Editing Music theory (section)

===Antiquity===
{{further|Ancient music}}

====Mesopotamia====
{{see also|Music of Mesopotamia}}

Several surviving [[Sumerian language|Sumerian]] and [[Akkadian language|Akkadian]] [[clay tablet]]s include musical information of a theoretical nature, mainly lists of [[Interval (music)|intervals]] and [[Musical tuning|tunings]].<ref>{{harvnb|Mirelman|2010}}; {{harvnb|Mirelman|2013}}; {{harvnb|Wulstan|1968}}; {{harvnb|Kümmel|1970}}; {{harvnb|Kilmer|1971}}; {{harvnb|Kilmer and Mirelman|n.d.}}</ref> The scholar Sam Mirelman reports that the earliest of these texts dates from before 1500&nbsp;BCE, a millennium earlier than surviving evidence from any other culture of comparable musical thought. Further, "All the Mesopotamian texts [about music] are united by the use of a terminology for music that, according to the approximate dating of the texts, was in use for over 1,000 years."{{sfn|Mirelman|2013|loc=43–44}}

====China====
{{see also|Music of China|Chinese musicology}}

Much of Chinese music history and theory remains unclear.<ref name="Lam">{{harvnb|Lam}}</ref>

Chinese theory starts from numbers, the main musical numbers being twelve, five and eight. Twelve refers to the number of pitches on which the scales can be constructed, Five refers to the Pentatonic Scale (primarily uses a 5-note scale), And Eight refers to the eight categories of Chinese Music Instruments; classified by the material they are made from: (Metal, Stone, Silk, Bamboo, Gourd, Clay, Leather, and Wood). The [[Lüshi chunqiu]] from about 238&nbsp;BCE recalls the legend of [[Ling Lun]]. On order of the [[Yellow Emperor]], Ling Lun collected twelve [[bamboo]] lengths with thick and even nodes. Blowing on one of these like a pipe, he found its sound agreeable and named it ''huangzhong'', the "Yellow Bell." He then heard [[Fenghuang|phoenixes]] singing. The male and female phoenix each sang six tones. Ling Lun cut his bamboo pipes to match the pitches of the phoenixes, producing twelve pitch pipes in two sets: six from the male phoenix and six from the female: these were called the ''lülü'' or later the ''shierlü''.{{sfn|Service|2013}}

<blockquote>Apart from technical and structural aspects, ancient Chinese music theory also discusses topics such as the nature and functions of music. The ''[[Record of Music|Yueji]]'' ("Record of music", c1st and 2nd centuries BCE), for example, manifests [[Confucianism|Confucian]] moral theories of understanding music in its social context. Studied and implemented by Confucian scholar-officials [...], these theories helped form a musical Confucianism that overshadowed but did not erase rival approaches. These include the assertion of [[Mozi]] (c. 468 – c. 376&nbsp;BCE) that music wasted human and material resources, and [[Laozi]]'s claim that the greatest music had no sounds. [...] Even the music of the [[Guqin|''qin'' zither]], a genre closely affiliated with Confucian scholar-officials, includes many works with [[Taoism|Daoist]] references, such as ''Tianfeng huanpei'' ("Heavenly Breeze and Sounds of Jade Pendants").<ref name="Lam"/></blockquote>

====India====
{{See also|Music of India}}
The [[Samaveda]] and [[Yajurveda]] (c. 1200 – 1000&nbsp;BCE) are among the earliest testimonies of Indian music, but properly speaking, they contain no theory. The [[Natya Shastra]], written between 200&nbsp;BCE to 200&nbsp;CE, discusses intervals (''[[Shruti (music)|Śrutis]]''), scales (''Grāmas''), consonances and dissonances, classes of melodic structure (''Mūrchanās'', modes?), melodic types (''Jātis''), instruments, etc.<ref>''The Nāțyaśāstra, A Treatise on Hindu Dramaturgy and Histrionics, attributed to Bharata Muni'', translated from the Sanskrit with introduction and notes by Manomohan Ghosh, vol. II, Calcutta, The Asiatic Society, 1961. See particularly pp. 5–19 of the Introduction, ''The Ancient Indian Theory and Practice of Music''.</ref>

====Greece====
{{see also|Musical system of ancient Greece|List of music theorists#Antiquity}}

Early preserved Greek writings on music theory include two types of works:<ref>{{cite book |first=T.J.|last=Mathiesen |author-link=Thomas J. Mathiesen |year=2002 |section=Greek music theory |title=The Cambridge History of Western Music Theory |editor-first=T. |editor-last=Christensen |place=Cambridge, UK |publisher=Cambridge University Press |pages=112–113}}</ref>
* technical manuals describing the Greek musical system including notation, scales, consonance and dissonance, rhythm, and types of musical compositions;
* treatises on the way in which music reveals universal patterns of order leading to the highest levels of knowledge and understanding.
Several names of theorists are known before these works, including [[Pythagoras]] ({{circa|570}} ~ {{circa|495&nbsp;{{sc|BCE}}}}), [[Philolaus]] ({{circa|470 ~ ({{circa|385&nbsp;{{sc|BCE}}}}), [[Archytas]] (428–347&nbsp;{{sc|BCE}}}}), and others.

Works of the first type (technical manuals) include
* {{cite book |author=Anonymous (erroneously attributed to [[Euclid]]) |trans-title=Division of the Canon |title={{math|Κατατομή κανόνος}} |orig-year=4th–{{nobr|3rd century {{sc|BCE}}}} |year=1989 |editor-first=Andrew |editor-last=Barker |series=Greek Musical Writings |volume=2: Harmonic and Acoustic Theory |place=Cambridge, UK |publisher=Cambridge University Press |pages=191–208 |id=English trans.}}
* {{cite book |author=Theon of Smyrna |author-link=Theon of Smyrna |orig-year= |id=115–140&nbsp;{{sc|CE}} |trans-title=On the Mathematics Useful for Understanding Plato |title={{math|Τωv κατά τό μαθηματικόν χρησίμων είς τήν Πλάτωνος άνάγνωσις}} |language=el }}
* {{cite book |author-link=Nicomachus#Manual of Harmonics |author=Nicomachus of Gerasa  |orig-year= |id=100–150&nbsp;{{sc|CE}} |trans-title=Manual of Harmonics |title={{math|Άρμονικόν έγχειρίδιον}} }}
* {{cite book |author=Cleonides |author-link=Cleonides |orig-year= |id={{nobr|2nd century {{sc|CE}}}} |trans-title=Introduction to Harmonics |title=Είσαγωγή άρμονική |language=el }}
* {{cite book |author=Gaudentius |author-link=Gaudentius (music theorist) |orig-year= |id=3rd or {{nobr|4th century {{sc|CE}}}} |trans-title=Harmonic Introduction |title={{math|Άρμονική είσαγωγή}} |language=el }}
* {{cite book |author=Bacchius Geron |trans-title=Introduction to the Art of Music |title={{math|Είσαγωγή τέχνης μουσικής}} |orig-year= |id={{nobr|4th century {{sc|CE}}}} or later}}
* {{cite book |author=Alypius of Alexandria |author-link=Alypius of Alexandria |orig-year= |id=4th–{{nobr|5th century {{sc|CE}}}} |trans-title=Introduction to Music |title={{math|Είσαγωγή μουσική}} |language=el }}

More philosophical treatises of the second type include

* {{cite book |author=Aristoxenus |author-link=Aristoxenus |orig-year= |id=375~360&nbsp;{{sc|BCE}}, before 320&nbsp;{{sc|BCE}} |trans-title=Harmonic Elements |title={{math|Άρμονικά στοιχεία}} |language=el }}
* {{cite book |author=Aristoxenus |author-link=Aristoxenus |orig-year= |trans-title=Rhythmic Elements |title={{math|Ρυθμικά στοιχεία}} |language=el }}
* {{cite book |first=Claudius |last=Ptolemaios ({{math|Πτολεμαίος}}) |author-link=Ptolemy |orig-year= |id=127–148&nbsp;{{sc|CE}} |trans-title=Harmonics |title={{math|Άρμονικά}} |language=el }}
* {{cite book |author=Porphyrius |author-link=Porphyry (philosopher) |orig-year= |id={{circa|232~233}} – {{circa|305&nbsp;{{sc|CE}}}} |trans-title=On Ptolemy's Harmonics|title={{math|Είς τά άρμονικά Πτολεμαίον ύπόμνημα}} |language=el }}