The ancient greeks used a variety of instruments in their musical endeavors. In the wind department, there was the aulos and the syrinx. There does not seem to have be any kind of transverse flute. The aulos was a reed pipe, with 3-5 holes in the earlier times, by the late 6th to early 5th centuries it had increased to 6 holes, and later even more (the longest surviving instrument had 15). They were usually played in pairs, although it is unclear whether the resulting harmonies were unison, paired in parallel intervals, a drone and a melody, separately making up a scale, or true polyphony. In the latest model, with 15 holes, there was a perforated metal ring that could be turned to close various holes to result in a particular scale, thus increasing the versatility of the instrument. The syrinx was a set of closed pipes placed side-by-side, with plugs at graduated intervals, which were blown directly. Usually a syrinx consisted of seven pipes, but there have been found sets ranging from 4-12 pipes. The strings consisted of various types of lyre, possibly harps, and, in the late 4th century B.C., lutes. By far the most important of these were the lyres. It is generally thought to have had 7 strings, but references to other numbers of strings do exist so it is hard to form a definite conclusion. Two special forms of lyre were the kithara, a larger, concert instrument, and the barbiton, a lower-ranged instrument. There were two types of brass, a straight trumpet, called the salpinx, which was three or four feet long, and a smaller curved horn, called the keras. The percussion family consisted of tambourines, castanets, cymbals and occasionally the sistrum (Egyptian rattle). Of the instruments listed above, the most common were the lyre family and the aulos. Very little music has actually survived from ancient times, and what has consists of about 20 fragments spanning about 700 years, so it is difficult to reconstruct what the music actually sounded like. We do, however, have a fair amount of information about acoustical and harmonic theory. The greeks basic scale existed in three types, known as diatonic, chromatic and enharmonic. These were built out of tetrachords, either stacked conjunctly (the top note of the first tetrachord is the same as the bottom note of the second tetrachord) or disjunctly (the top note of the first tetrachord is one note below the bottom note of the second tetrachord). The three forms of tetrachord were differentiated by the intervals involved. The diatonic tetra- chord was made up of a half step followed by two whole steps (= E F G A). The chromatic tetrachord was made up of two half steps followed by a minor third (E F F# A). The enharmonic tetrachord was made up of two quarter tones followed by a major third (E E# F A, where E# is between E and F). Aristoxenus lists several variations on these, with tonal ratios from the quarter tone to one-third, three eighths and five sixths of a tone. There is much disagreement as to whether these differences were something the greeks could actually hear, or if this was strictly theoretical. At any rate, the quarter tonal fell into disuse at around the time of Aristoxenus, so his writings were probably more theoretical. The Greeks had two forms of musical notation, often thought to have designated instrumental versus vocal, although they may have benn an early and a late notational system. The symbols for the first probably derived from the Phonecian alphabet. The second were ----------------------- and were written above syllables of text. Music figured very highly in Ancient Greek life. The religious cults made extensive use of music in various forms of rite, from the orgiastic rites of the Bacchian and Dioysian cults to the everyday festivities of weddings, funerals, celebrations and so forth. Choral song was a prominant musical form, often accompianied by kithara or aulos. By the 4th century B.C., these choral celebrations evolved to the stage comedy and tragedy which were the origin of modern theater. Evidence for the importance of music in greek life can be found on the surviving remnants of pottery that exist. The most commonly found instruments on these pots are the lyre family and the aulos, both of which figure prominantly. The demography of the instruments and players, and the context of the scene, is also informative about the use of music. The aulos figures mostly in party scenes, while the lyres are found in a wide variety of contexts. More evidence for the importance of music in the Greek culture can found in the mythology and epics of the time. The chief form of historical record was songs in the form of epics. These epics served a manyfold purpose; serving as a historical record of sorts, encouraging youths to aspire to heroic deeds, serving as the reward for doing heroic deeds, as the way to achieve fame was to become a subject of a heroic ode, such as the ones Achilles sang in the Iliad, where he was found "taking his pleasure of a loud lyre, fair, of curious work, with a silver crossbar upon it, one that he had taken from the spoils...Therein he was delighting his soul, and singing the glories of heroes." Many mythological heroes were musicians and their music was said to have extremely striking effects on the world around them. Orpheus was said to have won over Hades with his lyre, Amphion's music was even stronger, causing the rocks to line up around him to listen. Arion, a seacaptain, when his men mutineed and were going to throw him overboard begged to be allowed to play one last time, and was permitted to do so. A dolphin, summoned by the music, bore him safely to land. And of course, the Sirens caused sailors to jump to their deaths, by the power of their voices alone. Apollo himself was a lyre player. The shield of Achilles had, among the scenes of war and of nature, musicians. "...loud arose the bridal song. And young men were whirling in the dance, and among them flutes and viols sounded high...", "and in the midst of them a boy made pleasant music on a clear-toned viol and sang thereto a sweet Linos-song with delicate voice, while the rest with feet falling together kept the time with the music and song.", "..and among them a divine minstrel was making music on his lyre." As is evidenced by the mythologies and epics, music was though to have a profound effect upon the emotions of man and animals. Plato and Aristotle further developed this idea, claiming that different forms of music, even the different instrument played, have lasting effects upon the moral character of the player and the listener. They listed certain modes which were considered immoral or weakening of the soul, and advised that these be banned, and certain modes were considered proper, or morally strengthening, and it was advised that these be used in the teaching of music to the youths of the culture, to make them more sound of mind and soul....