God Pan created the shepherd's pipe, Athena - Greek goddess wisdom invented the flute, the Indian God Narada invented and gave man a harp-shaped musical instrument - the veena. But these are just myths, because we all understand that musical instruments invented by the man himself. And there is nothing surprising here, because it is the first musical instrument. And the sound that comes from him is his voice.
Primitive man conveyed information by voice and informed his fellow tribesmen about his emotions: joy, fear and love. To make the “song” sound much more interesting, he clapped his hands and stomped his feet, knocked stone against stone and hit the stretched mammoth skin. Just like that, the objects that surrounded a person slowly began to transform into musical instruments.
Musical instruments are divided into three groups, that is, according to the method of extracting sound from them: wind, percussion and strings. So let's now figure out why primitive pulled, why did he knock, and what did he hit? We do not know for sure what kind of musical instruments there were at that time, but we can guess.
The first group is wind instruments. We don’t know why the ancient man blew into a reed reed, a piece of bamboo or a horn, but we know for sure that it became an instrument when the holes appeared.
The second group are percussion instruments, which were made from all sorts of objects, namely from the shells of large fruits, wooden blocks, and from dried skins. They were beaten with a stick, fingers or palms, and were used for ritual ceremonies and military operations.
And the last, third group is stringed musical instruments. It is generally accepted that the first stringed musical instrument was a hunting bow. An ancient hunter, pulling his bowstring, noticed that the string was “singing” from the splinter. But the stretched vein of the animal “sings” even better. And it “sings” even better when you rub an animal’s hair against it. This is exactly how the bow was born, that is, at that time, it was a stick with a tuft of horsehair stretched over it, which was moved along a string made from twisted animal sinews. After some time, the bow began to be made from silk threads. This divided stringed musical instruments into bowed and twisted.
The most ancient musical string instruments are the harp and the lyre. All ancient peoples have similar instruments. Ur harps are the oldest stringed instruments that have been found by archaeologists. They are approximately four and a half thousand years old.
The truth is that it is impossible to say exactly what the first musical instrument looked like, but we can say with complete confidence that music, at least in a primitive form, was part of the life of primitive man.
Ancient musical instruments are sometimes valued more than modern ones. The reason is that similar tools are different high quality work. The first musical instruments are considered to be winds, pipes and tweeters of various types. Naturally, you can only admire such exhibits in a museum. But there are a number of tools that can be purchased at auctions.
An ancient musical instrument is a broad concept. It refers to products that make sounds and were made back in the days Ancient Greece and Egypt, as well as less “old” objects capable of emitting musical sounds and having a resistor. It is noteworthy that percussion instruments that produce musical sounds do not have a resistor.
1) Forefather string instruments is a hunting bow that was used by our ancestors. Since the string produced a methodical sound when pulled, it was subsequently decided to string several strings of different thicknesses and lengths, resulting in sounds of different ranges.
Replacing the enclosure with a full box resulted in sounds that were beautiful and melodic. The first string instruments include:
- Gusli.
- Guitar.
- Theorbu.
- Mandolin.
- Harp.
It is worth paying attention to violins, which are in particular demand. The most popular violin maker is Antonio Stradivari. Experts agree that Antonio made the best violins in 1715; the quality of these instruments is simply amazing. Distinctive feature One of the main features of the master’s work is the desire to improve the shape of the instruments by changing them to a more curved one. Antonio strived for perfect sound and melodiousness. He decorated the body of the violins with precious stones.
In addition to violins, the master made harps, cellos, guitars and violas.
2) A wind musical instrument can be made of wood, metal or other material. Essentially, it is a tube of various diameters and lengths that produces sound due to air vibrations.
The larger the volume wind instrument, the lower the sound it makes. There are wooden and copper instruments. The principle of operation of the former is simple - it is necessary to open and close holes that are located at different distances from each other. As a result of such actions, air masses vibrate and music is created.
To the antiques wooden instruments include:
- flute;
- bassoon;
- clarinet;
- oboe.
The instruments got their name from the material from which they were made in those days, but modern technologies do not stand still, so the material was replaced partially or completely. Therefore, today these instruments look different and are made from different materials.
Get sound from brass instruments is obtained by changing the position of the lips and due to the force of the air being blown in and out. Later, in 1830, a mechanism with valves was invented.
Brass instruments include:
- Trombone.
- Pipe.
- Tubu et al.
In most cases, these instruments are made of metal, and not only copper, brass and even silver are used. But the works of medieval masters were made of wood partially or completely.
Perhaps the most ancient wind instrument is the horn, which was used for various purposes.
Bayans and accordions
Bayans, accordions and all types of accordions are classified as reed musical instruments.
Traditions allow us to call only those instruments that have a keyboard with right side. But in the USA, the concept of “accordion” also includes other types of hand accordions. At the same time, varieties of accordions may have their own names.
Approximately in late XIX centuries, accordions were made in Klingenthal; German accordions are still in demand among Russian musicians.
There are also hydroid models that can be classified as artifacts; most of these models are no longer in use, but require attention due to their rarity and uniqueness.
Shrammel's button accordion is an instrument that has a unique structure. On the right side there is a push-button keyboard. This type of accordion is used in Viennese chamber music.
Trikitix accordion - on the left side there is a 12-button bass, on the right side there is a keyboard.
The chromatic accordion from Britain, despite the fact that the instrument is made in Germany, is considered the favorite instrument of musicians from Scotland.
The old Schwyzerörgeli accordion has similarities with the Belgian bass system, and the accordion is also called an organ from Scotland.
It is also worth paying attention to one copy from the USSR - this is the “Baby” accordion, which has a unique design. The peculiarity of this instrument is that the accordion is smaller in size. It was used to educate children, but not only. Due to its compactness, the instrument has some structural features:
- the first row is the bass and the second row is the chords;
- major and minor missing;
- one button performs the role of two.
You can buy such an accordion today inexpensively compared to models from Germany intended for training. Despite the fact that the accordion has various reviews and there is criticism of the instrument, it is considered ideal for teaching children.
A bit of nationality
There are not so few folk instruments; each nation has its own. The Slavs were distinguished by the quantity and quality of models. Some of the first instruments of the Slavs are:
- Balalaika.
- Accordion.
- Tambourine.
- Dudka.
1) The balalaika, along with the accordion, is considered a symbol of Russia and is perceived as the most widespread instrument. Historians do not answer when exactly the balalaika appeared; the approximate date is considered to be the 17th century. The balalaika consists of a triangular body and three strings, the vibration of which leads to the appearance of music.
The balalaika acquired its modern appearance in 1833, thanks to the musician Vasily Andreev, who began improving the balalaika.
2) The button accordion is a type of hand accordion that was designed by a Bavarian master. A similar type of accordion was discovered in Russia in 1892. In 1907, a master from St. Petersburg, Pyotr Egorovich Sterligov, made an instrument for harmonica player Yakov Fedorovich Orlansky-Titarenky. The work took the master about two years. And the instrument received its name in honor of the singer and storyteller named Bayan.
3) The tambourine is an instrument of indefinite pitch that has its own variations in different cultures. It is a circle covered with leather on both sides; metal bells or rings were also attached to the tambourine. Tambourines had different sizes and were often used for shamanic rituals.
But there is also an orchestral tambourine - the most common instrument today. A plastic tambourine is a round wooden hoop covered with leather or other membrane.
4) The pipe is a type of folk wind instrument that was common in Russia, Ukraine and Belarus. The pipe is a small tube with holes.
Keyboard instruments
One of the most famous instruments that has survived to this day is the organ. Its original design had its own peculiarities: the organ keys were so large that they had to be pressed with your fists. The sound of the organ invariably accompanied church services. This instrument dates back to the Middle Ages.
The clavichord is very similar to the piano, but its sound was quiet, so there was no point in playing the clavichord in front of a large number of people. The clavichord was used for evenings and playing music at home. The instrument had keys that were pressed with your fingers. Bach had a clavichord, he played musical works on it.
The clavichord was replaced by the piano in 1703. The inventor of this instrument was a master from Spain, Bartolomeo Cristofori, who made instruments for the Medici family. He called his invention “an instrument that plays quietly and loudly.” The principle of operation of the piano was as follows: the keys had to be struck with a hammer, and there was also a mechanism for returning the hammer to its place.
The hammer struck a key, the key struck a string and caused it to vibrate, causing a sound; there were no pedals or dampers. Later, the piano was modified: a device was made that helped the hammer drop halfway. The modernization has significantly improved the sound quality and facilitated the process of playing music.
There are quite a lot of ancient instruments; this concept includes models of Slavic culture, accordions made in the USSR and violins from the time of Antonio Stradivari. It is difficult to find such an exhibit in private collections; for the most part, you can admire rare instruments in various museums. But some models are successfully sold at auctions, asking buyers to pay a not too high price for the instruments. Unless, of course, we are talking about specimens that fall under the concept of “antiques”.
The first convincing evidence of musical experiments dates back to the Paleolithic era, when man learned to make instruments from stone, bone and wood in order to produce various sounds. Later, sounds were extracted using a faceted rib from bone, and the sound produced resembled the gnashing of teeth. Rattles were also made from skulls, which were filled with seeds or dried berries. This sound often accompanied the funeral procession.
The most ancient musical instruments were drums. Idnophone - ancient percussion instrument- arose during the formation period ancient man speech. The duration of the sound and its repeated repetition were associated with the rhythm of the heartbeat. In general, for ancient people, music was primarily rhythm.
Following the drums, wind instruments were invented. The ancient prototype of the flute discovered in Asturis (20,000 BC) is striking in its perfection. The side holes were knocked out in it, and the principle of sound production was the same as that of modern flutes.
Stringed instruments were also invented in ancient times. Images of ancient string instruments have been preserved on numerous rock paintings, most of which are located in the Pyrenees. Thus, in the Cogul cave there are “dancing” figures “carrying bows” nearby. The “lyre player” struck the strings with the edge of bone or wood, producing sound. It is curious that in the chronology of development the invention of string instruments and dance occupy the same time space.
At this time, an aerophone appears - an instrument made of bone or stone, appearance which resembles a diamond or the tip of a spear.
Threads were threaded and secured through holes in the wood, after which the musician ran his hand along these threads, twisting them. The result was a sound resembling a hum. Most often they played the aerophone in the evenings. The sound emanating from this instrument was reminiscent of the voice of spirits. This instrument was improved during the Mesolithic era (3000 BC). It became possible to play two or three sounds simultaneously. This was achieved by cutting vertical holes. Despite the primitiveness of the method of making such instruments, this technique was preserved for a long time in some parts of Oceania, Africa and Europe.
Among the musical instruments used by ancient civilizations we find wind instruments: flutes (tigtigi) and oboe (abub). We know that the Mesopotamian population, like the Egyptians, had a high technique for making wind instruments from reeds. They modified tools throughout the existence of their civilization. Soon, along with the flute, the pishik was invented, which contributed to the appearance of the oboe. In this instrument, sound was produced using rapid vibration of air in the pike, and not from blows of air currents on the mouthpiece, as happens in flutes. Of the strings, lyres (algar) and harps (zagsal), which were still very small in size, were widely used
Often the body of a musical instrument was painted. We see confirmation of this in exhibits found in the tombs of the state of Ur (2500 BC). One of them is in British Museum. A variety of percussion instruments are also striking. This is often evidenced by iconography, bas-reliefs, dishes, vases, and steles. As a rule, the painting on them indicates the use of large drums and small timpani, as well as castanets and sistrums. Later exhibits also feature cymbals and bells.
The instruments and repertoire were handed down to subsequent generations living in Mesopotamia. By 2000 B.C. The Assyrians improved the harp and created the prototype of the first lute (pantur).
It is believed that music appeared when the first people appeared. Its oral form, that is, song, was present in the life of our ancient ancestors. Modern scientists suggest that music has been around for about 50,000 years. Now, firmly rooted in human hearts, it has become an integral part of our lives.
The oldest copy of a musical instrument was found during excavations in Germany. It lay next to sculptures that date back to 35,000-40,000 BC. It was a flute. Its thickness does not exceed 8 mm, and its length is 21.8 cm. There are 5 holes punched in the case, which were closed with the fingers when playing.
Archaeologists were lucky enough to find another remains of ancient musical instruments - tweeters and flutes dating back to the Paleolithic era - on the territory of modern Moldova and Hungary.
Music was an integral part of the life of the ancient Greeks. Even its name itself comes from Greek language. Popular musical instruments here were:
- aulos - a wind instrument consisting of two conical or cylindrical pipes;
- lyre and cithara - strings plucked instruments, made in the form of a curved frame and strings (the cithara had more of them than the lyre);
- Syringa is a variation of the multi-barrel flute, a wind instrument consisting of a series of connected tubes.
The most ancient Chinese instruments Guqin and bamboo flute are considered. Traditionally, tools in China are classified according to the material from which they are made. Stone, wooden, leather, silk, bamboo, pumpkin and clay musical instruments still exist there.
In India, music is inextricably linked with dance. This country is the homeland musical theater. The oldest musical instrument found in India is the basalt lithophone, which is 3,000 years old.
Ancient civilizations such as Egypt, Greece, Mesopotamia, India and China made enormous contributions to the development of music and musical instruments. Evidence of the presence of music in Ancient Egypt lyrics written in hieroglyphs on papyri and tomb walls appear. Popular subjects for them were hymns to the gods and women's songs of lament over the dead. The music was mainly of a religious nature. In Babylon, temple music performed by priests and secular music performed by slave musicians also developed at an intensive pace.
After thousands of years, music is still one of the most popular and beloved arts. It is difficult to meet a person who does not love music - there is a style and instrument for everyone.
If you want not just to listen to music, but also to create it, understand it, learn to express yourself through music - come to Jam`s cool music school. Vocals, guitar, piano, drums, wind instruments, musical literacy, playing in an ensemble, sound engineering - this is just a small part of what you can learn from us. And to learn more about us and personally communicate with teachers, come to a free introductory lesson.
Life is short, art is eternal.
The first convincing evidence of musical instruments dates back to the Paleolithic era, when man learned to make instruments from stone, bone and wood in order to produce various sounds. Later, sounds were extracted using a faceted rib from bone (the sound produced was reminiscent of gnashing teeth). Rattles were also made from skulls, which were filled with seeds or dried berries. This sound often accompanied the funeral procession. The most ancient instruments were percussion. The idiophone is an ancient percussion instrument. The duration of the sound and its repeated repetition were associated with the rhythm of the heartbeat. In general, for ancient people, music was primarily rhythm. Following the drums, wind instruments were invented. The ancient prototype of the flute discovered in Asturis (37,000 years old) is striking in its perfection. The side holes were knocked out in it, and the principle of sound production is the same as that of modern flutes!!!
Stringed instruments were also invented in ancient times. Images of ancient strings are preserved in numerous cave paintings, most of which are located in the Pyrenees. Thus, in the Gogul cave nearby there are “dancing” figures “carrying bows”. The “lyre player” struck the strings with the edge of a bone or wood, producing sound. In the chronology of development, the invention of string instruments and dance occupy the same time space.
In one of the caves in Italy, scientists found footprints on fossilized clay.
The tracks were strange: people either walked on their heels or jumped on tiptoes on both legs at once. This is easy to explain: a hunting dance was performed there. The hunters danced to menacing and exciting music, imitating the movements of powerful, dexterous and cunning animals. They chose words to the music and in songs they talked about themselves, about their ancestors, about what they saw around them.
At this time, an aerophone appears - an instrument made of bone or stone, the appearance of which resembles a diamond or the tip of a spear.
Threads were made and secured into holes in the wood, after which the musician ran his hand along these threads, twisting them. As a result, a sound resembling a hum appeared (this hum resembled the voice of spirits). This instrument was improved during the Mesolithic era (20th century BC). It became possible to play two or three sounds simultaneously. This was achieved by cutting vertical holes. Despite the primitiveness of the method of making such instruments, this technique was preserved for a long time in some parts of Oceania, Africa and Europe!!!
A fully preserved 37,000-year-old flute made from the bone of a bird of prey was discovered in a cave in the Swabian Albs in southwestern Germany.
The completely preserved flute with five finger holes and a V-shaped “mouthpiece” was made from the radius of a predatory subspecies of griffin (presumably a griffon vulture – author). Also, along with it, archaeologists found pieces of several more flutes, but made from mammoth bones.
The bird bone musical instrument was found in a region where similar instruments had previously been found, says study leader Nicholas Conard of the University of Tübingen, but the flute is "the best preserved one ever found in a cave." Until now, such ancient artifacts have been found extremely rarely, and most importantly, they have not made it possible to establish the date of the appearance of music as cultural phenomenon in everyday life of mankind.
To establish the most accurate dating of the discovered tools, independent laboratory analyzes were carried out in Germany and the UK. And in both cases the same date appeared - 37 thousand years ago, which was in the era Upper Paleolithic. The oldest flute gives archaeologists reason to assume that local population had its own culture and traditions. The most ancient flutes- a clear indication of the existence of a musical tradition that helped people interact and strengthen social unity.
Nicholas Conard, together with a team of archaeologists from the University of Tübingen, discovered a mammoth tusk flute in the Geisenklosterle cave near Blaubeuren. This is one of the three oldest wind instruments in the world found by archaeologists. All three were found in the Geisenklosterle cave, but the latest find is very different from the previous two. This is not just a musical instrument, but also, undoubtedly, a luxury item.
Using radiocarbon dating, the researchers dated the age of the sediment layer in which the flute fragments were located from 30 to 36 thousand years. This means that the mammoth ivory flute is a thousand years younger than the bone flute found at the same site in 1995. The second study helped to definitively determine the age of the musical instrument - about 37 thousand years.
The value of the mammoth ivory flute lies not in its record age, but in its significance for the debate about the origins of culture.
We can now say that the history of music began about 37 thousand years ago,” Conard emphasizes.
At that time, the last Neanderthals still lived in Europe, who coexisted with the first people modern type. Thanks to this flute, we know that the inhabitants of what is now Europe during ice age culturally they were no less capable than modern people!!!
According to Conard, a single musical instrument from the Ice Age could have been an accident, but after the third discovery it must be recognized that there can be no talk of an accident. Music was an important part of the life of ancient people. This is evidenced by the fact that three flutes were found in one cave. Archaeological finds from the Ice Age are disproportionately tiny "samples" from the entire complex material culture. Friedrich Seeberger, an expert in archaeological music, reconstructed Ice Age flutes. It turned out that they can play a variety of pleasant melodies. The instrument made from a huge mammoth tusk differs sharply from its counterparts made from bird bones. It was extremely difficult to make, since the tusk is very hard and curved. The master split the tusk longitudinally, carefully hollowed out halves 19 centimeters long and connected them again. The sound of such a flute was deeper and louder than that of bird bone flutes.
If a person put so much effort into making a flute, it means he gave great importance the sounds of music. Perhaps his fellow tribesmen sang and danced to the tunes of the flute, and talked with the spirits of their ancestors.
The so-called Swabian Venus was also discovered next to the flutes:
During excavations of the site of primitive hunters in Mezina in 1908, interesting discoveries were made, including a figurine similar to the Swabian Venus and an entire orchestra of musical instruments.
I already wrote about one of the finds - https://cont.ws/@divo2006/439081 - On the territory Russian Empire a 20,000-year-old calendar has been found that unites and explains many calendar systems later spread throughout the entire Earth!!!
At the site of the dwelling in Mezin, they found an entire “orchestra” consisting of bone tubes from which pipes and whistles were made. Rattles and rattles were carved from mammoth bones. Dry leather covered the tambourines, which hummed when struck by a mallet. These were the primitive musical instruments. The melodies played on them were very simple, rhythmic and loud.
About 30 years ago, a reconstruction of the sound of these instruments was carried out, and today you have a unique chance to hear the music that our ancestors played 20,000 years ago.
Concert on the most ancient musical instruments, 20,000 years old. (reconstruction).
I would also like to draw your attention to the fact that approximately 19,000 years passed between the finds in Europe and in Mezina, they are separated by thousands of kilometers, and people are interested in music, make religious objects identical to each other, and carefully monitor the movement of visible objects. celestial bodies, and records his observations, in the form of ornaments, on products made from mammoth bones. At the same time, the methods of processing bones are not clear, and are beyond our control today.
Modern science assures us that the people of the past were extremely primitive and differed little from monkeys. But how then to explain jewelry in the Denisovo cave of Altai, 50,000 years old, musical instruments presented in this article, runic writing on Venus from the Voronezh site, the most complex astronomical observations and calculations from Mezin 20,000 years, and the Achinsk rod 18,000 years, and much more.
