Ancient Greece

The ancient Greeks had a special place for music in their culture. It was believed that music nurtured a man's relationship with the Gods. many ancient Greek myths included musical instruments, especially the greek lyre. It was said that this instrument was invented by the god Apollo. An example is that Amphion, son of Zeus, used a lyre to build the walls of Thebes. The myth said that, as soon as Amphion played the greek lyre, the stones built themselves into a wall.

The lyre is a stringed instrument made of a tortoise shell with three to twelve strings. The lyre was played with a plectrum, or a pick. All the strings were strummed, but the player would press down the strings that he does not want to hear. The lyre is related to the harp. The lyre was also used in Egypt and Sumeria. While the lyre was an instrument that amateurs could play, the kithara, was used by professional musicians. its appearance is similar to the lyre, it was bigger, heavier, and made of wood. The lyre migrated to Europe.

Woodwinds is also one of the ancient Greece’s instruments. Panpipes, another instrument invented by the gods, were cane tubes arranged in a scale. Sound could be produced by blowing across the holes. A more complicated version of panpipes is known in Thailand as the khaen. The aulos was a wind instrument which was extremely hard to play. The cheeks of aulos players had to be fastened with a leather strap so they wouldn't burst. The aulos sounded similar to today's oboe.

Ancient Egypt

In Ancient Egypt, music was not only an important part in ceremonies and festivals, but

also a part of daily life. For instance, farmers would sing while sowing and harvesting crops. Large groups of flutes or stringed instruments were known to entertain at royal parties. Common people would dance to the music of smaller groups of stringed instruments. The Egyptian army marched to the sounds of the trumpet and drums.

The Egyptian harp was seven feet tall. Most commonly played in temples by priests, a 2500 year old example of this instrument is displayed in New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art. Another stringed instrument, the lyre, was also used in Egypt after being brought over from Greece.

Strings were not the only type of instrument in ancient Egypt. A very important part of Egyptian culture was the trumpet. The legend in Egypt was that the trumpet was invented by the god Osiris. Osiris was frequently worshiped to the sound of trumpets. It is also known that the Egyptians used a double-reed instrument similar to the oboe.

Percussion instruments also had a major role in Egypt. Egyptian cymbals came in various sizes and pitches. The tambourine, commonly used today in folk and rock music, originated in Egypt. The sistrum, an instrument similar to a tambourine was also used commonly in Egypt. Similar to a rattle in appearance, the sistrum made a jangling noise when shaken.

There is no standard range of the marimba, but the most common ranges are 4 octaves, 4.3 octaves and 5 octaves; 4.5 and 5.5 octave sizes are also available.

4 octave: C3 to C7.

4.3 octave: A2 to C7. The 3 refers to three notes below the 4 octave instrument. This is probably the most common range.

4.5 octave: F2 to C7. The 5 means "half"; the instrument goes down a fifth below the 4 octave instrument.

4.6 octave: E2 to C7, one note below the 4.5. Useful for playing guitar literature.

5 octave: C2 to C7, one full octave below the 4 octave instrument.

The range of the marimba has been gradually expanding, with companies like Marimba One adding notes up to F above the normal high C (C7) on their 5.5 octave instrument, or marimba tuners adding notes lower than the low C on the 5 octave C2. Adding lower notes is somewhat impractical because as the bars become thinner (more fragile), the resonators become longer or larger, and the sixth overtone becomes more present than the fundamental tone.

The marimba is a non-transposing instrument with no octave displacement, unlike some other keyboard instruments, which are pitched one or two octaves higher than written.

Some videos on the Musical Instruments...