Chapter 2: Early Western Art Music Notes

Western music has roots in European and Middle Eastern musical practices from over 2000 years ago and ancient Greek and Roman practices as detailed in musical and philosophical treatises. Greek civilization influenced European and, in turn, American culture through its political structures, architecture, music, philosophy, and poetry.

Music from ancient civilizations cannot be faithfully reconstructed due to incomplete historical records.
Knowledge of Greek music practices comes from philosophical works like Plato's Republic, Aristotle's Politics, and thinkers like Pythagoras.
Pythagoras discovered the relationship between musical intervals and mathematics.
Greek writers believed music influenced morals and reflected the order of the universe.
Greek viewpoints varied, included the relationship of musical rhythm to poetic rhythm, and definitions of melody, intervals, scales, and modes.
Mode refers to the relationship of notes in a scale.
Western Art Music primarily uses major and minor modes, while the Greeks had several modes reflective of the time.
Greek musical ideas were rediscovered later and formed the basis of musical practice.
Greek Modes:
- Dorian
- Hypodorian
- Phrygian
- Hypophrygian
- Lydian
- Hypolydian
- Mixolydian

After the Greek islands became a Roman province in 146 BCE, music was crucial at festivals, state occasions, religious rites, and warfare.
Writers described large gatherings of musicians, music competitions, choruses, and orchestras.
Emperors funded music to improve their image.
However, Roman musical practices didn't directly influence the development of European culture.

The fall of Rome in 476 CE marked the beginning of the Middle Ages, lasting a thousand years.
The first five hundred years were once known as the Dark Ages.