The Music of Ancient Greece - ON A BANJO!?!

For DEFINATELY the first time in over 2000 years... a genuine fragment of ancient Greek music, "Hymn to the Muse" - ON A BANJO?!? Actually, this videois not such a bizzare musical experiment as it sounds! One of the most common of all the lyres of ancient Greece, the "Lyra", was quite literally, a "banjo without a fingerboard"...

Like the banjo, the Lyra had a soundboard of taut skin, which was stretched over a resonator made out of a tortoise shell...which served exactly the same function as the resonator found on a contemporary Bluegrass-style 5 string banjo - to project and amplify the vibration of the strings. Also, as there were only between about 4 to 7 strings, open tunings were commonly used, for ease of playing arpeggios and basic harmony - for exactly the same reason that open chord and open modal tunings are used on the modern banjo!

Also, just as on a modern banjo, on the ancient Greek Lyra, the strings were stretched over a floating (ie non-fixed position) wooden bridge; the function of which served to transmit the vibrations of the strings to the skin soundboard & resonator - just like on a contemporary banjo!

Indeed, about the ONLY differences between the ancient Lyra and the contemporary banjo, is the lack of a fretted fingerboard, the fact that the strings were made from either gut or natural fibre instead of loop-end steel...and just MAYBE, that the ancient Greeks hadn't quite yet discovered how to make MOONSHINE!;o)

This piece is written in the ancient Greek "Dorian" mode; the equivalent intervals heard in a scale of E-E on the white note of the piano - not to be confused with the MEDIEVAL "Dorian" mode, which was D-D!

Due to a misinterpretation of the Latin texts of Boethius, mediaeval modes were given the wrong Greek names! For the CORRECT names of the ORIGINAL ancient Greek modes, see:

http://www.harmonics.com/lucy/lsd/corrections.html

For what Plato & Aristotle themselves had this to say about these ancient musical modes, please see this fascinating link:

http://www.pathguy.com/modes.htm

The translation of this ancient, 2000 or more year old song (which mercifully, I am NOT going to attempt to sing!), are as follows:

'Sing for me, dear Muse, begin my tuneful strain; a breeze blow from your groves to stir my listless brain...Skillful Calliope, leader of the delightful Muses, and you, skillful priest of our rites, son of Leto, Paean of Delos, be at my side'. (J. G. Landels).

To hear this wonderful fragment of ancient Greek music sang and played PROPERLY, on authentic replica ancient Greek instruments, please see the amazing upload on Youtube by Michael Atherton & Melismos:

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=piYpvpBgwRs

YEEEE HA! Almighty Zeus...now passeth me some of Thine Own Divine MOONSHINE !!! ;o)

Category:

Music

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• Ancient
• Greece
• ΑΡΧΑΙΑ
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• ΜΟΥΣΙΚΗ
• Bouzouki
• Sparta
• Delphi
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[MrFpenteado]

I like this but how was this retrieved? I have read that Ancient Greek music is not available to us because there is no surviving musical notation from that time. I am wrong?

[Klezfiddle1]

@MrFpenteado There at least 60 surviving fragments of ancient Greek music, on either papyrus or inscribed in marble. The ancient Greeks notated music by alpabetical symbols representing the pitch written above the text of the songs - the ryhthm can easily be inferred from the syllables of the text. There is a book by ML West listing all the fragments so far discovered. "Song of Seikilos" was found on a 1st century Burial Stele - the entire melody survived!

[CaptainZeep]

Not the first time! I did the same thing five years ago. You just copied me.

[Klezfiddle1]

Cooool! Do you have any video links to this?? I would love to see your own oldtimey Kentucky clawhammer slant on the music of Ancient Greece!!! ;o)

[vikingjarl]

Is that in standard tuning? Great job, by the way!

[Klezfiddle1]

The tuning is known by clawhammer banjoist buffs as "modal G tuning"; 5th string to first string:G,D,G,C,D. It is exactly the same tuning found in oldtime Appalachian CLASSICS, such as "Old Cluck Hen"...YEEE HA!

[MushroomedAnymore]

This is one of your best videos actually! Congratulations, well done! All you needed was a supporting piper and drums after the initial one or two minutes of the exposition. Excellent!

[AIKevorkian]

You are so cool! The Dorian Mode was originally the white notes on the piano from E to E??? I've never heard that before! I remember way back in high school I read that the Greek's musical scales went downward instead of "do re mi..." I love playing the E scale with no sharps! And that's the sound you are making. Right ON! -AIK

[69BieberHole69]

sounds like a bazoukia

[sk8phantom]

u should arrange it properly first before post it. but im amaze with it !

[nykteridas]

@GR8TM4N Bouzouki,baglamas and tzoyras may have turkish names BUT their roots come from the ancient greek baglama style 3 stringed instrument called Panduris (Πανδουρὶς)or trichordon(τρίχορδον)

[myWwjj]

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[jethomas5]

@Klezfiddle1 People got the names of the scales wrong by assuming they went up instead of down. Is it possible that they also have the notation backward the same way?

If you were to play the music with the assumption that the scales were upside down, and you got something that sounded better, that would imply a possibility it might have been intended that way.

[mistersleeepy]

You just do a big mix of all different kinds of banjo styles. You do the pick, then an up stroke way, then the frailing. It's really cool. Although it would sound richer player on the scoop.