Musical instrument

A musical instrument is a device created or adapted to make musical sounds. In principle, any object that produces sound can be considered a musical instrument—it is through purpose that the object becomes a musical instrument. A person who plays a musical instrument is known as an instrumentalist.

The history of musical instruments dates to the beginnings of human culture. Early musical instruments may have been used for rituals, such as a horn to signal success on the hunt, or a drum in a religious ceremony. Cultures eventually developed composition and performance of melodies for entertainment. Musical instruments evolved in step with changing applications and technologies.

The exact date and specific origin of the first device considered a musical instrument, is widely disputed. The oldest object identified by scholars as a musical instrument, is a simple flute, dated back 50,000–60,000 years. Many scholars date early flutes to about 40,000 years ago. Many historians believe that determining the specific date of musical instrument invention is impossible, as the majority of early musical instruments were constructed of animal skins, bone, wood, and other non-durable, bio-degradable materials. Additionally, some have proposed that lithophones, or stones used to make musical sounds—like those found at Sankarjang in India—are examples of prehistoric musical instruments.

Musical instruments developed independently in many populated regions of the world. However, contact among civilizations caused rapid spread and adaptation of most instruments in places far from their origin. By the post-classical era, instruments from Mesopotamia were in maritime Southeast Asia, and Europeans played instruments originating from North Africa. Development in the Americas occurred at a slower pace, but cultures of North, Central, and South America shared musical instruments.

By 1400, musical instrument development slowed in many areas and was dominated by the Occident. During the Classical and Romantic periods of music, lasting from roughly 1750 to 1900, many new musical instruments were developed. While the evolution of traditional musical instruments slowed beginning in the 20th century, the proliferation of electricity led to the invention of new electric and electronic instruments, such as electric guitars, synthesizers, and the theremin.

Musical instrument classification is a discipline in its own right, and many systems of classification have been used over the years. Instruments can be classified by their effective range, material composition, size, role, etc. However, the most common academic method, Hornbostel–Sachs, uses the means by which they produce sound. The academic study of musical instruments is called organology.

Definition and basic operation

A musical instrument is something we use to create musical sounds. Long ago, people started using objects instead of just their voices or clapping to make music. Early instruments were made to copy natural sounds and were often used in special ceremonies, not just for fun. For example, someone might play a bone flute to signal the start of a hunt.

People play instruments in many ways, like plucking the strings of a string instrument, hitting a drum, or blowing into a horn. Instruments come in many shapes and sizes and can be made from many different materials found in nature.

Archaeology

Researchers have found clues to old musical instruments all over the world. One famous find is the Divje Babe flute, which might be very old, but scientists aren't sure if it was really made to make music. Most agree that instruments from about 37,000 years ago and later are the earliest we know for sure.

Early humans likely used things like wood and animal skin to make instruments, but these materials often didn't survive over time.

Flutes

The Divje Babe Flute is a special bone found in Slovenia. Some think it was made by early humans called Neanderthals, but others believe animals might have made the holes in it. If it is a flute, it could be the oldest one we know.

In Germany, scientists found flutes made from mammoth and swan bones that are between 30,000 and 37,000 years old. These are widely accepted as the oldest musical instruments.

Sumerian city of Ur

In the old city of Ur, which was part of Sumeria, researchers found a group of early musical instruments. These include lyres, harps, a silver double flute, a sistrum, and cymbals. They even found pieces of silver pipes that might be the first version of bagpipes. These instruments were placed in graves and dated to between 2600 and 2500 BC.

Jiahu site

At a place called Jiahu in China, archaeologists found bone flutes that are 7,000 to 9,000 years old. These flutes show that people living in ancient China knew a lot about music and how to make instruments that could play many notes.

History

See also: History of music

Studying the history of musical instruments is tricky because there are no perfect ways to know the exact order they developed across different cultures. Trying to organize instruments by how complex they are can be confusing, as sometimes simpler tools were used later.

German music expert Curt Sachs argued that arranging instruments by how they were made isn't reliable, since cultures develop at different speeds and have different materials available.

Ordering instruments by where they came from also isn’t easy, because we can’t always tell when cultures shared ideas with each other. Sachs suggested looking at geography up until around 1400, but after that, we can follow the general development of instruments over time.

Researchers use three main ways to learn about ancient instruments: looking at old objects, pictures in art, and written records. Since any one of these might not tell the whole story, using all three gives us a better picture of history.

Prehistoric

See also: Prehistoric music

For a long time, people in Europe thought the earliest stories about music came from myths and old books. These stories talked about figures like Jubal, Pan, and Mercury “inventing” instruments. But today, we understand these stories are just myths.

The very first instruments were simple tools like rattles and drums, which people used because they enjoyed adding sound to activities like dancing. Over time, some cultures began using instruments in special ways, like for ceremonies or hunting. They created more complex drums and other tools like flutes and trumpets.

Some early cultures, like the Chukchi people in far-east Russia, the people of Melanesia, and many African groups, considered drums very important, sometimes even sacred. In fact, drums were used in every culture across Africa. One East African group, the Wahinda, believed that seeing a drum could be dangerous for anyone who wasn’t their leader, the sultan.

People later learned to use instruments to make melodies, not just rhythms. They created pairs of instruments that sounded together—one might make a “clear” sound and the other a “darker” sound. These pairs were often linked to ideas about gender, with one instrument representing “father” and the other “mother.” Over thousands of years, these ideas led to more complex instruments like xylophones, which started in Southeast Asia and later spread to other parts of the world. Other early instruments included ground harps, musical bows, and jaw harps. Recent studies of old stone tools have suggested they might have been used as musical instruments too, called lithophones.

Antiquity

See also: Ancient music

Pictures of instruments start appearing in items from Mesopotamia as early as 2800 BC. Around 2000 BC, cultures like the Sumerians and Babylonians began to separate instruments into two groups: simple ones anyone could play, and more advanced ones for professionals. Very few instruments from this time have been found, so experts rely on old objects and written records to learn about them.

In Mesopotamia, common instruments included clappers, sistra, bells, cymbals, and rattles. The Sumerians and Babylonians loved string instruments, especially harps, lyres, and lutes, which are ancestors of modern string instruments like the violin.

Egyptian instruments from before 2700 BC looked a lot like those from Mesopotamia, suggesting the two cultures had contact. By 2700 BC, contact between the two seems to have stopped, and Egypt developed its own instruments like clappers, vertical flutes, double clarinets, arched harps, and drums.

Between 2700 BC and 1500 BC, Egypt went through a time of war and destruction. When Egyptian leaders took control of Southwest Asia around 1500 BC, they began using new instruments like oboes, trumpets, lyres, lutes, castanets, and cymbals influenced by nearby cultures.

In Israel between 2000 and 1000 BC, professional musicians didn’t exist. Information about instruments comes from the Bible and other old texts. Important instruments included pipes called ugab, lyres called kinnor, frame drums called tof, small bells called pa'amon, shofars, and trumpet-like instruments called hasosra.

When Israel established its first monarchy in the 11th century BC, professional musicians appeared, and many new instruments were introduced. However, it’s still hard to know exactly what these instruments looked like because there aren’t many pictures.

In Greece, Rome, and Etruria, instruments were simple and mostly borrowed from other cultures. Lyres were important for honoring gods. Greeks played wind instruments called aulos (reeds) and syrinx (flutes). Romans played reed instruments called tibia, which had holes that could be opened or closed. Other common instruments included vertical harps, lutes, pipes, organs, and clappers, often played by women.

In India, there isn’t much evidence of early instruments until the Indus Valley civilization around 3000 BC. The only clues are rattles, whistles, and a clay statue showing a drum. Later, during the Rigveda hymns, instruments like drums, shell trumpets, harps, and flutes were used. Other instruments included snake charmer’s double clarinets, bagpipes, barrel drums, cross flutes, and short lutes. India didn’t develop unique instruments until later times.

Chinese records mention zithers as early as the 12th century BC. Early Chinese thinkers like Confucius, Mencius, and Laozi helped shape how music and instruments were viewed, seeing music as important for character and community. The Chinese classified instruments based on the materials they were made from.

In Vietnam, a 2,000-year-old stringed instrument was found, giving clues about early music in Southeast Asia.

Idiophones, which make sound by vibrating, were very important in Chinese music. Early instruments included bells, chimes, drums, and flutes made from bone. The Zhou dynasty brought in percussion instruments like clappers, troughs, wooden fish, and yǔ (wooden tiger shapes). Wind instruments like flutes, pan-pipes, pitch-pipes, and mouth organs also appeared. The xiao, an end-blown flute, and other instruments spread to many cultures during and after the Han dynasty.

Civilizations in Central America, like those in modern-day Peru, Colombia, Ecuador, Bolivia, and Chile, developed music more advancedly than those further north. While they had no string instruments, they used idiophones, drums, and wind instruments like flutes and trumpets. Only the flute could make melodies. South American cultures used pan-pipes, flutes, idiophones, drums, and shell or wood trumpets.

The Carnyx, a bronze instrument from the Iron Age Celts around 300 BC, had a bell shaped like a screaming animal head. When played, it made a loud, harsh sound, and the head had a tongue that clicked when vibrated. It was likely used in battle to scare enemies.

Post-classical era/Middle Ages

During the post-classical era and Middle Ages in Europe, China mixed in musical influences from other regions. The first record of this happened in 384 AD when China created an orchestra after conquering Turkestan. Influences came from the Middle East, Persia, India, Mongolia, and other countries. Chinese tradition says many instruments from this time came from those places.

Cymbals became popular, along with advanced trumpets, clarinets, pianos, oboes, flutes, drums, and lutes. Some of the first bowed zithers appeared in China in the 9th or 10th century, influenced by Mongolian culture.

India also developed in this period, but string instruments changed differently to suit Hindu music with slides and tremolos. Rhythm was very important, shown by frequent images of drums. Historians split India’s instrument development between pre-Islamic and Islamic periods due to different influences.

In pre-Islamic times, idiophones like handbells, cymbals, and gong-like instruments were common. Tubular drums, stick zithers (veena), short fiddles, double and triple flutes, coiled trumpets, and curved horns appeared. Islamic influences brought new drums, oboes, and sitars. The Islamic culture also introduced double-clarinet instruments like the Alboka, still played in the Basque Country today.

Southeast Asia saw musical changes during a period of Indian influence that ended around 920 AD. Balinese and Javanese music used xylophones and metallophones, bronze versions of xylophones. The most important instrument in Southeast Asia was the gong, which came from between Tibet and Burma and was used in every part of life in maritime Southeast Asia, including Java.

The areas of Mesopotamia and the Arabian Peninsula shared many musical instruments after being united by Islamic culture in the seventh century. Frame drums and cylindrical drums were very important. Conical oboes were used in music for weddings and ceremonies. Persian art shows how kettle drums spread from Mesopotamia to places as far as Java. Various lutes, zithers, dulcimers, and harps spread south to Madagascar and east to Sulawesi.

Even though Greece and Rome had advanced culture, most musical instruments in Europe during the Middle Ages came from Asia. The lyre was the only instrument likely invented in Europe during this time. String instruments were common in Europe. Central and northern regions mainly used lutes, while southern regions used lyres. Harps were used across Central and Northern Europe, even as far north as Ireland, where the harp later became a national symbol. Lyres spread eastward to Estonia.

European music between 800 and 1100 became more complex and often needed instruments that could play polyphony. The 9th-century Persian geographer Ibn Khordadbeh mentioned instruments in the Byzantine Empire, including the urghun (organ), shilyani (possibly a harp or lyre), salandj (probably a bagpipe), and the lyra. The Byzantine lyra, a bowed string instrument, is a ancestor of many European bowed instruments, including the violin.

The monochord was used to measure musical scales accurately. Mechanical hurdy-gurdies let single musicians play complex tunes, and both were popular folk instruments in the Middle Ages. Southern Europeans played short and long lutes with pegs on the side, unlike Central and Northern European lutes with rear-facing pegs. Idiophones like bells and clappers had practical uses, such as warning people about lepers.

The ninth century saw the first bagpipes, which spread across Europe for both folk and military use. Pneumatics organs began in Spain in the fifth century and reached England by about 700. These organs varied in size and use, from portable ones worn around the neck to large pipe organs. Records from English Benedictine abbeys in the late tenth century are the first mentions of organs connected to churches. Reed players in the Middle Ages were limited to oboes; there’s no evidence of clarinets from that time.

Modern

Western Classical

Renaissance

Musical instrument development was led by Europe from 1400 onward, especially during the Renaissance. Instruments began to have new purposes beyond just accompanying singing or dance, and performers used them as solo instruments. Keyboards and lutes became polyphonic instruments, and composers wrote increasingly complex pieces for them. Composers also began writing music specifically for certain instruments. By the late sixteenth century, orchestration—writing music for different instruments—became common. Composers now specified which instruments to use, rather than leaving it to the performers. The polyphonic style became popular, and instrument makers created instruments to match.

Starting around 1400, the development of musical instruments sped up as music needed more dynamic sounds. People also began writing books about making, playing, and describing instruments; the first such book was Sebastian Virdung’s 1511 work Musica getuscht und ausgezogen ('Music Germanized and Abstracted'). Virdung’s book was detailed, even describing “irregular” instruments like hunters’ horns and cow bells, though he didn’t approve of them. Other books followed, including Arnolt Schlick’s Spiegel der Orgelmacher und Organisten ('Mirror of Organ Makers and Organ Players') the next year, a guide to organ building and playing. One book, Syntagma musicum by Michael Praetorius, is now considered an authoritative reference for sixteenth-century instruments, with detailed descriptions and pictures of wind and string instruments and their sizes.

In the sixteenth century, instrument makers gave instruments like the violin their “classical” shapes, which they still have today. There was also a focus on how beautiful instruments looked, so makers paid close attention to materials and craftsmanship. Instruments became collectibles in homes and museums. During this time, makers began creating instruments of the same type in different sizes for use in consorts, or ensembles playing together.

Instrument builders also added features still used today. For example, while organs with multiple keyboards and pedals already existed, the first organs with solo stops appeared in the early fifteenth century. These stops created a mix of sounds needed for the complex music of the time. Trumpets evolved into their modern form for better portability, and players used mutes to blend into chamber music.

Baroque

Beginning in the seventeenth century, composers wrote music with more emotion. They preferred polyphony and wrote parts for instruments that could complement singing. As a result, instruments that couldn’t play large ranges or dynamics—and were seen as unemotional—became less popular. One such instrument was the shawm. Bowed instruments like the violin, viola, baryton, and various lutes were popular. Around 1750, the lute faded from use as the guitar became more popular. As string orchestras grew, wind instruments like the flute, oboe, and bassoon returned to balance the sound of only strings.

In the mid-seventeenth century, the hunter’s horn changed into an “art instrument” with a longer tube, narrower bore, wider bell, and much wider range. The modern horn, or French horn, emerged by 1725. The slide trumpet appeared, with a long-throated mouthpiece that slid in and out for pitch adjustments, but it was hard to play and not popular. Organs changed in tone during the Baroque period, with makers like Abraham Jordan in London making stops more expressive and adding devices like expressive pedals. Sachs called this a “degeneration” of the organ sound.

Classical and Romantic

The Classical and Romantic periods, from about 1750 to 1900, saw many new instruments that could create new sounds and be louder. Design changes allowed instruments to express a wider range of feelings. Large orchestras became popular, and composers wrote big scores using modern instruments’ abilities. Since instruments worked together on a larger scale, their designs had to change to meet orchestra demands.

Some instruments had to get louder to fill big halls and be heard over large orchestras. Flutes and bowed instruments were changed many times—most unsuccessful—to increase volume. Other instruments were altered just to play their parts in scores. Trumpets used to have a “defective” range, unable to play certain notes precisely. New instruments like the clarinet, saxophone, and tuba became regular parts of orchestras. The clarinet also developed into a family of instruments with different ranges, from small to bass clarinets.

Along with changes in sound and volume, there was a shift in the typical pitch used to tune instruments. Instruments playing together in an orchestra needed to be tuned to the same standard to avoid sounding different. Starting in 1762, concert pitch rose from 377 vibrations to 457 in 1880 Vienna. Different regions, countries, and instrument makers preferred different standards, making orchestral collaboration difficult. Even after two international meetings with composers like Hector Berlioz, no standard could be agreed upon.

Twentieth century to present

The development of traditional instruments slowed in the 20th century. Instruments like the violin, flute, French horn, and harp are largely the same as those made in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Small changes happened, like the “New Violin Family” starting in 1964 to offer differently sized violins for more sound ranges. This slowdown was practical, as orchestras and venues also got smaller.

But the creation of new instruments exploded in the twentieth century, far more than any earlier time. The spread of electricity led to a new category: electronic instruments, or electrophones. Most made in the first half of the 20th century were electromechanical instruments, with mechanical parts that made sound vibrations picked up and amplified by electrical parts. Examples include Hammond organs and electric guitars. Sachs also described “radioelectric instruments” like the theremin, which makes music through hand movements around antennas.

The latter half of the 20th century saw the rise of synthesizers, which create sound using circuits and microchips. In the late 1960s, Bob Moog and others developed the first commercial synthesizers, like the Moog synthesizer. Today, synthesizers can be built into any electronic device and are common in modern music. Samplers, introduced around 1980, let users sample and reuse existing sounds, and were important for hip hop. In 1982, MIDI—a standardized way to synchronize electronic instruments—was introduced. The growth of computers and microchips created an industry of electronic musical instruments.

Classification

There are many ways to group musical instruments. Some ways look at things like what the instrument is made of, how it is used, or how it makes sound. One famous way to group instruments is called Hornbostel–Sachs. This system puts instruments into four main groups: idiophones, which vibrate the main body of the instrument; membranophones, which use a stretched skin to make sound; chordophones, which use strings; and aerophones, which use air to make sound. Each group has many smaller groups too. This system is used by experts around the world because it works for all cultures.

An older system from ancient India also grouped instruments in a similar way, focusing on strings, skin heads, air columns, and solid percussion. Over time, other systems have been created, but Hornbostel–Sachs is the most widely used today.

Construction

The materials used to make musical instruments can vary a lot depending on the culture and purpose. Some cultures use special materials because of their meaning or because they are rare. For example, in ancient Mexico, drums might have been made with materials from the human body. In New Guinea, drum makers would mix human blood into the glue used to attach drum skins. In China, mulberry trees are very important in myths, so they were used to make zithers. The Yakuts believe drums made from trees struck by lightning have a special link to nature.

Making musical instruments is a special job that takes many years of learning and practice. Most instrument makers focus on one type of instrument, like a luthier who only makes string instruments. They think about the materials, how to build the instrument, and how it should look, making sure it works well and looks nice. Some builders create very artistic instruments, like Harry Partch, who made instruments to play his own music using special tuning methods.

User interfaces

Many musical instruments have a keyboard that you can press to make sounds. These are called keyboard instruments. When you press a key, it makes one or more sounds. Some keyboard instruments also have extra parts like pedals or stops to change the sounds. They can make sounds in different ways, like using wind, strings, or electronic parts. Some instruments that usually don’t have keyboards, like the glockenspiel, can sometimes be fitted with one.

There are also instruments like the theremin that you play without touching. You move your hands near it, and it changes the pitch and loudness of the sound. With new technology, we now have MIDI controllers that change how electronic instruments sound. These include special keyboards and other designs.

Many instruments can be played with either your right or left hand. Some instruments are made especially for left-handed players, like certain guitars. Famous left-handed players include Jimi Hendrix and Paul McCartney.

Instrumentalist

"Instrumentalist" redirects here. For the philosophical school, see Instrumentalism. For the magazine, see The Instrumentalist.

See also: Lists of musicians § Instrument, and Multi-instrumentalist

A person who plays a musical instrument is called an instrumentalist or instrumental musician. Many instrumentalists are known for playing certain instruments such as a guitarist (guitar), a pianist (piano), a bassist (bass), and a drummer (drum). These different types of musicians can perform together in a music group. Someone who can play many different instruments is called a multi-instrumentalist. According to a book called Music Business Handbook and Career Guide, a full-time instrumentalist might only play for about three hours each day, but most musicians spend around forty hours a week on their work.