The Music of Ancient Greek

     We should not always be addictted to the pop music.Let us share some beautiful old music.And this article is about anient Greek music.

     Q:What was Greek Music like?

     A:It is often considered that Greek Music did not have harmony; it was mostly sung by one singer and not in chorus as is commonly seen in Greek plays. In ancient Greece the laws of music were followed very strictly and one form was not allowed to mix with the other. The rigidity of rules was to this extent that the audience or the listeners could not even clap or applaud. The purpose of the musical shows was not to entertain but to train the common people. It is said that Pythagoras proposed the use of numbers to denote musical scales, which he identified when studying the differences in sound frequencies of varied length strings of of a musical instrument. This concept began to be used in Ancient Greek Music and Pythagoras was conferred with the title of father of music theory. Most of the Greek Music as stated was monophonic therefore had not much of a difference when played but when artists started experimentation with music so that it sounds good, experts like Plato considered it to be sacrilege of the purest form of music.

     Q:What are the instruments used in Ancient Greek Music?

     A:Greeks used many musical instruments to create sound that would be soothing and calm for the listener and the instruments were quite interesting as well. There were string instruments, percussion instruments and wind instruments. Here is a list of some of the popular musical instruments:

     Panflute or the Pan Pipe is a combination of modern flutes and the legend says that Pan made this musical instrument from reeds an the reeds were nothing but a nymph who tried to hide from Pan.

     Kithara is another instrument which is much like a lyre which has strings that are attached to a frame. The strings are stretched across the frame and the when played with a plectrum; it produces soothing and serene sound.

     (It is said that Greeks considered music to be a way of exalting the glory of God therefore they used music when worshiping their Gods and Goddesses. Apart from this music was also a part of their social life, which would imply that music was present in all kinds of auspicious social occasions. Since drama was also quite popular in Greece they also used music when drama was staged. Only few fragments of the ancient Greek Music are extant which gives us a very faint idea about what Ancient Greek Music was like and that too most of the information comes from the early vase paintings and the written papyrus texts of Greek dance and Greek music. Most of the information that we have on Greek Music is about the instruments that were used. )

August 2, 2009  Author:   Posted in: Old Music

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