Music: History and Prehistory

Baca Juga

FEMUSINDO.com - There is an expression that says, this world would be quiet without music. This expression seems to be true. Because, music is a tone or sound that is arranged in such a way that it contains rhythm, song, and harmony.

Music consists of several elements, namely melody, harmony, rhythm, and timbre. Music is a type of intuitive phenomenon, to create, improve, and present it in a form of art. Music is a unique phenomenon produced by several musical instruments.

History of Music

Reporting from Wikipedia, music has been known since the presence of modern humans Homo sapiens, namely around 180,000 to 100,000 years ago. However, no one knows when humans began to know art and music.

From archaeological discoveries at locations such as the African continent, around 180,000 years to 100,000 years ago there was an evolutionary change in the human brain. With a brain that is smarter than animals, humans design more targeted hunting so that they can hunt large animals.

With brain abilities like this, humans can think further beyond reason and use imagination and spirituality. A language for communication has been established among humans.

From simple language and sayings to signal danger and giving names to animals, slowly some vocabulary emerged to name objects and give nicknames to people.

In their nomadic life, ancient humans may have been inspired to take the dry leg bones of game animals that were their food, then blow on them and make a sound.

There are also those who get inspiration when they observe nature by blowing into a cavity of wood or bamboo that makes a sound. The wood was formed into a blow hole and became an ancient flute.

Humans express feelings of fear and joy using sounds. Playing around with sounds creates songs, hymns, or little hymns inspired by birdsong.

Wood and hard rocks are hit to produce exciting sounds and rhythms. Perhaps humans accidentally knocked on a tree trunk that was hollow inside with a wooden stick that made a loud sound.

Animal skins used as clothing are placed to cover large wooden cavities to create a drum.

Prehistoric Music

The theory of prehistoric music is based solely on the findings of paleolithic archaeological sites. The flute is a musical instrument that was widely used in prehistoric times, one of which is shaped like a shakuhachi from Japan.

There is a Divje Babe flute made from the thigh bone of a cave bear, which is estimated to have been used around 40,000 years ago.

Various types of flutes and stringed instruments have existed since the Indus Valley Civilization, India, which has one of the oldest musical traditions in the world originating from the Vedas.

The largest and oldest discovery of prehistoric musical instruments is located in China, which can be traced back to between 7000 and 6600 BC. Hurrian songs are a collection of written music in ancient writings excavated from the Hurrian city of Ugarit which is estimated to have existed around 1400 BC. (*)