2. Once upon a time...

- 2. Once upon a time...
- HISTORY
- MUSIC THEORY
  - "Solfeggio"
  - Voices & Instruments
- SCALE-UP ACTIVITIES

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# Voices & Instruments

## Instruments in the Stone and Bronze Age.

Some of the instruments found in the Stone and Bronze Age are:

- phalange whistle: it was made of bone and it could only play one note.

- musical bow: it was a hunting bow and they changed its use.

- animal antlers.

- the bullroarer: it was a piece of bone or wood attached to a cord that produced a kind of buzz from its rotation. This buzz varied depending on the speed of the rotation.

- bone scraper: a bone with protuberances was scraped with a stick.

## Instruments in ancient civilizations

Mesopotamia: the instruments that are known are :

- Lyre - Lute

- Harp - Rattle - Drums

Egypt: they are very similar to Mesopotamia. Only the shapes are modified. Two trumpets were found in perfect condition when the tomb of Tutankhamun was discovered.

China: in Confucio’s book (551-479 BC), Book of Songs, there were texts but not songs. Some instruments are:

- Sheng (mouth organ with bamboo and pumpkin)

- Kin (zither with 5 or 7 strings)

- P´ai-siao (pan flute).

India: some instruments are:

- Tabla: is the most typical instruments (two drums)

- Vina: is a zither

- Sarod: is a lute
- Sarangi: is a 4-string instrument, with 20-sympathetic steel or brass strings.

## Instruments in Greece

The instruments used in Greece were:

String instruments:

- Lyre: it was played standing, and Apollo was always represented with it. Among them, the oldest one is the phorminx.

- Harp

- Lute

Wind instruments:

- Double-aulos: it was used in musical competitions for songs with choir and dances.

- Panpipe: pan flute (Pan was a pastoral Greek god), that’s why it was always related to happy songs.

- Salpinx: instrument to send messages similar to a trumpet.

Percussion instruments:

- Tympanum: tambourine

- Krotalum: zills or finger cymbals

- Cymbal: metallic plates

## Instruments in Rome

Instruments in Rome were copied from the Greek ones so there are many that are the same like the zither, the lyre, the panpipe, the tympanum, the krotalum, the cymbal. The proper Roman instruments were:

Keyboard instruments:

- Hydraulis: hydraulic organ

Wind instruments

- Tuba: straight trumpet, similar to greek salpinx.

- Bucina: curved trumpet

- Lituus: kind of horn

- Cornu: long metallic horn, bent in a semicircle, with a bar to lean it on the shoulder. It was used by the army to send messages.

- Tibia: it was the name of the double-aulos.

Percussion instruments

- Scabillum: foot rattle

## True-False Question

What have we learnt about instruments?

### Question 1

1. The pan flute is an instrument that was only used in China.

True False

#### Feedback

False

It was also used in Greece and Rome.

### Question 2

2. Tibia is the Roman name for the double-aulos.

True False

#### Feedback

True

It was the most important instrument in Greece.

### Question 3

3. We know about instruments in China thanks to the philosopher Confucio.

True False

#### Feedback

True

Apart from this classification he gathered the song lyrics in the Book of Songs.

### Question 4

4. The cornu was used in religious celebrations.

True False

#### Feedback

False

It was used in the Roman army to send messages.

### Question 5

5. The bullroarer was an instrument made of stone and bone.

True False

#### Feedback

True

Its sound changed depending on its rotation speed.

### Question 6

6. The harp is an instrument from the Egyptian culture.

True False

#### Feedback

True

It was also used in Mesopotamia, Greece, Rome and China, among others.

### Question 7

7. This instrument was called Sheng

True False

#### Feedback

False

It is a hydraulis. .

### Question 8

8. This instrument is called scabillum.

True False

#### Feedback

True

It was a foot rattle and it was used in the dance.

### Question 9

9. The tabla is a wind instrument in India.

True False

#### Feedback

False

It is a percussion instrument made up of two drums of different shape.

### Question 10

10. This instrument is a tuba.

True False

#### Feedback

True

It is a straight trumpet, whereas the curved one is called bucina.

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