Although instruments are not necessary for music, what would it be like if they didn’t exist? What would western music be without the likes of the piano, violin, horn, or organ? The evolution of instruments has helped shape what we know as western music. Without each step in this process being taken things could have come very differently. This paper serves as a type of time-line that relates how this progression of instruments had an impact on historical western music.
Origins
For centuries instruments have been an important part of human culture, however there was little record kept before the Middle Ages. What we do know about ancient music has been collected through artifacts. Evidence of musical instruments has been found in most ancient civilizations including the Mediterranean, Chinese, Germanic, and Egyptian cultures. Luckily the ancient Egyptians are unique in that they clearly show the use of instruments in hieroglyphics. These drawings give us a glimpse of the instruments played, and the cultural aspects surrounding them.
As indicated by the location of various artifacts, production and development of ancient instruments seemed to vary between geographic areas. The more sophisticated civilizations of Asia, North Africa, and Mediterranean concentrated on stringed instruments. In the Americas nd lower part of Africa wind and percussion instruments were most prominent. The difference in origin between these instruments was mainly due to the available material. Eventually through trade and migration these instruments found their way to other parts of the globe.
The Middle Ages
The Middle Ages were really the beginning of what we call Western music. For the first time musical notation was used in European countries exten...
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Secondary Sources
Grame, Theodore. "History and evolution." Encyclopedia Britannica Online. Encyclopedia Britannica, n.d. Web. 19 June 2014. .
"History of the Piano." Your comprehensive guide to everything about pianos. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 June 2014. .
"Musical Instruments in the Middle Ages." Musical Instruments in the Middle Ages. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 June 2014. .
"What’s the History of the Violin?." About.com Music Education. N.p., n.d. Web. 19 June 2014. .
In terms of the technical differences between the art music of early times and that of the modern period (i.e., after 1600) we can identify five specific features that make post-1600 styles in music sound more or less "familiar."
The book begins with a prologue, in which a letter is sent from a musician working for a cardinal in 1347. It is sent from the papal court of Avignon and is received by some of the musician's ...
Atlas, Allan W. Renaissance Music: Music in Western Europe, 1400-1600. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, Inc., 1998.
Next we come to a point in time where a great leap had to be made. Musicians had made positive steps forward in the way of pitch and time but of only one or two notes at a time. What was needed was an in instrument that gave players control of many pitches simultaneously. The mechanism ...
The earliest form of musical notation can be found in Nippur, Sumer (today’s Iraq) in about 2000 BC, it is in the form of a cuneiform tablet that shows pieces of instructions for performing music. Next,
Throughout history, the reed instruments including the Arghul, Jirba, Mijwiz, Mizmar, Mizward, Ney-anban, and Rhaita have evolved into a very distinct type of Arabic sound we hear today in the modern Middle East. While all of these instruments play an important and distinctive role in their respective musical cultures, however, the Arghul stands out as perhaps the most prominent of the reed instruments as it is perhaps the oldest in the Middle Eastern region, having been adapted by many different cultures in the greater Middle East. The Arghul has affected the musical tone, ceremonial occasions, and culture of the Middle East today. It’s essentially the instrument Europeans think of when they hear Arabic music.
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Burkholder, J. Peter, Donald Jay Grout, and Claude V. Palisca. A history of western music. 8th ed. New York: W. W. Norton, 2010. Print.
The history of the Concert Band and Wind Ensemble will be reflected through a timeline of events, including an analysis of significant events, groups, composers, and advancements. When society envisions a Wind Ensemble, talented musicians, grand music halls, and difficult arrangements typically come to mind. However, a modern-day Wind Ensemble includes a variety of musicians, each with positive and negative aspects. In society today, music is greatly appreciated and accepted. It is considered an honor and a privilege to expose our ears to the music.
McGee, Timothy J. Medieval and Renaissance Music: A Performer’s Guide. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1985.
Wold, Milo, Gary Martin, James Miller, and Edmund Cykler. "Chapter 10." An Introduction to Music and Art in the Western World. Boston Massachusetts: McGraw-Hill, 1996. 240-267. Print.
Music has shaped the lives of people throughout history. Even in its earliest forms, music has included use of instruments. One of the oldest musical instruments known is a variation of the flute; the original flute is thought to date back nearly 67,000 years ago. Tonight we are going to move throughout the eras with a history of instrumental music. This concert will begin with the Renaissance Era and continue through time until we have reached modern instrumental music.
The book America’s Musical Landscape starts by looking back to early North American Music from the American Indians, to the religious and non religious music of the European and African settlers. According to the book “Native American music was and is song, sometimes supported by instruments.”1 The Native American used different types of instruments to accompany their songs or chants such as the drums, flute and rattles. Like music for us today the Native Americans used music in all different aspects of their lives. The early European settlers br...
Music is found in every know culture, past and present. It is also, already being composed for the future. It is widely varied between all times and places. Since scientists believe that the modern humans arrived in the African culture more than 160,000 years ago, around 50,000 years ago, it is believed that the dispersal of music has been being developed between all cultures in the world. Even the most isolated tribal groups are thought to have had a form of music.
The music trade in 16th Century Europe was an evolving and expanding business. The invention of the printing press by Johann Gutenberg in 1440 and the subsequent improvements made by inventors and music publishers was essential to this expansion. The research presented in this essay examines the work of two music publishers, Ottaviano Petrucci and Pierre Attaingnant, who made significant contributions to the music trade of the mid and early 16th century in Europe. I will argue that their innovations were vital to the expansion of the music trade and influenced music printing methods centuries after their deaths. Their single greatest contribution to the music trade was their alterations to the process of music printing. By making it both