Humans have taken this ability to the highest level and developed more than one tool for this purpose, divided into two categories: on the one hand, language, which takes various forms, such as spoken, written, sign language, body language, etc.; and on the other, art, whose forms of expression are equally varied.
The first forms of artistic expression
harmonious sounds that we call music. We know from archaeological evidence that music was present very early on in human societies. We have found remains of flutes and percussion instruments that are more than 42,000 years old. To put this into context, the cave paintings at Altamira are 32,000 years old. We have evidence that leads us to believe that Neanderthals were the human species that first developed this creative ability (Divje Babe flute). It is a form of art that has also been greatly modified by technological developments. Artistic styles change, but painting, for example, has been using brushes and canvases for thousands of years, and sculpture continues to use clay, wood, metal, stone, chisels and hammers, just as it did in the Renaissance. Yes, I know that you can paint with spray cans and that today’s sculptures are very different from those of the past, but the reader will have to admit that today’s music production and distribution has changed much more than it did in, for example, the year 1600, if we compare it with painting or sculpture.
Music appeals directly to the emotions, which is why it began so early and is so universal. It does not need words to convey ideas and feelings, and it is precisely this characteristic that makes it a perfect catalyst for getting the message across that we want to convey, and it is used, literally, in everything. Films support their sequences with music, advertising uses it to attract our increasingly diminished attention and retention capacity, the background music in shopping centres encourages us to stroll around and consume, restaurants create an atmosphere of intimacy, religious celebrations use it to bring us to a more spiritual state, and official events use it to convey grandeur and formality. There are so many examples that I could go on and on listing them. Music is used for everything because there is no better means of transmission. If a text reaches you with rhythm and harmony, you are much more likely to remember it than if you are simply told it, because music makes you associate that text with a feeling.
Music is so efficient at transmitting ideas that it can even be seen as dangerous by certain powers. The Taliban in Afghanistan banned it, and the Catholic Church was on the verge of doing so at the Council of Trent (1545-1563), although, fortunately for everyone, that did not happen.
In ancient times, access to music was very restricted and could only be obtained through someone who knew how to play an instrument, which gave it a very high value. As recording and distribution technologies developed, access to music became more democratic, until today, when it has become a cultural commodity. It is there, practically free, and no one values it as they did in the past. However, like any good commodity, if it suddenly disappeared from our lives, everything would fall apart because its capacity and power, despite everything, remain intact.
We can take a quick look at how music has reflected society and been a conduit for ideas and major events at every moment in time up to the present day, as well as how it has been influenced by technological changes. This would be a brief description, since if we wanted to analyse just one of these periods in depth, we would have enough material for a doctoral thesis.
- Prehistory: We have very little data from this period, and much of the information we have is subject to indirect interpretation of archaeological and palaeontological remains. We know of the existence of wind and percussion instruments, basically flutes and drums, but it is more than likely that there were many other types of instruments that have not survived to the present day. As far as we know, the technology used included bone flutes, animal skin and stone drums, shell and seed rattles, lithophones and bracken. Music was a fundamental part of hunting rituals, religious ceremonies and festive occasions. Its main function was to bring the group together and transmit the spiritual values of these societies.
- Ancient times: Of all the ancient civilisations, it was probably Greece that gave music the most prestige. Music was associated with the nine muses, who were led by Apollo. Their concept of music was much broader than ours, as the word “music” encompassed not only musical discipline but also poetry, dance and gymnastics, and it was compulsory for children to study it in school. Furthermore, it was during this period that Pythagoras developed the rules of tuning and musical scales based on mathematics. Metals were incorporated into musical technology with the use of bronze and copper, and animal guts and hair were used to create strings and bows. Instruments such as the lyre, the sistrum, the zither, the aulos and the pan flute were introduced. For the Greeks, music had the ability to change people’s behaviour, hence its enormous importance in the education of citizens.
- The Middle Ages: The technological revolution of this period was the development of musical notation and staves, which allowed artistic works to spread much more quickly and faithfully to the original idea, as well as the appearance of the pipe organ, the lute and various wind instruments such as the cornet, the dulzaina and the transverse flute. Most musical production was sacred, mainly Gregorian chant. The church exercised strong control over artistic creation and defended music as an instrument for drawing closer to God. At the same time, another type of music of a more earthly nature developed through the troubadours, who were associated with the nobility and sang of their exploits, and the minstrels who travelled from village to village transmitting stories through their songs in exchange for money. In a society such as medieval society, where the social pyramid was strongly marked, music served to strengthen collective identity, political propaganda by narrating heroic stories, and religious indoctrination, although it was also a reflection and mouthpiece of social tensions, such as the songs of the Goliards or the works of Marcabrú.
- Renaissance: The greatest technological contribution of this period was the printing press, which allowed for the mass production of sheet music, facilitating the expansion of works and the standardisation of musical production. Of all the new instruments that appeared during this period, for me, the guitar deserves a special mention. Its origins can be traced back to the Moorish zither and from there to the Greek khitara. It would become an instrument that would mark popular styles, not only in Spain, but in much of the Western world as it evolved and adapted over time. With the rise of the bourgeoisie, the development of cities and humanist thinking, music became polyphonic and complex, and new instruments and new popular styles appeared. Music became a symbol of refinement and status, and both the nouveau riche and those of ancient lineage rushed to sponsor musicians and composers who would act as propagandists for them. It was a reflection of optimism and creativity geared towards human development.
- Baroque: The Baroque period saw the rise of orchestras and instrumental specialisation. Although they already existed, string instruments such as the violin, viola and cello were perfected, new performance techniques such as tremolo, pizzicato and expressive string effects were developed, and musical notation was refined to allow for greater polyphony. The vast majority of kingdoms were absolutist, and both the church and the nobility used art as a form of control and reaffirmation in the face of religious conflicts such as the Reformation and Counter-Reformation, as well as those arising with the increasingly powerful and influential bourgeoisie. Musically, it was the moment of opera, with grand stage sets that sought to impress and persuade through emotion and subjectivity, using abundant sound and theatrical resources.
- Classicism: Although it appeared at the end of the Baroque period, it was during Classicism that the piano became a key part of musical production, with some instruments falling into disuse and others, such as the clarinet, appearing. The mechanisms of keys and pistons were perfected, giving greater clarity to the notes, and orchestras grew in size to achieve greater sound balance, always seeking clarity and transparency of sound. The Classical period was marked by enlightened despotism. Absolute monarchs sought the welfare of the people through rational and orderly government (or so they said). To this end, public concerts began to become fashionable, with the aim of educating and entertaining the populace and serving as a bridge between the nobility and the bourgeoisie. Artistically, music became clearer, more harmonious and more balanced in contrast to the excesses of the Baroque period. The aim was to convey the idea of order and clarity and, at the same time, to appease the enlightened ideas that were dangerously mutating towards values of equality and freedom that would mark the following period.
- Romanticism: During this period, the piano was perfected by increasing the number of keys and creating double escapement mechanisms that gave it more dynamics. The saxophone, accordion and tuba also appeared. Possibly one of the most turbulent and interesting periods in human history, the century of revolutions, which began with the French Revolution and the Napoleonic Wars, was plagued by civil wars, social conflicts, labour movements and national emancipation. Music, as an art form that had to capture the essence of that era, became passionate, rebellious and intense. Artists freed themselves economically from bourgeois and noble patrons and sought the taste and approval of the urban public, incorporating popular rhythms and melodies that exalted national values. Chromatic harmony and orchestration were broken with in favour of freedom.
- Impressionism: The end of the 19th century was characterised by the rise of science and colonialism. These two elements affected music in two ways: on the one hand, it became experimental and, on the other, it became imbued with the exoticism of African and Asian cultures. Thanks to this, music became enigmatic, creating tension-free atmospheres and seeking sensory perception. There were no great inventions or the introduction of new instruments as in previous periods, but there was a lot of experimentation and research with new pentatonic scales, exotic modes and chords, and ambiguity in harmonies.
And with this quick review, we arrive at the current period, which begins more or less at the end of the first third of the 20th century and continues to the present day. This period is characterised by a revolution in sound. Not only were recording and music distribution methods perfected and democratised, gradually reducing the cost of access to practically zero, but new instruments were also created that would completely change the rules of the game, the most important being the electric guitar, drums, electric bass, keyboards and synthesizers.
The emergence of these new instruments gave rise to an explosion of styles that explored the capabilities of these new tools, such as jazz, rock (with its thousands of subgenres), reggae, hip hop, techno, soul, funk, singer-songwriter music, etc. Even the traditional music of each place has been influenced in one way or another by the new sounds, giving them new life and filling them with nuances they did not have before, such as the use of the electric bass in flamenco. In addition, the evolution of recording and music distribution methods, from vinyl to streaming platforms, has facilitated access to these styles to such an extent that today the only reason not to enjoy them is simply not wanting to, because you literally have them in the palm of your hand.
The vast majority of these styles and their compositions are traditional in nature. They speak of the way of life, desires and concerns of the generations who listen to them, making them an exceptional witness to each era.
There are styles that, from the outset, were created with the strong intention of reflecting the political and social climate of their societies and serving as agents of change and raising awareness. Some examples are the nueva canción iberoamericana (new Ibero-American song), hip hop, singer-songwriters, folk, and even rock and roll, which was initially dance music but gradually developed sub-styles such as punk, hard rock and urban rock.
Even styles that are seemingly unsuspecting of ideology, such as pop or electronic music, viralise messages of peace, hope and resilience.
In this quick review of different musical eras, we have highlighted how the dominant elites, both established and emerging, have used music to convey and convince others of their own interests, while at the same time, other types of music were developing that denounced the injustices and social problems derived from those same interests. The situation has not changed today, but it has become much more interesting to study. In the past, any artistic work that contained a hint of social criticism or protest either had to be distributed through “alternative or irregular” channels or had to be done in a veiled way so that it was only visible to the trained mind. Any attempt to do so openly had very unpleasant consequences for the artist and their audience.
Today, in most developed societies, this is no longer the case, and thanks to new technologies applied to distribution (streaming), we can relatively easily access songs that speak to us about the problems inherent in the society in which we live, such as climate change, the unequal distribution of resources and its consequences, discrimination, etc. And these musical pieces coexist with others of a more traditional and conformist nature. The reason is that, as capitalist society has developed and transformed into post-capitalist society, a fundamental rule has been imposed. Everything has a place if it is a product, that is, you can distribute your message as long as it is commercially successful, which, on the other hand, greatly reduces its ability to oppose a system based on consumption. However, this can also be seen as a way of denouncing the system using its own rules.
To summarise, we can say that music is an art form that appeals directly to the emotions. Because of this characteristic, it has been present in human history since practically the beginning, forming part of the cultural identity of all human groups at all times, and has adapted and evolved as technology has emerged. Due to its universal and sentimental nature, it has always served as a vehicle for the transmission of ideas, encapsulating the characteristics, circumstances and relevant events of the moment in which they were written, often becoming an agent of change and transformation for humanity.
