In ancient Greece there were two basic kinds of instruments.

There was one kind with strings-(kinda' like a guitar), and the pipe-like recorder thingy most of us have used or will use to annoy our parents & friends with (just jokin'). I can't even draw good enough to get a stick of

gum. So if you actually wanna' see pictures, instead of falling asleep reading this, maybe you should

try clicking what you wanna' see (that'd be the word 'Pictures'-above).

PIPES-

The Geek word for pipes is-wait! Did I say geek? I meant Greek. The Greek word for pipes is AULOI. 1

of the AULOI is called the AULOS. This word is translated "flute", but is more like our oboe. There was a

whole family of piped instruments in Ancient Greece. They went as high and low as the voice went. The

early AULOS had only 3-4 holes the Oboe has around 3x that many!

Well that does it for the piped stuff. If you wanna' read about the strings, go for it. If your really bored, I

don't blame ya'. Don't worry about me. I'll be around for a while so you can go play in some ancient

grease if you want (gross!!!)

Hey! Didn't you read what I just wrote? You don't have 2 read this (unless your teacher wants you to).

Well o.k., but consider that my final warning. There's no turning back after you read the first word of

the next sentence.

STRINGS-

The national instrument of Greece was the KITHARA. It was 1st made from the shell of a turtle. Gradually

(maybe when they started running out of turtles), the Greeks used a flat wooden sound box. At 1st there

were only 4 strings. Today however, you can find 1 of the descendants of the KITHARA-the guitar- with 12

strings on it. The KITHARA players used a piece of animal bone called a plectrum-their version of a guitar

pick. They also wore a sling that looked kinda' like the guitar strap. 1 reason for the sling was so you

wouldn't get as tired when you played. I think the main reason for the sling (strap), then and now, is so

you can do important things with your hands when your not playing-like eat and pick your nose-without

worrying about where the stupid thing is.

Another instrument with strings was the MAGADIS. Now this puppy was more like a harp. I talked 2 some

people that were alive back then, and they said the MAGADIS sounded like a trumpet. I have a hard time

believing them -(kinda' like you don't believe me and in fact think I'm a moron). The MAGADIS had 20

strings (that's a lot of cat guts), and was used as an accompaniment to male singers. And now we're

done. That wasn't too bad was it?!?