MUSIC 2MT3 Lecture Notes - Lecture 3: Vocal Folds, Coevolution, Manual Labour
2 Jan 2021
School
Department
Course
Professor
Document Summary
Why do we care: music is a universal and multifunctional cultural behaviour, music evolution can also be used to trace cultural migrations and interactions. What is music: organized sound to convey emotion, animal song, speech, language, 2 major elements, pitch, rhythm. In instruments are prehistoric: rhythmic and vocal music are the oldest and most universal forms of music, written music is ancient, dating back to the earliest writing systems. In the western classical tradition, prehistoric and ancient music were followed by early, medieval, renaissance, baroque, classical, romantic and 20th and 21st century music. Prehistoric instruments: the oldest known instrument is a bone flute found in germany, dated at over 42,000 years old. Idiophones, bullroarers, and rattles also existed: to make sound at ceremonies or while going to war. Why did musicality evolve: a descended voice box has an evolutionary trade-off: Increased chance of choking, and increased fatality of choking: clapping hands and beating rocks also takes energy, is often painful.
