# What did ancient Greek music sound like? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 14, 2006, 1:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-ancient-greek-music-sound-like/352654 "2006-04-14T13:33:43Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2006, 1:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-ancient-greek-music-sound-like/352654/1 "2006-04-14T13:33:43Z")
The ancient Greeks were famous for their music, including choral singing. (As I understand it, Pindar’s Odes were meant to be sung, not merely recited.) But, for all their brilliance, they never invented any system of musical notation. Have archaeologists or musicians ever been able to reconstruct any of their music? ---
**Author:** ![Kizarvexius](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/da6949/32.png) [@Kizarvexius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kizarvexius)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2006, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-ancient-greek-music-sound-like/352654/2 "2006-04-14T14:27:28Z")
I don’t know anything about the musical notation (or lack thereof), but I can make one point regarding the singing. Classical Greek is a tone language, and poets took advantage of this. Which means that the skillfully-written poem, when recited, has a very musical feel to it. Perhaps some of our more qualified classicists on the board can elaborate further. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2006, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-ancient-greek-music-sound-like/352654/3 "2006-04-14T14:37:14Z")
> [@Kizarvexius](#): > > Classical Greek is a tone language . . . !!! What, like Chines? Cite? ---
**Author:** ![Improv\_Geek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b3f665/32.png) [@Improv\_Geek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Improv_Geek)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2006, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-ancient-greek-music-sound-like/352654/4 "2006-04-14T14:44:24Z")
You got me curious so I did a few google searches and came up with [this page](http://www.kingmixers.com/Hearing%20Greek%20Microtones.html), complete with some mp3s. And for the tonality of Greek, it’s mentioned in the Wikipedia post about Tonal languages: [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tonal\_language](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tonal_language) ---
**Author:** ![GorillaMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/50afbb/32.png) [@GorillaMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GorillaMan)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2006, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-ancient-greek-music-sound-like/352654/5 "2006-04-14T14:56:27Z")
Knowing what the tuning system sounds like isn’t the same as hearing the music. Knowing how a guitar is tuned doesn’t explain what Hendrix sounded like. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2006, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-ancient-greek-music-sound-like/352654/6 "2006-04-14T15:27:45Z")
But since the Greeks invented mp1s to play on their iotapods, you can listen for yourself if you can find a slave to power one up. ---
**Author:** ![Maeglin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8baadc/32.png) [@Maeglin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maeglin)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2006, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-ancient-greek-music-sound-like/352654/7 "2006-04-14T15:54:40Z")
[This](http://www.medieval.org/emfaq/cds/k617069.htm) is an excellent cd of music from ancient Greece. It’s been in my own collection for years. > [@](#): > > But, for all their brilliance, they never invented any system of musical notation. Sure they did. Early notation used letters of the Greek alphabet, and significant fragments still exist today. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2006, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-ancient-greek-music-sound-like/352654/8 "2006-04-14T19:35:25Z")
> [@Exapno Mapcase](#): > > But since the Greeks invented mp1s to play on their iotapods, you can listen for yourself if you can find a slave to power one up. Some scholars maintain that this is a mistranslation and the ancient Greeks actually invented the moonpie, rather than the mu-pi. ---
**Author:** ![Jake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f475e1/32.png) [@Jake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jake)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2006, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-ancient-greek-music-sound-like/352654/9 "2006-04-14T20:48:36Z")
> [@Exapno Mapcase](#): > > But since the Greeks invented mp1s to play on their iotapods, you can listen for yourself if you can find a slave to power one up. I’ve WONDERED what happened to the mp1. My SO wonders if you have an extra one. Of course I’m the slave running on the treadmill! 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2006, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-ancient-greek-music-sound-like/352654/10 "2006-04-14T21:30:53Z")
> [@Maeglin](#): > > [This](http://www.medieval.org/emfaq/cds/k617069.htm) is an excellent cd of music from ancient Greece. It’s been in my own collection for years. What does it sound like? Is there anything more broadly familiar to which you would compare it? ---
**Author:** ![GorillaMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/50afbb/32.png) [@GorillaMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GorillaMan)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2006, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-ancient-greek-music-sound-like/352654/11 "2006-04-14T21:34:42Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > What does it sound like? Sorry to be the voice of cynicism, but it sounds like a determined attempt to sound like something old. It tells us nothing at all about how ancient Greek music actually sounded. ---
**Author:** ![Loopydude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e56c9b/32.png) [@Loopydude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loopydude)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2006, 1:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-ancient-greek-music-sound-like/352654/12 "2006-04-15T01:23:31Z")
Actually, download the file with the etudes. I thought that provided a nice sampling. I didn’t know the ancient Greeks made use of such exotic (to my ears) fractional tones, like those “enharmonic” steps, which, despite the name, clearly are not the same pitch, but rather increase in pitch by what must be quite a bit less than a semitone. It makes some of those glissandi sound like someone is banging the same string over and over while bending it discretely. Interesting effect. ---
**Author:** ![Loopydude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e56c9b/32.png) [@Loopydude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loopydude)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2006, 1:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-ancient-greek-music-sound-like/352654/13 "2006-04-15T01:35:30Z")
[Here’s something.](http://www.oeaw.ac.at/kal/sh/) I hate to say it, but I find it a little tedious.