Music, which comes from the Greek 'mousike', did not mean at the time what we know as music today.
In fact, their definition of music was "business of the muses". The muses were known as the goddesses of song and dance, and were the inspiration to poets. To the ancient Greeks, the practice of music included all iminative uses of language and dance, what we know today under the name of art.
Music was originally studied mathematically.
Pythagoras, the famous mathematician known for his theory on triangles, is also known for his discoveries with music theory. Pythagoras is accredited with the discovery of ratios and intervals between two notes.
The Greeks believed in six views of music.
The first view is associated with thinkers, who took note of the mathematic involvement in music.
The second Greek view of music is that music expressed national character or ethos. The ethos theory is that the expressiveness of music reflects poetic text.
The third view of music is that the world of sound is not infinite. They believed that the possibilities of music are not endless, and that the development of music was completed long ago.
The fourth view, first created by Aristoxenus, a student of Aristotle, is that the ratios creating harmonies are inaudible, and what is heard in music is sounds in relation. You cannot hear the writing; you hear the sounds.
The fifth view is that music was solely meant for pleasure and emotional outlet. This thought, however, was rare for this time period and did not continue through the spread of christianity.
The final view of music the Greeks had was the music cannot be an object of knowledge since it is constituted by notes which are not real; you cannot know the unreal.
The Greeks believed there were two types of music.
The first type of music the Greeks believed existed was "true music", which was rationally based and exemplified structural principles of reality.
The second type of music was impressionistic, which simply imitated the sounds of nature to show emotions and feelings.
In fact, their definition of music was "business of the muses". The muses were known as the goddesses of song and dance, and were the inspiration to poets. To the ancient Greeks, the practice of music included all iminative uses of language and dance, what we know today under the name of art.
Music was originally studied mathematically.
Pythagoras, the famous mathematician known for his theory on triangles, is also known for his discoveries with music theory. Pythagoras is accredited with the discovery of ratios and intervals between two notes.
The Greeks believed in six views of music.
The first view is associated with thinkers, who took note of the mathematic involvement in music.
The second Greek view of music is that music expressed national character or ethos. The ethos theory is that the expressiveness of music reflects poetic text.
The third view of music is that the world of sound is not infinite. They believed that the possibilities of music are not endless, and that the development of music was completed long ago.
The fourth view, first created by Aristoxenus, a student of Aristotle, is that the ratios creating harmonies are inaudible, and what is heard in music is sounds in relation. You cannot hear the writing; you hear the sounds.
The fifth view is that music was solely meant for pleasure and emotional outlet. This thought, however, was rare for this time period and did not continue through the spread of christianity.
The final view of music the Greeks had was the music cannot be an object of knowledge since it is constituted by notes which are not real; you cannot know the unreal.
The Greeks believed there were two types of music.
The first type of music the Greeks believed existed was "true music", which was rationally based and exemplified structural principles of reality.
The second type of music was impressionistic, which simply imitated the sounds of nature to show emotions and feelings.