Ancient Greece and Rome are the cradles of western civilization, from which the philosophy, aesthetics and various art forms of western civilization began, and from which the western music culture also began. Learning to appreciate the history of foreign music is one of the knowledge points that music candidates should master in Fujian's teaching plan. Today, let's learn the main features and instruments of ancient Greek music.

First, the main characteristics of ancient Greek music

The music in ancient Greece was mainly vocal music, which was influenced and dominated by the laws of poetry. The function of ancient Greek music is only limited to strengthening the cadence of the language itself and making the poet's intention more vivid. In ancient Greece, there was no music without poetry, and there was no poetry without music. Their lyric poems are generally written for singing.

1. Single-voice melody, simple and generous, with simple musical instruments;

2. Most of them are improvisations, forming a "trinity" of music, dance and poetry;

3. Emphasizing secularity and reality, most of the works directly reflect the rich social life and national history of the ancient Greeks.

Second, the main musical instruments

There were many musical instruments in ancient Greece, which can be roughly divided into two categories according to their shapes, namely, stringed instruments and wind instruments.

String instruments:

The earliest stringed instrument is the lyre, also called the lyre, which is a plucked instrument. At first, it was four strings, and later it was increased to seven strings and twelve strings, which was called Kisala.

Features: The lyre is made by plucking the strings with fingers or picks. Originally made of tortoise shell strings, there were many variants later. Nowadays, this instrument can be seen in many music places and music signs, and it has almost become a symbol of music.

(2) Wind instruments:

1. Avros tube

The earliest wind instrument is aulos, which has a cylindrical tube and is usually used with a double tube. It is said that multi-voice effects can be played.

Features: sharp pronunciation, often playing fast, exciting and rhythmic music. It is an important instrument used in carnival and ancient Greek tragedy performances.

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Another wind instrument is the fire tube, also called Pan Xiao, which is the predecessor of today's flute playing. Pan is a god in ancient Greek mythology. Because he is good at playing this instrument, he was named Pan Xiao.

The ancient Greeks believed that everything in the universe was dominated by God. In their legends, there is a very systematic pedigree of mythical characters, and there are many Greek fairy tales with complicated plots. Legend has it that the above musical instruments were also invented and owned by different gods. Teachers in Fujian believe that their use is often related to the worship of different gods, and they are used in sacrificial ceremonies and corresponding occasions.