HISTORY OF MUSIC

“Music gives a soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination and life to everything.” - PLATO

Talking about history of music, the question that usually hits our mind is where, when and who started it?? Nobody can surely say from where did it originated.The origin of music is unknown as it occurred prior to the advent of recorded history. Some suggest that the origin of music likely stems from naturally occurring sounds and rhythms. Human music may echo these phenomena using patterns, repetition and tonality. Even today, some cultures have certain instances of their music intending to imitate natural sound. In some instances, this feature is related to shamanistic believe or practice. It may also serve entertainment (game) or practical (luring animals in hunt)functions. It is probable that the first musical instrument was the human voice itself, which can make a vast array of sounds, from singing, humming and whistling through to clicking, coughing and yawning. In 2008 archaeologists discovered a bone flute in the Hohle Fels cave near Ulm, Germany. The five-holed flute has a V-shaped mouthpiece and is made from a vulture wing bone. The oldest known wooden pipes were discovered near Greystones, Ireland, in 2004. A wood-lined pit contained a group of six flutes made from yew wood, between 30 and 50 cm long, tapered at one end, but without any finger holes. They may once have been strapped together. 
According to some researches music may have been in existence for at least 50,000 years and the first music may have been invented in Africa 
Some other researches also state that music was discovered in and around the middle age (450-1450). According to this  Music comes from the Ancient Greek muses, who were the nine goddesses of art and science.  Music actually began around 500 B.C. when Pythagoras experimented with acoustics and how math related to tones formed from plucking strings.  The main form of music during the Middle Ages was the Gregorian chant, named for Pope Gregory I.  This music was used in the Catholic Churches to enhance the services.  It consisted of a sacred Latin text sung by monks without instrumentation.  The chant is sung in a monophonic texture, which means there is only one line of music.  It has a free-flowing rhythm with little or no set beat.  The chants were originally all passed through oral tradition, but the chants became so numerous that the monks began to notate them. Towards the end of the Middle Ages, about the 12^th and 13^th centuries, music began to move outside of the church.  French nobles called troubadours and trouveres were among the first to have written secular songs.  Music of this time was contained among the nobility, with court minstrels performing for them.  There were also wandering minstrels who would perform music and acrobatics in castles, taverns, and town squares.  These people were among the lowest social class, along with prostitutes and slaves, but they were important because they passed along information, since there were no newspapers.

Thus from researches we can conclude that the music were discovered from Europe though the tribal music were also the music discovered around that time we can't deny about Africa also being the 1st to discover the music.