In the exploration of the inception of music, one must initially grapple with the definition and differentiation of music from speech and animal sounds. The stages of hominid anatomy, allowing for the perception and creation of music, are examined, with a consideration of the musical capabilities of Homo neanderthalensis and Homo sapiens.
The ability of early hominids to produce sounds with variable pitch and meaning suggests that, at its most basic level, music predates speech. The potential precedence of rhythm over melody in anthropoid motor impulses is considered, with the acknowledgment that full control of rhythm may not have preceded the recognition of music. Music serves four distinct purposes: dance, ritual, personal and communal entertainment, and, most notably, social cohesion on both personal and communal levels. The exploration then delves into the beginnings of instruments, surveying examples from the Mousterian period onward, including possible Neanderthal evidence and their artistic potential in other realms.
The subsequent discussion covers the evolution of later instruments, including strings and skin drums, into the diverse instruments found in global cultures today. The nature of musical sound, scales, intervals, and the lack of consistent consonant tonality worldwide are examined. Iconographic evidence of instruments from later antiquity to the European Middle Ages is considered, along with the history of public musical performance from early humanity to modern times. This paper adopts an ethnomusicological perspective to trace the entire development of music, instruments, and performance, from the times of H. neanderthalensis and H. sapiens to modern musical history. The aim is to inform readers without specialized musical education and provide essential information for cognitive scientists exploring the origin of music.
The article also raises fundamental questions about the origins of music, contemplating whether it began through vocalization or motor impulse. The author acknowledges the inherent difficulty in defining music and proposes a personal definition: “sound that conveys emotion.”
The inquiry then extends to whether music is exclusive to humans. The author acknowledges two essential elements of music—melody and rhythmic impulse—and reflects on the musical aspects of bird songs, animal cries, and rhythmic movements, ultimately dismissing them as music from a human-centric perspective.
The discussion then shifts to the question of vocalization versus motor impulse, exploring which came first—singing or percussive rhythms. The study of the potential of the human body is considered, examining the evolution of the vocal tract’s ability to control the production of musical pitches. Fossil evidence of early Homo species suggests the capacity for vocalization dates back at least a million years.
The text also explores the complex possibilities of motor impulses, suggesting that rhythmic music and dance could have preceded vocalization. The hypothesis is presented that rhythmic movement, possibly originating from the innate tendency of creatures to move together in the same rhythm, might have preceded vocal expression.
Why Music Develops from Such Origins and Its Purposes
The development of music stems from four apparent purposes: dance, personal or communal entertainment, communication, and ritual.
Dance has been previously mentioned, yet the origins of whether rhythmic motion led to musical accompaniment or vice versa remain uncertain. Anthropological evidence supports the idea that people working or moving together naturally fall into a rhythmic pattern, accompanied by grunts and other noises. These noises may evolve into something resembling a song, with claps or the percussive beating of objects, typically idiophones such as sticks and stones.
The second purpose, personal or communal entertainment, intersects with dance and rhythmic work. It also extends to scenarios like a mother entertaining her baby through vocalization, which blends with communication. Travelers using instruments to signal peaceful intentions to passing villages exemplify the overlap between personal entertainment and communication.
Communication through musical means is widespread, seen in various cultures’ use of instruments to pass messages. Examples include the “bush telegraph” in Africa, alphorns in Switzerland, and the conch in Papua New Guinea. Whistling languages, like silbo in the Canary Islands, and high vocal calls serve as non-instrumental forms of communication.
The fourth purpose, ritual, often poses challenges in archaeological and anthropological contexts. Many objects or practices labeled as “ritual” may lack clear explanations. However, music appears intertwined with various forms of religion, making it a crucial aspect of rituals. This introduces a conflict between music and speech, exemplified by Sprechgesang, a blend of speech and music. Ritual chants and bardic narratives also exhibit musical inflections, enhancing the memorization of texts.
More significant than these explicit purposes for music’s development is the question of why music began in the first place. Steven Mithen’s idea, as mentioned in “The Singing Neanderthals,” suggests that music serves not only to unify society but also to act as an adhesive. Music fosters bonding between individuals and groups, from mother and child to communal activities like work or preparation for a hunt or warfare. It’s proposed that music plays a crucial role in creating cohesive groups, shaping families, and even contributing to the formation of society itself.
While much of this remains theoretical, the existing evidence in our time, coupled with anthropological records of isolated pre-literate societies, supports the idea that music’s purpose has been cohesion throughout history.
Moving on to early musical practice and surviving instruments, the evidence is comparatively late in time. Natural materials like grasses, reeds, and wood likely preceded the use of harder materials like bone, but the latter has survived through the millennia. The advanced state of early bone pipes, particularly end-blown and notch-blown flutes from the Aurignacian period, suggests a long history of experimentation. However, caution is necessary, as archaeological findings only represent what has been discovered.
The discussion then shifts to the speculative origins of musical instruments. Did pipes originate from attempts to imitate wind whistling through broken reeds, or were they crafted to imitate animal cries for hunting lures or rituals? The uncertainties persist, especially when considering bullroarers and their ambiguous use as noise-makers or musical instruments.
The article concludes by exploring the Middle and Upper Paleolithic periods, where a considerable number of instruments, mainly bone pipes and flutes, have been found. These instruments, made from the bones of large birds like vultures and swans, raise questions about their playing techniques, pitches, and tone qualities. Despite the challenges in interpreting ancient musical practices, the presence of well-developed instruments with precise tuning mechanisms suggests a sophisticated musical culture during the Paleolithic era. The geographical distribution of similar features across different regions and time periods implies connections between populations, challenging assumptions of isolation.
Listing all these Paleolithic pipes is of little value; Morley has comprehensively listed all known examples from Europe or its vicinity before 2013 in his Appendices.
Moving beyond pipes, there is at least one conch trumpet discovered in the Marsoulas cave in southern France, dating back approximately 20,000 years BP. While shells endure over time, there’s limited evidence from the Upper Paleolithic. However, an abundance of Neolithic shell artifacts suggests continuous use. Animal horns, though soft, likely existed for blowing, with materials like cow family horns, elephant tusks, hollow wood, gourds, and bamboo adapted for this purpose. Bullroarers from the Magdalenian period and later phalange whistles indicate the presence of instruments. Rasps, made by notching bones for rhythmic music, also contribute to the musical landscape.
The discovery of mammoth bones in Ukraine around 20,000 BP, displaying signs of wear and potential scraping or striking, hints at a bone ensemble, possibly an early “orchestra.”
During the Magdalenian period, approximately 12,000 years BP, caves themselves served as resonators, with stalactites struck to produce sound. Resonant stones, such as rock gongs and boulders struck on resonant points, also hint at unknown antiquity, adorned with cup marks.
The Paleolithic period lacks evidence for stringed instruments or skin drums. The origin of vessel flutes or ocarinas likely began in the Neolithic period with pottery.
Voice changers, like Greek statues with built-in tubes and African masks, provide later examples, with no evidence from the Paleolithic era.
Stringed instruments likely originated in the Mesolithic and Neolithic periods. Skin drums, dependent on skin tension, would have required frames, suggesting availability in or shortly before the Neolithic.
The discussion mainly focuses on European evidence due to the longer history of archeology in Europe. Recent discoveries in China offer additional insights, although language barriers limit access to information.
In the Neolithic era, instruments persisted, and with archery and pottery, new forms emerged. The musical bow, possibly preceding the archer’s bow, demonstrates pitch variations through finger manipulation.
Stringed instruments, such as the lyre, may have evolved from the musical bow, while drums, including frame drums and kettle drums, continued to be prevalent. Pottery, widely used, served as the material for various instruments, from rattles to kettledrums.
As humanity transitioned into the metal age, the possibilities of musical instruments became boundless.
Determining the extent to which different groups of instruments or voices collaborated in ancient times remains a challenge. The existence of the mammoth bone ensemble strongly suggests collaboration, but concrete evidence only emerges with representational iconography, as seen in Mesopotamia, Egypt, or through the introduction of literacy like the Bible. Valuable information arises from such sources.
Yet, understanding the actual sounds of ancient music poses challenges. Early notations from Sumeria and Ancient Greece, like the hymn to Apollo, reveal a broad pitch range. Attempts to derive notation from Egyptian hand-signals, known as cheironomy, are also noteworthy. Ethnomusicologists hypothesize that less advanced cultures might have employed pentatonic scales or even fewer steps per octave, but evidence is lacking. Even with Sumerian, Greek, and Egyptian systems, the exact sounds remain elusive due to uncertainties in scale step sizes.
Cuneiform tablets reveal the Babylonians and possibly the Sumerians cataloging constellations, time, and developing a diatonic scale based on alternating fourths and fifths. The Greeks adopted this knowledge and created the Just Temperament scale based on harmonic series ratios. Despite its purity, other, more complex scales existed, as suggested by anthropological records.
Diverse scales, such as the Javanese gamelan’s slendro and pelog, reveal regional variations. Octaves seem universal, but other intervals differ. Ethnomusicologists argue whether humanity possesses an innate sense of consonant tonality or if perceptions vary across cultures. Examples like the musical bow producing pitches of Just Temperament while some singers prefer seven equal steps challenge the universality of tonal perception.
Exploring the history of instruments, we find evidence in Sumerian, Babylonian, Egyptian, Greek, Etruscan, and Roman artifacts and iconography. Lyres, harps, lutes, pipes, and drums appeared, often combined into ensembles. Ancient Greece favored lyres and double pipes like the aulos. In Central Asia, the gong and long trumpet originated. The Arab ‘ud, later the lute, and the fiddle bow also trace their roots there.
The medieval era witnessed a surge in new instruments, influenced by Moorish, Jewish, and Christian interactions in Spain. This led to the appearance of instruments like the lute, rebec, shawm, and many others across western Europe. In the 14th century, an industrial revolution facilitated the production of metal wire for strings, enabling the development of harpsichords and clavichords.
This shift to keyboard instruments prompted a reconsideration of musical pitch and tuning. While Just Temperament served for unaccompanied voices and some solo instruments, keyboard instruments exposed its inadequacies. The Pythagorean temperament was untenable due to irregularities in its third, leading to the quarter-comma meant-one temperament. This shift had a profound impact on how music sounded on keyboard instruments. The problem of the incompatible fifth and octave persisted, prompting various irregular temperaments.
