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What was the origin of music? What inspired musicians to create their art? Music has always had a powerful impact on our lives. From ancient times till now, it has influenced politics, religion, literature, science and much more. Some say that music is the only universal language. From ancient Egypt to classical Greece, from Rome to Renaissance Europe, music has been a part of human culture since time immemorial. This article explores the history of music through five centuries, starting from the ancient Greeks and Romans until modern times.
Ancient Greek Music: It’s Choral & Instrumental
In ancient Greece, music was used in many ways. For instance, they paid special attention to the perfect pitch, which they considered the most beautiful gift god could give them. They also believed that this ability came naturally; so they were very surprised when they found out there are people who can sing well but cannot read music or play instruments at all.
They also performed choral music, songs that included both men and women singing together. But before these performances took place, the choirboys would practice for days by themselves alone. And their training would include not only vocal exercises but even musical theory.
The Pythagoreans were one of the major philosophical schools in ancient Greece. Their philosophy focused mostly on mathematics and astronomy, however, because there were no universities yet back then, students needed an outlet where they could apply what they had learned. So the Pythagorean Philoktetes decided to establish a school to popularize his ideas and teach others his methods during free afternoons. The school soon became famous due to the great discoveries made in geometry, arithmetic, and harmonics.
The instrumentation in ancient Greece was based on the lyre (a stringed instrument), flute, harp and percussion. There were two types of percussion instruments-one played without any hand movements while the other required the use of hands.
Classical Antiquity 
Classical antiquity refers to the period in Western civilization beginning approximately 3,500 years ago up to the fall of the Roman Empire in 476 AD. During this time, classical civilizations flourished in several regions of the Mediterranean world.
Medieval Music
Medieval music was born around 1100AD, starting with liturgical hymnody. However, early medieval European polyphonic (more than one melodic line) sacred works have survived almost entirely intact.
Renaissance/Baroque
Renaissance composers such as Josquin des Prez, Orlando di Lasso, Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina, Thomas Tallis, Johannes Ockeghem, Dietrich Buxtehude, Heinrich Schutz and Adrian Willaert combined elements from diverse sources: indigenous Italian, French, German and Spanish traditions, and those of northern Europe. The result was a new style of polyphony called “classicism”.
Romanticism/Modern
Romanticism is a term sometimes used to characterize certain trends in European art music during the later decades of the 18th century and first half of the 19th century .For example, Franz Schubert’s music, literature, painting, and visual arts.
Romantic themes are often expressed through emotionally charged subject matter and highly rhetorical language. A central concept in romantic aesthetics is “art for art’s sake.” In its extreme form, romanticism rejected the Enlightenment ideals of reason, science, progress, and material prosperity, in favour of emotion, intuition, nature and spirituality. It stressed authenticity over imitation, idealization over-representation, spontaneity over planning, innovation over convention, and directness over indirect means.
20th Century
The 20th century saw the rise of modernist approaches to composition and performance. Composers like Igor Stravinsky, Arnold Schoenberg and Anton Webern attempted to create atonal or twelve-tone compositions. Musicians like John Cage experimented with chance operations, non-Western musical instruments, the indeterminacy of rhythmic grouping, and environmental acoustics. Other influential figures include Erik Satie, who wrote only one piece during his lifetimE.
Contemporary Music
The late 20th and 21st centuries have seen many changes in popular tastes and attitudes towards music. For example, several prominent rock bands in the 1960s had no interest in classical music, yet today’s pop artists frequently cite Beethoven, Bach and Mozart as major influences. As well, many jazz musicians now study classical music, and jazz has become a much more formalized art in recent years.
Other cultural shifts have occurred within the last 30 years. The advent of hip-hop culture has given rise to an appreciation of rap music, a fusion of African American spirituals and funk rhythms with elements of disco, funk, soul, rap, R&B, reggae, rock, punk, heavy metal, pop, and country music. Hip-hop culture is characterized by strong beats, improvisation, rhythmic breaks (breaks), and complex rhyme schemes. Popular singers known for their musical contributions include Michael Jackson, Madonna, Prince, Janet Jackson, Mariah Carey, Whitney Houston and Usher Raymond.
The Bottom Line.
In conclusion, there are many different styles of music that you could listen to. Each style has its distinctive characteristics, which can make listening to one type of music or playing one online casino game difficult if not impossible. This does not mean that all music cannot be enjoyed together though! Think about how different genres can complement each other when you’re choosing your tunes. There is no wrong answer, just keep experimenting until you find what works best for you.
