Prehistoric Music

Although many believe the first song ever written to be 'Take on Me' by A-ha, the oldest genre of music is actually known as Pre-Historic Music. These songs aren't music as we think of it, but more exist by emulating natural sounds. Although it has mostly died out, isolated native tribes still practice this music.

Ancient Music

The Seikilos Column
The Pre-Historic Era ended with the invention of writing, and with it
went prehistoric music. Next enter the civilizations of Ancient Greece,
Rome, and Egypt. This period is considered to stretch from 1400 B.C. to
0 AD. Although not much has survived from this era, we do have the
oldest known melody 'Hurrian Hymn No. 6,' and the oldest known
complete composition, 'Seikilos Epitaph' (or 'The Song of Seikilos'). The
song is recorded on a stone column known as the Seikilos Column in
an ancient form of musical notation (pictured Below) These songs were primarily played on harps and lyres, although other instruments such as drums and pipes were also common.

Biblical Music

Although there is no sudden or definite end to the period of ancient music. For conveniences sake, historians refer to 0 BC as the end of the Ancient Period of music, and the beggining of the musical period known as the Biblical Period. The Biblical Period didn't introduce too many radical changes to music. However, the period was home to the first forming of large chorus's and orchestras, as well as more religious songs and hymns.

Medieval Music

The Medieval Age, defined as starting at 476 AD ushered in a new
age of music Unified at this time by the Roman Catholic Church,
this period was home to many rich traditions of music, but
religious songs remained as a staple of Medieval Life. The only
surviving piece of medival music surving from before 800 AD is
known as Gregorain Chant (in honor of the Pope Gregory I).
Medieval times gave three extremely important contributions to
musical history, all during the 9th century. Firstly, the Roman Catholic Church to supress other chant traditions, and unify them all under the Gregorian Liturgy. Secondly, the first recorded practices of Polyphonic music, and finally; a reinvention of musical notation. While this reinvention was incredibly important, it was overshadowed by the invention of modern (staff) musical notation, and scales a few centuries later by Guido D'Arezzo in 1000 AD.

Renaissance Music

With the Renaissance flourishing across Europe, Music also went through a "Rebirth." The most important change to music in this time was the invention of the printing press in 1440. This allowed for the widespread distribution of music, which in turn led to the international spread and merging of music, as songs could go anywhere in the world, and be universally understood. This led to a unification of European music, not seen since the period of Gregorian Chants.

Baroque Music

With the Renaissance coming to an end, what we today think of as the
period of "Classical Music," began to emerge. However, classical
music's time was not yet, and it was preceded by the Baroque period.
Although many of us see this period as "Classical," Baroque music was
highly tonal and complex, with no clear melody or accompaniment.
Influental composers of this time included: George Frideric Handel,
Antonio Vivaldi, Claudio Monteverdi, and most importantly J.S. Bach.

Classical Music

The Baroque period did not end suddenly, but slid slowly into Classical
Music. Although the two are often grouped together, classical music
differed noticably from baroque music. The main difference between
the two being classical musics favor of a clear melody and
accompaniment. This period of music was characterized by the
invention of the piano in 1700 (although the final instrument would
not be invented until 1893). The piano was preferential to the harpsicord
(used previously) because it granted greater dynamic control. The harpsicord
hada plucking action. When a key was pressed, the corresponding string would be plucked. The piano revolutionized keyboard instruments with it's
hammer action. The force the key was pressed corresponded to the
force exerted by the hammer onto the note leading to dynamic shifts
and changes in music. This "hammer action led to the fall of the
harpsicord, and the rise of popularity in the piano. Notable composers
of this time included Ludwig van Beethoven, Fréderic Chopin, Johannes
Brahms, and most famously Wolfgang Amadaus Mozart.

Romantic Music

The 19th century was characterized by Western expansion and colonialism, and like all era's had it's own music. The style of music popular in the 1800's is known to day as the Romantic Period. The Romantic period was characterized by large sweeping dramatic pieces of music, often supporting Nationalism. The orchestral piece "In The Hall of the Mountain King" written in 1875 by Norweigan composer Edvard Grieg exemplifies this. The piece was originally written as a satire of the romantic genre. Grieg intended for the music to overly exaggerate nationalistic pride and "The virtue of being Norweigan." However, ironically Grieg did too good of a job emulating the current music, and the piece was widely accepted by the public.