Greek Music

The word music is of Greek origin, but there is no way of knowing exactly what Greek

Music sounded like. All information we have about Greek music comes through the

writing of philosophers and scholars, depictions of instruments in Greek art works, and

few dozen fragments of stone and papyrus inscribed with musical notation. Like our

music today Greek music was mixed or combined with poetry, music, and dancing.

Greek music also, played a big role in religion like gospel music plays a big role in

religion today. Music was used in celebrations such as weddings, military victories, and

funerals. Today we use music in some of the same life events as the Greeks did.

Whatever the content in which Greek music was used, it must …show more content…
Despite the differences in our music compared to the

Greek music, we owe a great deal to it. Their concern for proportion and mathematical

precision led the Greeks to develop the first systematic studies of musical sound.

Pythagoras, a Greek mathematician, is credited with discovering the mathematical ratios

of the fundamental pitch intervals; the octave, fourth, and fifth were considered

consonances, or “perfect”, and all others were dissonances, or imperfect.

Critical to an understanding of Greek music is the doctrine of ethos. The Greeks

believed that certain scales, or as they were called, modes, possessed moral and ethical

values in terms of the emotional responses they produced in listeners. I think they are referring to music being used in healing or changing one emotional state through music.

Music had a very definite influence on character and, music could spur action; it could

lead to the strengthening of the whole being, just as it could undermine mental and

spiritual balance; and it could suspend completely the normal willpower, rendering

people unconscious of their acts. This doctrine explains the important role music played

in the Greeks