History of Music

Created by Johnie

Music has existed as long as humanity has, and there's so much more to come as we discover how to improve music.

Music in the BCs

The earliest known music was called the Hurrian Hymn. Which was created around 1400 BC, or the early bronze age, the Hurrians were a group of people who lived around Syria. The hurrian hymn is the oldest known song found in history. Hurrians used many string instruments such as the lyre and harp, wind instruments like a flute or reed pipe, and percussion instruments such as the drums or rattles.

200 years later, ancient celtic music was created in the iron age, around 1200 BC. Now the more advanced instrument was the Celtic horn. Given that there were more resources provided for instruments, Celtic music can be considered more “technologically advanced” than the Hurrian Hymn. This is because of the new tools and resources that could be used to create instruments.

In 1000 BC, the golden age, there was written music, organized worship music, musicians gained status. Use of the lyre and harp became more common, and they were more technologically advanced with their strings now stretched over a resonating chamber rather than just being there.

800 BC, the main focus was music theory and how instruments were made . There was a more developed way of writing music, harps, lyres, and drums had more refined production. They also began classifying instruments in ancient china based on what they were made of. Ancient china also had more advanced tone and notes. The greeks began creating the theory of musical intervals and representation for harmonies existing.

Music in the Early Centuries

In the tenth century, musical notation was more precise, we were getting closer to our written clefs today by signifying the pitch of a note based on how high they were on a page. This helped singers a lot when trying to match pitches. In this century, the origin of the musical staff was invented by having a base two lines on your paper. The organ was invented.

In 1100-1600s, the development of the modern musical staff was finally started, and by the 14th century, we finally used the five-line staff. Printing music became popularized as well in these years, which made music extremely accessible. Orchestra instruments became popularized, and instrument families played different clefs.

Classical Age of Music



In 1100-1600s, the development of the modern musical staff was finally started, and by the 14th century, we finally used the five-line staff. Printing music became popularized as well in these years, which made music extremely accessible. Orchestra instruments became popularized, and instrument families played different clefs.

The classical era took place in 1750 to 1820, music boxes, the piano, the metronome, clarinets, and the keyed bugle were invented. The piano was incredible because it let you play more than one note at a time! Cello and string bass became popularized over alternatives.

Modern Era of Music



In the 1900s, things like recorded music and the radio became a thing, microphones and headphones were also invented. With the beginning of electronic music, we also have different genres of music such as jazz, blues, rock and roll, pop, etc.

Early 2000s, portable music players were invented, allowed digital downloads of music, and home recordings of music. Musical video games became popular and music was accessible by almost anyone and everyone around the globe. Streaming platforms were also invented for music so you could turn on and off music at any time.