Ancient Greek Instruments

Many of the instruments used in Ancient Greek music were thought to be created by the gods. The lyre by Hermes, the aulos by Athena, and the panpipes by Pan. The nine muses personified the various aspects of music in the broader sense of the term. Calliope represented epic poetry and rhetoric, Cleo’s domain was history, Erato signified singing, Euterpe represented lyric poetry, Melpomene’s significance was in singing tragedy, Polymnia’s domain was hymns to the pantheon and to Greek heroes, Terpsichore delighted in dancing, Thalia signified comedy, and lastly Urania represented astronomy. The nine muses were born daughters of Zeus and the titan Mnemosyne after the two copulated for nine consecutive nights. Apollo led a chorus comprised of the nine muses, and they are often associated with him.

Music was a big part of the daily life of ancient Greece. Greek children learned a musical instrument at a young age. Music continued to be a part of their lives throughout adulthood. It was

When people wonder about Ancient Greece the first thing that comes to their minds is Greek mythology; gods and goddesses that have helped shape many historical events. “In ancient Greece, stories about gods and goddesses and heroes and monsters were an important part of everyday life.” (“Greek Mythology.”) The civilization showed that numerous characters and stories helped shape Greeks. The beliefs the Greeks had with mythologies was they understood the meaning behind all the characters that are known today. However, to the Greeks, they were not just characters, these were their gods and goddesses who gave them meaning and understanding of the world around them. Worshiping the gods and goddesses helped them with their religious rituals and the temperament of the weather. A famous wine-jar that was made during this time period was “Achilles killing the Amazon Queen Penthesilea, 540-530 BCE, black-figured amphora”. (Khan Academy) The civilization that they lived in grew around their worship and achievements.

5. Musical Instruments and their instrument families: A viola, violin, cello, and bass are classified as string instruments. The flute, piccolo, clarinet, bass clarinet, oboe, bassoon, English oboe, and contrabassoon are classified as woodwind instruments. The trumpet, tuba, French horn, and trombone are classified as brass instruments. Percussion instruments include timpani, xylophone, chimes, triangle, cymbals, and the bass drum. Keyboard instruments include

Music was an important role of the ancient Egyptian lifestyle and is where many musical instruments that are used today developed. It was played in temples for worship, during holidays and social events. Music was also used to make workers more productive because it was found to be more bearable and motivating. This article describes the importance of these instruments by explaining how they originated, the structure of them, and how they are used for worship.

​ Life in the Middle Ages revolved around the Church, which was the Roman Catholic. So, we can imagine early music was pretty much from church. Every morning at 9 o’clock was Mass, a significant ceremony done to commemorate the Last Supper. At this church service, the music was the Gregorian Chant. The Gregorian chant is performed in the Latin language, unison voice and accompanied by no instruments which was believed that the text of the song which carried the divine message from God was more important. The music was just to help you get to a spiritual place (Wright, 4-1a).

Music played a significant role in the lives of ancient Greeks. They believed that music fostered one’s relationship with the gods, and some instruments, such as the lyre, were created by the gods. Music and dance were also taught

For a long time, the musical instrument was suppressed in Russia. In 1648, Tsar Alexis I of Russia have banned the use of all musical instruments. It is because he is under the influence of then-prevalent views in the Russian Orthodox Church. At that time, they stated that instruments were from the devil. Although it is not easily verifiable today, but some historians also believe that skomorokhs who sing the disrespectful songs about the Tsar to instrumental accompaniment, could have been the real reason. As a result of the ban, instrumental music traditions disappeared and did not have a fertile ground for development in Russia for many years. No musical instruments are used in Orthodox churches (in

Music provided rhythm for chores, such as working in the field, and it was also used to celebrate important events as well as

     Once plays started being written, the number of interested spectators increased. In order to satisfy the Greeks amphitheaters were constructed all over Greece. Three well-known theaters were the theater at Delphi, the Attic Theater and the theater of Dionysus built at the foot of the Acropolis in Athens. During their prime time, the plays attracted crowds of 30,000 and more. The stands were built around the orchestra and up hillsides; somewhat like a baseball stadium today. This made it possible to seat more than 17,000 spectators at a time.

Music in Ancient Greece was well integrated in their society, it played a large role in various ceremonies from marriages to funerals, as well as entertainment like plays or epic poetry. Although it is believed that music was invented in Africa over 55,000 years ago, music really began and took shape in Ancient Greece. Even the word music came from the Greek word muses who were believed to be the daughters of Zeus and were the patron Goddesses of creativity. There are many references to music in ancient Greece, from drawings on pottery of people playing, as well as literary works that even describe how the instruments sounded. Speaking of instruments, in addition to the voice being used as one, there are several instruments that are known to have existed in Ancient Greece, a few different string instruments including a lyre, a kithara (which is believed to be the ancient equivalent of a guitar), and a barbitos, which is a taller version of a lyre. They also had several wind type instruments including and aulos, pan pipes, a hydraulis (which eventually led to the modern day organ), as well as a salpinx, which was an ancient type of trumpet with a bone mouthpiece that was the origin of the many brass instruments that we know of today. Finally, we also know of several percussion instruments that were used by the ancient Greeks, these include a tympanum, which was like a tambourine, a crotala, and a koudounia. Music was actually one of the main teachings, along with gymnastics

Uliad loved his harp and was truly grateful for it, but he wanted something more. He longed for a beautiful harp, for a harp that was perfect. He dreamed for years about what materials he would use and what design would be etched in the wood. It would sound like a stream rushing softly and smoothly past, it would sound like a tree crashing down as well.(Irony- it is both soft and crashing)

An altar (or thymele) was located in the center of the orchestra. It looked like a short drum of marble decorated with low-relief carvings of garlands and satyrs. It was used for sacrifices in honor of the god Dionysus. The altar was primarily used prior to performances. However, due to religious themes of

The Romans were not the most innovative of ancient cultures when it came to music, as it wasn’t held to the same importance in Rome as it was in other cultures. Regardless, the Romans did very much enjoy music and admire its use in other cultures. And so, instead of creating a Roman version of music, they borrowed the musical instruments and musical theory from those other cultures. One of them was Etruscans. Though the fact that the Etruscans had an impact on music in Rome is known, the magnitude of that impact is unknown, but instruments used in Roman life such as the tuba and the cornu are believed to have been borrowed from the Etruscans. However, it was the Greeks that had the greatest influence on Roman music. A multitude of instruments used

Greek theater can be considered to be one of the building blocks for our theater today. The advancements that the Greeks possessed in the early fifth century were the start of western theater. The Greeks were heavily involved with religion and religious festivals, comedies, tragedies, climatic drama, and took the outdoor amphitheater and made many improvements to its structure.