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BBC: Earliest Music Instruments Found

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Joe Roberts

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May 25, 2012, 2:22:22 PM5/25/12
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BBC, 25 May:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-18196349

In the beginning was:

___ Rhythm
___ Melody

(Check one.)

Joe

Peter T. Daniels

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May 25, 2012, 3:58:48 PM5/25/12
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On May 25, 2:22 pm, "Joe Roberts" <cd...@comcast.net> wrote:
> BBC, 25 May:
>
>    http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-18196349
>
> In the beginning was:
>
>    _X_   Rhythm
>    ___   Melody
>
> (Check one.)

You can tap anything with anything, and doing things in a regular way
is very, very old in evolution.

But you can't sing until you've developed a very modern-type voice
(with carefully controllable pitch). Thus melody is more recent than
speech.

So these Aurignacian(?) flutes are latecomers in the prehistory of
music.

Joe Roberts

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May 25, 2012, 4:54:07 PM5/25/12
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"Peter T. Daniels" wrote:
But I wonder ...

Couldn't there have been a time when, say, lamenting became chorused among the family or tribe, and joy with laughter turned to humming or whistling? And then maybe somebody started thumping something to augment it?

Joe

Peter T. Daniels

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May 25, 2012, 7:06:20 PM5/25/12
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Many primates thump things rhythmically.

All motile animals move rhythmically.

Joe Roberts

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May 25, 2012, 11:13:29 PM5/25/12
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"Peter T. Daniels" wrote:
> "Joe Roberts" wrote:
>> Couldn't there have been a time when, say,
>> lamenting became chorused among the family
>> or tribe, and joy with laughter turned to humming
>> or whistling? And then maybe somebody started
>> thumping something to augment it?

> Many primates thump things rhythmically.
>
> All motile animals move rhythmically.

There's a chicken-and-egg condition: before the babe became a child and motile, his mum must've cooed to him. But there had been her heartbeat, perceived in the womb. It's doubtful he remembered that rhythm later as she encouraged him to walk, perhaps through vocalized intonation that was a bit more pitch-based than guttural grunts. Does an upward glissando convey different feeling from a downward one?

Joe

Peter T. Daniels

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May 26, 2012, 7:01:48 AM5/26/12
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Whether it does or not, the ability to make one is much later than the
ability to make rhythm.
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