Today, anyone can enjoy music from a massive variety of genres, styles, artists, and time periods. So many great musicians have come before us, paving the way for all we know and love about music today. With that in mind, it’s important to have some idea of the music history and the rich and diverse cultural heritage of those who have contributed to it, of those whom we benefit greatly.
With such a long and storied history, touching on everything in one post, ten, or even a hundred would be impossible. But we’ve got some interesting points from the history of music that will knock your socks off!
8 Eye-Popping Music History Facts
The World’s Oldest Surviving Song was Performed About 3,400 Years Ago
Have you ever wondered what the oldest song in the world is? The fact is, with such a long history, much of it lost, we’ll never know. But what we do know is that the oldest surviving song is the Hurrian Hymn Text H6. French archaeologists discovered Twenty-six clay tablets containing text in the ancient Syrian city of Ugarit in the early 1950s. They appear to include “a complete cult hymn and is the oldest preserved song with notation in the world.”
Some Instruments are Much Older That You Think
What we think of as a flute is usually made of metal by a machine. But they are much older than they let on. In fact, the oldest surviving musical instruments are all flutes, some carved from bird bones, others from mammoth ivory. Discovered in a stone-age cave in Germany in 2012, these flutes are thought to be at least 42,000 years old! That means they were already a part of music history when the Hurrian Hymns were carved into their clay tablets!
Other early instruments likely included drums, rattles, and other percussion implements, though few remain.
Franz Schubert Was So Busy, He Forgot His Own Work
Schubert once told a friend, “I compose every morning. When I finish one piece, I start another.”
With that mentality, he composed more than 600 songs before he passed away at only 31. Between his first song, in March 1811, and his last, written in October 1828, he averaged about three songs per month. He also composed mountains of orchestral, chamber, piano, churn, and opera music. Being so busy, you might ask how he kept track of it all. The simple answer is he didn’t.
When Schubert’s friend, singer, and fellow composer Johann Michael Vogl gave the first performance of many of Schubert’s songs, he included one he especially liked. However, the song was in a high key he found uncomfortable. So, Vogl had it transposed and hired a copyist to prepare a new manuscript. A few weeks later, he performed it for Schubert. Schubert loved it and exclaimed, “That’s a good song. Who wrote it?”
The First Human in Space Was Also the First to Make Music in Space
In 1961, cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin not only became the first human in space but the first to sing there. The song “The Homeland Hears” was composed by Dmitri Shostakovich for a play written by Yevgeny Dolmatovsky. Dolmatovsky needed an “aeronautical beacon,” a song for a pilot in the play to sing to help him navigate the Alps. The song apparently became popular among real pilots, and Gagarin sang it as he became the first person to orbit the planet, navigating his own unique journey.
The King of Rock n’ Roll is the World’s Best Selling Solo Artist
Despite being relatively new in annuls of music history and relatively dated by today’s pop-culture standards, Elvis Presley remains the King. Despite the music industry he ruled over being 60 or 70 years past, his popularity has not faded. With over 1 billion sales worldwide, the King of Rock n’ Roll is the undisputed best-selling solo artist.
Although some younger music lovers may consider Elvis and his music old-fashioned, the wider music-listening audience is still smitten!
The Beatles Couldn’t Read Sheet Music
Learning to read sheet music is one of the earliest lessons a budding musician usually learns. But it’s (apparently) not entirely necessary to make it big in the music industry and write chart-topping, mania-inducing songs. The Beatles proved this when Paul McCartney admitted that neither he nor his bandmates could read sheet music.
So, how did the band capture such incredible success without knowing how to read (or even write) music? Ear training!
Instead of writing and reading notes, they would hum tunes, commit them to memory, and then replicate the tones with their instruments. While it did work, many tunes never made it to an album or the band’s wider audiences.
“Bohemian Rhapsody” is the Most-Streamed Song From the 20th Century
If you had to guess which song released in the 20th Century was the most-streamed, Queen’s “Bohemian Rhapsody” might be an obvious choice–but it would also be the right one! Originally released in 1975, it reached the top spot on the UK charts for the first that same year. And then, following the unfortunate death of Freddy Mercury, it reached the top again in 1991. Its popularity and place in popular culture has only grown in the 30+ years since then, reaching over 2.5 billion streams on Spotify alone.
Even Silence Can Count As Music
It’s a little counterintuitive, sure, but it’s true! In 1952, experimental composer Joh Cage released a song titled “4’33.” The music instructed the musicians to sit still and do nothing for four minutes and thirty-three seconds. Cage’s idea was that any sound contained within a specific time period could be considered music. That meant that, for the length of the performance, the music was the sound of the audience’s surroundings and the audience itself.
Fascinating!
Music History: Closing Thoughts
Music history isn’t only important; it’s engaging! Everywhere you look, there are twists, turns, and unexpected surprises. Looking to the past helps us not only understand the music from those eras but also the origins of modern trends and where music may be headed in the future.
Looking to start your own future in music making? Take a look at all The Music Studio’s lessons and programs, and get started today!