Sunday, September 14, 2008

Origin of music

The origin of music is not known as it occurred prior to the recorded history. Some suggest that the origin of music likely comes from naturally occurring sounds and rhythms. Human music may echo these phenomena using patterns, repetition and tonality. Even nowadays, some cultures have certain instances of their music intending to imitate natural sounds. In some instances, this feature is related to shamanistic beliefs or practice.
From the bird song, monkeys we have been witnessed the music. It is possible
that the first musical instrument was the human voice itself, which can make a vast array of sounds, from singing, humming and whistling through to clicking, coughing and yawning. The oldest known Neanderthal hyoid bone with the modern human form has been dated to be 60,000 years old, predating the oldest known bone flute by 10,000 years; but since both artifacts are unique the true chronology may date back much further.
Most likely the first rhythm instruments or percussion instruments involved the clapping of hands, stones hit together, or other things that are useful to create rhythm and indeed there are examples of musical instruments which date back as far as the Paleolithic, although there is some ambiguity over archaeological finds which can be variously interpreted as either musical or non-musical instruments/tools. Examples of Paleolithic objects which are considered unambiguously musical are bone flutes or pipes; Paleolithic finds which are open to interpretation are pierced phalanges objects interpreted as bullroarers, and rasps.
Music can be theoretically traced to prior to the Oldowan era of the Paleolithic age, the anthropological and archeological designation suggests that music first arose (amongst humans) when stone tools first began to be used by hominids. The noises produced by work such as pounding seed and roots into meal is a likely source of rhythm created by early humans.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

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I really enjoyed this article. I appreciate the history behind any cultural phenomenon. It is my opinion that music is a natural instinct built into the DNA of humanity.

Great blog, I will be back!