Greek Gift of
Terri McReynolds
Have you ever wondered about where music started? Have you ever heard the
words rhythm or melody? If you have ever wanted to know who was the first
to discover music? If your here to read about Greek culture, maybe you'd
like to know about Greek music. Would you like to know what kind of music
the ancient Greeks played? Did it have a purpose? What kind of instruments
were around a long time ago? What did they sound like?
That's a lot of questions.
Maybe this story about the Greek religion mythology
will help......
A very long time ago, even long before the ancient Greeks, there
were two gods. Zeus,
the all powerful, and Mnemosyne, or Memory. They fell in love and in a short
time Memory had nine little girls. (Yes! Nine girls at once!!) Besides being
sisters, these girls shared a great love of music and dance. Each one in her
own way let her talent shine through. They were so loved by their parents
and the human Greeks, that they played all over Greece at parties, festivals
and religious celebrations. These daughters of Zeus soon became known as the
MUSES.
As time passed, the nine sisters also became representatives
of different sciences too. Though worship of the muses faded, we still
remember them by the word, MUSIC. See how the two words are similar?
Other Greek words that are similar to English words about music are Rhythmos,
which is now Rhythm (a pattern of beats), and Melos which is now Melody
( a single voice singing or playing).
For More
Mythology
Sometimes when several of us sing together or when we play an instrument
with many chords like a piano, we seem to hear several notes that sound
like one note. This is called HARMONICS.
The Greeks played a part in the discovery and study of harmonics. One group of people, the Pythagoreans (say: Pith-a-gor-ee-ans) were a collection of scholars who felt that music was orderly and like math. They also felt that music was related to the universe and created by the cosmos. (Gods)
So what kind of music did they sing and what instruments did the ancient Greeks
play? If you think its anything like the kind of music thats around now, then
your wrong.
The Greeks LOVED to sing and felt that singing was far superior
to just instrumental music. Of course, the two together were fine. More
than now, music was everywhere. Greeks used music to recite poetry and
important stories.
The Greeks even had special gods
for their music. They were called Hymnos and Dythyrambs (say: dith-ee-rams)
for religious songs of worship, Hyporchema (say: hipor-keema), for dance songs,
Threnos (say: three-nos) for laments or sad songs and Skolion (say sko-lee-on)
for drinking songs.
Remember everything in the Greek world was centered around
their religion. The Greeks
worked, made war with others, sang and played, and fell in love all for
their gods.
This is a picture of an AULOS
An aulos is a wind instrument. It's a lot like a recorder. Some of you may
have played a recorder in school. The aulos is the forerunner (like a great,
great, great, great, great grandparent) of the recorder. The first aulos came
from Phrygia (say: Fridge-ia).* They were considered an instrument of
healing.*Over many many years there have been many, many kinds of recorders
and other similar wind instruments. Some related instruments that you may have
heard of are the clarinet and the saxophone.
And here is a picture of a Kithara
The kithara is the earliest form of the modern day guitar and other
stringed instruments. Again, the Greeks preferred the voice to instruments
and although both of these instruments were widely used, their primary
purpose was for accompaniment. In other words the Kithara and Aulos were
background music for the singer.
"Yeah, yeah, yeah," you say. "So what did the music sound like???
Well you're going to have to click below and find out.
NOTE: SOME MUSIC EXAMPLES TAKE A LONG TIME TO DOWNLOAD, ASK YOUR PARENTS OR TEACHER BEFORE DOWNLOADING.