People love music, because we all belong to the form of living things, for which sound plays an important role in life. The rhythm and tonality of sound signals is a way of transferring information and energy to each other. How did the music come about? The language of people arose not from words, but from singing to convey emotional messages, semantic tonality and rhythm. This theory was first put forward by Charles Darwin, who wrote in 1871 the following lines: “The sound that birds make is compared with a speech that goes back to singing and the beginning of the formation of words expressing different emotions of a complex nature.” To date, this version is considered correct.
The theory, based on extensive research, confirms that 70-80 thousand years ago, humanity laid the foundation for the lexical components of the original speech. With the development of this innovation has become commonplace. Until those times, our ancestors did not know how to speak, but only to sing. The human vocal cords and the speech system are a complex musical instrument. Humans are creatures that can sing. Where did the music come from? How did this happen? Maybe the first were dances? You will find answers to all these questions in the article.
How did the music come about?
There is no exact historical date when a person began to play musical instruments and began to sing. If you adhere to the theory of Marx and Engels, the origin of musical sounds arose in antiquity when shouting to synchronize the actions of a group of people performing complex joint work, where coherence is required.
For example: a group of people needs to drag the carcass of an animal killed in the hunt, or move a large stone in order to cover the entrance to the cave. Singing also contributed to improved monotonous performance. As a result, some observant individuals noticed how beautiful the birds were singing, and began to think about inventing their own particular motive.
How long has music appeared
How did the music come about? When did a person start doing it? For singing skills, you should be able to control the frequency of the pitch. Studies of the ossified skulls and jaws of ancient monkeys revealed that the ancestor of modern man and Neanderthal had the ability to sing. Whether he did it or not, it is impossible to find out.
Not an unimportant part of music is rhythm. Ancient people created rhythmic motifs with clapping hands. This could serve as the emergence of ancient musical instruments - the sound of sticks or stones against each other, and the hands are not so painful.
The first tools were also created from soft materials that could not survive until our time - reeds, wood. The most ancient musical archaeological finds, which are from 39 to 44 thousand years old, are made from bone tubes of birds of swans and kites. Other finds of tools were found in unexpected places. For example, there are facts showing that ancient masters punched holes in stalactite caves for the resonant frequency of sounds.
What first appeared: music or dancing?
One version says that the melodies arose as an additional action to the dances, for this reason the rhythm played the main role, helping the dancers not to go astray. So what first appeared, music or dancing?
There is a second assumption - the emergence of music as an aid to the work of people. The main role is also given to rhythmic movements, under which it is easier to perform the required work.
Music appeared a long time ago, and why has it arisen and is still preserved? It has such features:
- Dancing. The question remains unknown: the first thing that appeared was music or dancing? Did the dancers come up with melodic sounds, or vice versa, did the melody contribute to the appearance of uniform and adjusted movements?
- The desire to have fun in the company or alone.
- Communication over long distances when using musical instruments, for example, a drum, a pipe.
- Using music for religious rituals.
A significant reason for the emergence and preservation of music is the ability to bring people together.
Interesting to know! Music is able to unite groups of people, mother with child. It brings a lift of spirit and mood during the period of monotonous labor, contributes to the desire to move. Dances before the start of the battle are able to connect the participants in a charged spirit. There is a hypothesis that music created a family and a society.
Music of the Spheres
Dreamers and romantics had a more colorful idea of soul-annoying sounds that evoked emotions. Music is a gift sent by the gods, a vibration that created the universe, angelic singing. Divine sounds are able to pacify the beast, move boulders, create universes.
Music is the highest form of information transfer that allows people to plunge into the world of the unknown. For this reason, sets of sounds transformed into a melody can disturb the soul in this way.
The emergence of Russian folk music
Where did Russian music come from? In ancient Russia, it always had a connection with rituals, beliefs and agriculture. Magi invented and performed ritual melodies, and folk buffoons. Various genres - epic, ritual, dance, lullaby sounded at holidays, in houses. Artists played at feasts and holidays, glorified the highest nobility. After the capture and liberation of Russia from the Tatar-Mongol invasions, Veliky Novgorod becomes a cultural center. Genres such as legend and bell ringing appear.
Russian folklore
Russian folklore contains the following genres of songs :
- calendar rituals;
- Wedding
- epic;
- dance;
- lyrical;
- ditties.
Interesting to know! Russian vocal work has a greater number of works compared to instrumental melodies. The excommunication of the church was influenced by the use of musical instruments in the temples. For this reason, folklore developed much better.
The ringing of bells as a genre of music
The art of bell ringing is a unique type of musical genre in Ancient Russia. A professional bell ringer had to learn ringer business throughout his life. There are three types of ringing:
- The gospel is the measured ringing of a large bell.
- Chime. Bells sound from the smallest to the largest, or vice versa.
- Play the melody on the bells.
Common musical instruments of Ancient Russia
In the old days, instruments were used in the everyday life of shepherds or for dance and song accompaniment. Famous Russian musical instruments:
- beeps;
- harp;
- pipes
- horns;
- military pipes;
- hunting horns;
- tambourine;
- balalaikas;
- mandolins;
- Guitars
- harmonic.
Singing styles in old Russian music
In Ancient Russia, the performance of songs was divided into a couple of styles - single and choral. Tones and midtones went alternating and formed a twelve-step scale, it was called the church mode. He was divided into 4 consonances:
- Gloomy.
- Simple.
- Light.
- Crazy.
The birth of classical music
Classical works arose in the 4th century during the Middle Ages and continue to develop to this day. The main musical instruments used in classical works appeared until the middle of the 19th century. The melody is performed with the help of a symphony orchestra, which includes a typical copper, wooden, string and percussion instrument. Classics is based on "academic" genres and systems, which are an exemplary indicator of art. The main motifs of the symphony orchestra are the sound of the organ, piano and harpsichord.
In what century did classical music appear? The historical periods are as follows:
- Ancient antique - until 400 years.
- Medieval from 400 to 1400 years. A musical staff was invented, the main musicians - troubadours, poets, singers.
- The revival covers the period of the XV-XVII centuries. Various types of musical instruments appear, for example, stringed ones - violins, cello, double basses and keyboards - organ, harpsichord.
- Baroque XVII-XVIII century - the period of such famous composers as Bach and Vivaldi. Melodies were performed with the help of organ, plucked, stringed, wind and wooden instruments. There are opera, sonata forms.
- Classicism of the 18th-19th centuries gave mankind the talents of Mozart and Beethoven. A string orchestra appears.
- Romanticism of the XIX-XX centuries. The greatest musical geniuses contribute - Beethoven, Schubert, Chopin, Tchaikovsky, Wagner. The sound of the piano is rapidly developing.
- XX century and the period of modern classical melodies (since 1975).
Classical works continue their development in the modern world, influencing other areas in music. For example, in fatal works, classics are used in tonality. The classical direction of music is the perfection of harmonious sounds and integrity.