Answer:
1 The history of music covers the historical development and presence of music from prehistoric times to present day. Though definitions of music vary wildly throughout the world,[1] every known culture partakes in it, and music is thus considered a cultural universal.[2][3] The origins of music remain highly contentious; commentators often relate it to the origin of language, with much disagreement surrounding whether music arose before, after or simultaneously with language. The music of prehistoric cultures is first firmly dated to c. 40,000 BP of the Upper Paleolithic by evidence of bone flutes, though it remains unclear whether or not the actual origins lie in the earlier Middle Paleolithic period (300,000 to 50,000 BP). Ancient music was present in the major Chinese, Egyptian, Greek,
2 Secular music undoubtedly flourished during the early Middle Ages, but, aside from sporadic references, the earliest accounts of such music in the Western world described the music of the goliards—itinerant minor clerics and students who, from the 7th century on, roamed the land singing and playing topical songs ...
