Lesson 3: India

India

In India, archaeologists have found evidence of both music and instruments. Excavations from the Indus Valley civilizations have produced both stringed instruments and seven-holed flutes. The Samaveda, a collection of hymns, was used in ancient times with religious rituals.

The importance of music to ancient India can perhaps best be seen through the Natya Shastra. The Natya Shastra is a written discourse on the performing arts, including music, dance, stage performances, and so on. It is believed to have been written sometime between 200 BCE and 200 CE. The treatise gives quite detailed information on the types of instruments that were used at the time and the forms of music that were popular. Some have argued that this document represents the foundation of music and other fine arts for India, as it contains so much information about the ancient music.

Ancient Greece

Just as classical art has its foundations in ancient Greece, so too do the foundations of classical music rest in ancient Greece. While the ancient Greeks had some similar approaches to music as other ancient societies, they also approached in it new and innovative ways. Like many other ancient societies, the Greeks believed that music came from the gods, particularly the god Apollo. They also believed that music could influence the thoughts and behaviors of humans.

However, the ancient Greeks also took a different angle on music, influenced by the culture's emphasis on science and mathematics. The ancient Greeks had a strong interest in studying and explaining the world around them. They looked for patterns and then developed formulas to try to describe those patterns. Some of their discoveries are still used in science and mathematics today, including concepts such as Pythagoras' theorem on the sides of a right triangle.

Not surprisingly, the ancient Greeks turned their interest in systematically studying the world to systematically studying music. Pythagoras also studied music, particularly the relationships between music intervals. Aristotle, the famous philosopher, took Pythagoras' findings and laid some of the foundations of music theory. He argued that the differences in music, whether in the melody or rhythm, have different effects on us and that music should be included in the education of the young because of its effects and importance.

From various descriptions of the music of ancient Greeks, it appears that the music was monophonic, or having a single melody with no accompaniment. Researchers have also found about thirty different melodies from the ancient Greeks. Some have been found on stone while others are fragmentary pieces of papyrus, which was used as paper during this time. These melodies may have appeared in one of the different musical forms that existed for the ancient Greeks. Since much of the music of the ancient Greeks was memorized, we are limited to examples like these to give us an indication of what the music was like. One form of music was lyric poetry. Lyric poetry included poems that were accompanied by instrumental music, often from a lyre. This form of music had a variety of different uses, from songs of victory to love songs. Choruses were also used at various ceremonies and rituals, including weddings and funerals. Vocal music was often held in higher esteem than pure instrumental music because philosophers such as Aristotle argued that only creatures with souls had voices.

One of the most famous ancient Greek songs to have survived to the present day is known as the 'Epitaph of Seikilos,' which is believed to date to the first century CE. The translated song lyrics are as follows:

As long as you live, be happy;
do not grieve at all.
Life's span is short;
time exacts the final reckoning.

In addition, we have some fragmentary parts from the choruses to some of the plays written in ancient Greek. However, it is likely that we have more information about the ancient Greeks' music theory than we do about their actual music.