Music - The development of music among humans must have taken place against the backdrop of natural sounds such as birdsong and the sounds other animals use to communicate. Prehistoric music is the name which is given to all music produced in preliterate cultures.
At World Heritage Cultural Center, we have a wide range of group music classes tailored to suit a variety of ages and skill levels, from pre-school through adult, and, beginners through advanced learners. Small group lessons are an ideal way to try out an instrument and with plenty of individual attention, our students gets the right tools to succeed.
WHCC will have a program where we discover our gifted members and introduce them to the right schools with scholar ships.
Some instruments we have at the center are listed below.
*Sitar - The Indian sitar is derived from the long-necked flutes of western Asia and from the veena family of Indian musical instruments. Instruments of central and west Asia circulated in the South Asian subcontinent from at least the 12th century, and some were later modified and adapted to Indian uses. Instruments of this name are current in Iran and Central Asia today, but the Central Asian or Persian sitar and the Indian sitar are now similar in name only. The sitar is currently one of the predominant concert instruments of Hindustani (North Indian classical) music. This instrument is used throughout the Indian subcontinent, particularly in Northern India, Bangladesh and Pakistan. It was also used in popular American jazz in the 1950's.
*Tabla - The history of this instrument is uncertain, and has been the subject of sometimes heated debate. The most common historical account credits the 13th century Indian poet Amir Khusrau as having invented the instrument, by splitting a single Pakhawaj drum into two parts. However, none of his writings on music mention the drum. Another common historical narrative portrays the tabla as being thousands of years old, yet critics assert this is mere conjecture, based on slipshod interpretations of iconography.
*Piano - The piano was originally founded on earlier technological innovations. The first string instruments with struck strings were the hammered dulcimers originating from the Persian traditional musical instrument santur. During the Middle Ages, there were several attempts at creating stringed keyboard instruments with struck strings, the earliest being the hurdy gurdy which has uncertain origins. By the 17th century, the mechanisms of keyboard instruments such as the clavichord and the harpsichord were well known. In a clavichord the strings are struck by tangents, while in a harpsichord they are plucked by quills. Centuries of work on the mechanism of the harpsichord in particular had shown the most effective ways to construct the case, soundboard, bridge, and keyboard.
*Violin - The modern European violin evolved from various bowed stringed instruments which were brought from the Middle East. Most likely the first makers of violins borrowed from three types of current instruments: the rebec, in use since the 10th century (itself derived from the Arabic rebab), the Renaissance fiddle, and the lira da braccio. The violin, while it has ancient origins, acquired most of its modern characteristics in 16th-century Italy, with some further modifications occurring in the 18th century. Violinists and collectors particularly prize the instruments made by the Stradivari, Guarneri and Amati families from the 16th to the 18th century in Cremona.
*Guitar - Before the development of the electric guitar and the use of synthetic materials, a guitar was defined as being an instrument having "a long, fretted neck, flat wooden soundboard, ribs, and a flat back, most often with incurved sides". Instruments similar to the guitar have been popular for at least 5,000 years. The six string classical guitar first appeared in Spain but was itself the product of a long and complex history of diverse influences. Like virtually all other stringed European instruments, the guitar ultimately traces back thousands of years, via the Near East, to a common ancient origin from instruments then known in central Asia and India.
*Flute - The flute has been dated to prehistoric times. It has appeared in different forms and locations around the world. A three-holed flute made from a mammoth tusk (from the cave in the German Swabian Alb and dated to 30,000 to 37,000 years ago was discovered in 2004, and two flutes made from swans' bones excavated a decade earlier (from the same cave in Germany, dated to circa 36,000 years ago) are among the oldest known musical instruments. A fragment of the femur of a juvenile cave bear, with two to four holes, found at Divje Babe in Slovenia and dated to about 43,100 years ago, may also be an early flute. Some early flutes were made out of tibias (shin bones). The flute has also always been an essential part of Indian culture and mythology, and the cross flute believed by several accounts to originate in India as Indian literature from 1500 BCE has made vague references to the cross flute. Playable 9000-year-old Gudi (literally, "bone flute"), made from the wing bones of red-crowned cranes, with five to eight holes each, were excavated from a tomb in Jiahu in the Central Chinese province of Henan.The earliest extant transverse flute is a chi flute discovered in the Tomb of Marquis Yi of Zeng at the Suizhou site, Hubei province, China. It dates from 433 BC, of the later Zhou Dynasty. It is fashioned of lacquered bamboo with closed ends and has five stops that are at the flute's side instead of the top. Chi flutes are mentioned in Shi Jing, compiled and edited by Confucius.
*Drums - In the past drums have been used not only for their musical qualities, but also as a means of communication, especially through signals. The talking drums of Africa can imitate the inflections and pitch variations of a spoken language and are used for communicating over great distances. Throughout Sri Lankan history drums have been used for communication between the state and the community, and Sri Lankan drums have a history stretching back over 2500 years. Chinese troops used tàigu drums to motivate troops, to help set a marching pace, and to call out orders or announcements. Fife-and-drum corps of Swiss mercenary foot soldiers also used drums. They used an early version of the snare drum carried over the player's right shoulder, suspended by a strap (typically played with one hand using traditional grip). It is to this instrument that English word "drum" was first used. Similarly, during the English civil war rope-tension drums would be carried by junior officers as a means to relay commands from senior officers over the noise of battle. These were also hung over the shoulder of the drummer and typically played with two drum sticks. Different regiments and companies would have distinctive and unique drum beats which only they would recognize.
To be added to the list: The Harp, Saxophone, among other instruments.
Information cited from Wikipedia
