bows); others have argued that instruments of music might well have preceded pots and bows; while in the myths of cultures throughout the world the origin of music has frequently been attributed to the gods, especially in areas where music seems to have been regarded as an essential component of the ritual believed necessary for spiritual survival.
Whatever their origin, the further development of the enormously varied instruments of the world has been dependent on the interplay of four factors: available material, technological skills, mythic and symbolic preoccupations, and patterns of trade and migration. Thus, residents of Arctic regions use bone, skin, and stone to construct instruments; residents of the tropics have wood, bamboo, and reed available; while societies with access to metals and the requisite technology are able to utilize these malleable materials in a variety of ways. Myth and symbolism play an equally important role. Herding societies, for example, which may depend on a particular species of animal not only economically but also spiritually, often develop instruments that look or sound like the animal or prefer instruments made of bone and hide rather than stone and wood, even when all the materials are available. Finally, patterns of human trade and migration have for many centuries swept musicians and their instruments across seas and continents, resulting in constant flux, change, and cross-fertilization and adaptation.
Musical instruments have been used since earliest times for a variety of purposes, ranging from the entertainment of concert audiences to the accompaniment of dances, rituals, work, and medicine. The use of instruments for religious ceremonies has continued down to the present day, though at various times they have been suspect because of their secular associations. The many references to instruments in the Old Testament are evidence of the fact that they played an important part in Jewish worship until for doctrinal reasons they were excluded. It is also clear that the early Christians in the eastern Mediterranean used instruments in their services, since the practice was severely condemned by ecclesiastics, who insisted that the references to instruments in the Psalms were to be interpreted symbolically. Although instruments continue to be banned in Islamic mosques (but not in religious processions or Sufi ritual) and in the traditional Eastern Orthodox church, they play important roles in the ritual of most other societies. For example, Buddhist cultures are rich in instruments, particularly bells and drums (and in the Tibet Autonomous Region of China, wind instruments as well).
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Belief in the magical properties of instruments is found in many societies. The Jewish shofar (a ram’s horn), which is still blown on Rosh Hashana (New Year) and Yom Kippur (Day of Atonement), must be heard by the congregation. The power of the shofar is illustrated by the story of Joshua at the siege of Jericho: when the priests blew their shofars seven times, the walls of the city fell flat. In India, according to legend, when the deity Krishna played the flute, the rivers stopped flowing and the birds came down to listen. The birds are said to have done the same in 14th-century Italy when the composer Francesco Landini played his organetto, or portative organ. In China, instruments were identified with the points of the compass, with the seasons, and with natural phenomena. The Melanesian bamboo flute was a charm for rebirth.
Musical instruments developed independently in many populated regions of the world. However, contact among civilizations caused rapid spread and adaptation of most instruments in places far from their origin.
The earliest objects whose designations as musical instruments are widely accepted are bone flutes from the Swabian Jura, Germany, namely from the Geissenklösterle, Hohle Fels and Vogelherd caves. [52]
