About the origin of music
Music is not only a lineage of art categories, but also a social phenomenon of human beings, which arose with the emergence of human beings; or to be more precise said. It is the product of the development of human society to a certain stage.
Since it is a social phenomenon, it must have its own origin. Many music historians throughout the ages have conducted different studies and discussions on the origin of music, and thus summarized six different opinions. These six opinions seem to include all religions and emotions in human society. Labor and other phenomena can be said to be scientific, entertaining and storytelling.
As for the origin of music, it is called the product of "heterosexual courtship" by scientists. This statement was put forward by the famous British biologist Darwin. This theory was a sensation at the time. Darwin believed that prehistoric animals often used chirps to woo the opposite sex. The more beautiful their voices are, the more attractive they are to the opposite sex. Therefore, animals have emitted graceful and graceful voices to gain each other's favor. This kind of song, especially the song of birds, already has musical or rhythm elements. Therefore, Darwin associated this with the origin of music and believed that sound existed before the emergence of language. The songs of some ethnic groups among primitive tribes imitate the calls, moving chirps, and ups and downs of melody of various birds, thus forming beautiful folk songs that have been sung for centuries.
In particular, the songs of birds already have musical or rhythmic elements. Therefore, Darwin associated this with the origin of music and believed that sound existed before the emergence of language. The songs of some ethnic groups among primitive tribes imitate the calls, moving chirps, and ups and downs of melody of various birds, thus forming beautiful folk songs that have been sung for centuries.
The origin of music
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The origin of music in human society can be traced back to the very ancient prehistoric times. Before humans developed language, they already knew how to use the pitch, strength, etc. of sounds to express their thoughts and feelings. With the development of human labor, chants to unify the rhythm of labor and shouts to convey information to each other gradually emerged. This is the most primitive prototype of music; when people celebrate harvests and share the fruits of labor, they often beat stone and wooden tools to express Joy, joy, this is the prototype of the original musical instrument. a. The legend of the origin of stringed instruments Mercury is the messenger of the gods in Greek mythology. One day he was walking along the Nile River and accidentally stepped on something that made a wonderful sound. He picked it up and saw that it was an empty turtle shell with a dry tendon attached to the inside. So Mercury was inspired by it and invented the stringed instrument. Later generations have verified that string instruments appeared before Mercury, but the invention of string instruments may have been inspired by this. b. The legend of the origin of wind instruments In ancient China, during the Yellow Emperor's period five thousand years ago, there was a musician named Ling Lun. Legend has it that he went into the Kunlun Mountains in the west to collect bamboo for flutes. At that time, there happened to be five phoenixes flying in the sky, and he made laws according to their sounds. Although this legend is not completely credible, it is not a bad idea to regard it as the origin of wind instruments. It can be said that the working life of human beings in the primitive era developed and developed in the company of music, and the two are closely linked. In this sense, music is produced directly from human labor life.
Music of primitive people
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The ancient Mesopotamia (Tigris River and Euphrates River) was one of the important cradles of human culture. The prosperous Mesopotamia region (today's Iran and Iraq) had relatively developed music in the fourth millennium BC. At that time, the Sumerians living in this area already had harp-like instruments and several orchestral instruments. At that time, professional singers and larger bands had emerged in the court.
Later, these more advanced musical cultures gradually spread to ancient countries such as Egypt, Greece, India, and China, and further developed in these areas in different forms with national colors. Although the development of music varies among ethnic groups and regions, its basic development direction is gradually moving from secular music to religious music.
Music of the Middle Ages
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1. Ancient Chinese Music The Yellow Emperor was the earliest king in Chinese history. He created the calendar and writing five thousand years ago. At that time, in addition to the aforementioned Ling Lun, there was also a musician named "Fuxi". It is said that Fuxi had the head of a human and the body of a snake. He was conceived in his mother's womb for twelve years. The harp he played originally had fifty strings, but because the tone was too sad, Huang Di cut off half of his harp and changed it to twenty-five strings. In legends from the time of the Yellow Emperor, there is also a musician named Shen Nong, who is said to have the head of an ox and the body of a snake. Shennong once taught people to cultivate grains, tasted all kinds of herbs and discovered medicine, and also created the five-stringed qin. Therefore, it can be naturally assumed that the music at that time used the pentatonic scale. In ancient China, there were no fewer than three hundred books on music. Confucius was a famous educator in the Spring and Autumn Period and a musician. He wrote many essays on music. We can see some of his comments on music in the Analects. Confucius was very accomplished in the guqin. He could compose his own music and put sorrow and joy into the music of the guqin. Confucius personally taught the art of piano to his disciples. Among his three thousand disciples, there were seventy-two who were proficient in the six arts. The content of his teaching can be called "poetry, calligraphy, etiquette and music". "Li" refers to the order of yin and yang in heaven and earth, and "joy" means achieving harmony. In Confucius' philosophy, morality and music are on the same footing, and he advocated using music to improve moral character. On the other hand, most of the court music in ancient China was dance music, which integrated poetry, dance, and music, which is completely different from today's dance.
2. Ancient Egyptian and Arabic music Ancient Egyptian civilization is one of the oldest civilizations in the world. On the carvings on the stone walls inside the pyramid, we can see the procession of music players, thus imagining the grand occasion of music playing at that time. The carvings include harp-like string instruments played with fingers, as well as various flute-like instruments. Instrumental music in areas such as Arabia is also quite developed. A long time ago, they began to use a special scale divided into seventeen note names within an octave.
3. Ancient Greek and Roman Music The origin of Greek music is also shrouded in mystery. According to legend, the god Apollo is in charge of music and has nine Muses under his jurisdiction, so music is also called Music or Musik. Among the Greek musical instruments, there is a V-shaped double-pipe flute called auros, a hurdy-gurdy called a lyra, and a kithara, a stringed instrument similar to a guitar. These instruments are Introduced from Egypt or Arabia. In the lives of ancient Greeks, music played a very prominent role. Based on the oriental music spread from Egypt and Arabia, they gradually developed and changed it and formed their own music. Music in ancient Greece was closely linked to poetry and drama. The importance of music is reflected in their two charming Homeric epics and many famous dramatic works. The songs sung by some famous folk singers in society at that time were also of great significance to the formation and development of ancient Greek music. Ancient Greek music had significant achievements in many aspects. In the sixth century BC, Pythagoras, the great ancient Greek philosopher and mathematician, used a single-stringed instrument called the Monochord to first explain the theory of pure temperament and calculate the time based on the length of the string. All intervals used. The invention and application of Pythagorean temperament was a major breakthrough in music theory. Secondly, the ancient Greeks also invented alphabetical notation. There were also many bold innovations and creations in the production of musical instruments, and a number of unprecedented musical instruments were invented. Ancient Greek music not only included solo lyrics with instrumental accompaniment, but also drama music and dance music. This music is generally based on monophonic music, and most of its content is religious. The music of ancient Rome mainly followed the great achievements of ancient Greek music.
Music at that time was mainly played during sacrifices to gods, wedding banquets and military triumphs. Since the third century AD, ancient Rome has expanded its power outwards and carried out barbaric invasion and plunder of neighboring city-states. Many of the outstanding musicians and singers of ancient Greece became servants of ancient Roman emperors, nobles and slave owners, so music became a tool specifically for the entertainment of the ruling class. However, the music culture of ancient Rome did not stagnate after ancient Greece. Some folk songs, wedding songs, soldier songs, and music and dances have developed to a certain extent. In the process of continuous development, ancient dramas sung in Latin appeared. In addition, the emergence of brass instruments in the army is also one of the main features of ancient Roman music.