| Music is an art form which acts as an accurate mirror of social and cultural processes. If the society or the culture in a certain area is falling in to decline, it will be reflected in the music of that place. Similarly, when the society or the culture is thriving, the music will also thrive. Thus, music has a major office in the tracking down the history of a country.
Contemporary music owes much to the Ancient Greeks. In fact, the word "music" is derived from the 9 muses of Ancient Greece, who were goddesses ruling over the arts and sciences. Modern day musicians refer to their muse, which is someone who has an influence on another person's creative work. A number of musical terms have their roots in Greek. Yet, with the fall of Ancient Greece and the collapse of the Byzantine and Roman Empires, Greek music stopped developing for a few centuries until it was revived in the Nineteenth century.
It is said that Greeks considered music a way of worshipping God. Music was also an essential part of their social life. It was played on all forms of social occasions. Since drama was also quite popular in Greece, they also used music when drama was staged.
It is normally said that Greek music did not have harmony. It was mainly performed by one vocalist and not by a choir as is normally demonstrated in Greek plays. Ancient Greek music laws were followed very stringently, and one form was not allowed to mix with another. The rules were so strict that the audience or listeners were not permitted to applaud. The aim of musical shows was not to entertain but to educate common people.
Pythagoras suggested using numbers to denote musical scales which he identified when studying the differences in sound frequencies of varied length strings of a musical instrument. The concept spread to Ancient Greek Music. Therefore, Pythagoras became known as the father of music theory. Most musical works were monophonic. Hence, they didn't differ from each other much.
These days Greek music includes folk music and Eastern and Western influences. |
