Ancients

Ancient works of art that have been uncovered show us that music goes back as early as 400 B.C. but the earliest form of written music with symbols has been traced to the ancient Greeks who used letters of the alphabet to represent musical tones. This music was written down for choruses who sang and for musicians who played early harp and wind instruments. Songs have been written and sung all through history. Egyptians sang songs as early as 4000 B.C.; Hebrews in 900 15.3.c. had songs and chants which appear in the Bible; and Greeks in 500 B.C. had choruses. For a long time, there was no universal method of recording words and music on paper. Songs were passed on by singing. Because the words changed when passed from person to person and because it was common for one tune to have many different lyrics, the original words and writers of many folk tunes and ballads sung today are unknown.