The first thing you should know: the word 'music' comes from the Ancient Greek 'muses'. The muses (daughters of Zeus and Mnemosyne, the goddess of memory) were the goddesses of varied arts, such as music, as well as dance and poetry etc.
Music was an essential part of Greek daily life. It was a critical feature of many social gatherings, including religious festivals, marriage and funeral rites, and banquet gatherings.
Unfortunately, we do not know a lot about Ancient Greek music because it was never written down. Although, due to the writings of poets and writers of that era, we are not completely oblivious on the topic.
Like today, the lyrics of songs often came from poetry and consisted of popular themes such as love, marriage, humour, death, nature, water, sea, and religion.
Unlike today, if someone was teaching you a piece of music, you would learn it by ear (you listen while they play, then you repeat).
In Ancient Greek times, there were two main tempos (speed at which the music is played). They were Syrtos and Pidiktos. Syrtos was slow, gentle and free-flowing, while Pidiktos was faster and much more lively. Although, some songs were not just one or the other, they could be a mix, or even somewhere in between.
Pythagoreans
The Pythagoreans were people who had a talent for philosophy as well as math (most lived on the island of Samos). The Pythagoreans are named after Pythagoras who as well being called the 'Father of Music' is also credited with being the 'Father of Geometry' and the 'Father of Mathematics'.
As well as discovering music intervals, he also realised that certain sounds and harmonic frequencies could heal you. He even noticed that a string exactly half the length of another will play a pitch that is exactly an octave higher when struck or plucked. Split a string into thirds and you raise the pitch an octave and a fifth. There are many links between maths and music and the Greeks were the first civilisation to connect them.
They truly were musical experts, always desperate to learn and ready to teach music with numbers.
Gatherings
During big gatherings, such as festivals and banquets, the musicians would gather and entertain everyone with their music. Often, while they played, some people would dance.
At the festivals, people would meet up to drink, have parties, but mostly to celebrate the most important holy days and gods.
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