Unexpected Music - Ancient Music - Thump, Toot, Twang

Oct 13, 2026

Upload by Jake

Unexpected Music by Cynthia Clampitt explores how music emerged and evolved, tracing its roots to ancient times through archaeology and early human practices. It explains that the earliest music likely relied on singing and rhythmic pounding, and it highlights the Neanderthal flute discovery as evidence of instrument-making far back in history. The text then surveys foundational actions used to make sounds—striking, blowing, plucking, rubbing, and shaking—before focusing on wind instruments such as flutes, horns, oboes, ocarinas, and didgeridoos.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryLiterature

FormatPDF

Pages28

Reading Time43 min

AccessFree to download

Ancient Music

Thump, Toot, Twang

Flutes First

Weird and Wonderful Wind Instruments

UnexpectedMusicby CynthiaClampitt | Vocabulary | | --- | | aborigines | | acoustic | | antiquity | | archaeologists | | artifacts | | oboe | | ocarina | | principles | | reeds | Word count:2,742 UnexpectedMusic by Cynthia Clampitt PEARSON Foresman Every effort has been made to secure permission and provide appropriate credit forphotographic material.The publisher deeply regrets any omission and pledges tocorrect errors called to its attention in subsequent editions. Unless otherwise acknowledged,all photographs are the property of Scott Foresman,a division of Pearson Education. Photo locators denoted as follows:Top(T),Center (C),Bottom(B),Left(L),Right(R),Background(Bkgd) Opener OChris Lisle/Corbis;1 OReuters/Corbis;3 OBettmann/Corbis;5 OWernerForman/Corbis;6 CReuters/Corbis;8 OMichael &Patricia Fogden/Corbis;10(TL)Canadian Museum of Civilization/Corbis,10(TR)ORoyalty-Free/Corbis,10(C)ORoyalty-Free/Corbis,10(B)Tria Giovan/Corbis;12 OChris Lisle/Corbis;14 OJoel Simon/GettyImages;15 OMichael St.Maur Sheil/Corbis;16 PhotoDisc;17 OBettmann/Corbis;18 ODusko Despotovic/Corbis;20 ODave King/DK Images;22 OEd Bock/Corbis ISBN:0-328-13591-7 Copyright ◎ Pearson Education,Inc. All Rights Reserved.Printed in China.This publication is protected by Copyright,and permission should be obtained from the publisher prior to any prohibitedreproduction,storage in a retrieval system,or transmission in any form by anymeans,electronic,mechanical,photocopying,recording,or likewise.For informationregarding permission(s),write to:Permissions Department,Scott Foresman,1900 EastLake Avenue,Glenview,Illinois 60025. Ancient Music People have been making music since timeimmemorial.Archaeologists have found ancientartifacts that show that music was part of life longbefore anyone was writing about music. It seems likely that the very earliest music consisted of singing and creating rhythms using rocksor sticks.But more complex music soon appeared,even among very early peoples,such as the Neanderthals.In fact,a Neanderthal flute made ofbear bone was discovered in 1995 by archaeologistIvan Turk in a cave in Eastern Europe.Experts havedetermined that this flute is at least 43,000 years old,which makes it the earliest musical instrument yetdiscovered.The more we study,the more we realizethat music has always been an important part ofhuman culture. Music and instruments have changed dramaticallyover time,yet some of the earliest elements of musicpersist,including the combination of singing andrhythm.Throughout history,people have founddifferent ways of creating sound,melody,harmony,rhythm—music.You might be surprised by some ofthe instruments that have existed,and even some ofthose that exist today.You might also be surprised tosee similarities across the ages. Thump,Toot,Twang The actions needed to produce music wereestablished fairly early on.The essential actionsinclude striking,as with a drum,blowing,as witha horn,plucking,as with a banjo,rubbing,as witha violin,and shaking,as with maracas.Even today,aside from synthesizers,these are still the meansby which music is created.Let's look at the historiesof some interesting instruments based on whataction is needed to produce sound.We'llstart withinstruments that are played by blowing into them—the wind instruments. Flutes First Perhaps a passing breeze first showedthat hollow tubes could create a tone,but whatever it was that led to the discovery,blowing into tubes was amongthe earliest ways of making music.Bones,bamboo,branches,and cane were thefirst things used to make flutes.Holeswere added,to make it possible to createa range of musical notes.The Neanderthalflute mentioned earlier is the oldest musicalinstrument yet discovered,but cultures around the world came up with similar ideasover the millennia. In China,archaeologists discovered 9,000-year-old bone flutes that can still be played.Flutes were among the first instrumentsdeveloped by th

FAQs

How far back does the book say music-making goes?

The text states that people have been making music since time immemorial and that archaeological finds show music was part of life long before written accounts.

What evidence does the book give for very early musical instruments?

It describes a Neanderthal flute made of bear bone, discovered in 1995, and notes experts determined it is at least 43,000 years old.

What actions does the book say are essential for creating music?

It lists striking (drums), blowing (horns), plucking (banjo), rubbing (violin), and shaking (maracas), noting these remain the means of creating music even today beyond synthesizers.

Oct 13, 2026

Upload by Jake