Music Of The Bible: Musical Instruments of the Old Testament

You may not think so, but one of the oldest books ever written, the Bible, is filled with references to music. Music of the Bible was played by many different musical instruments.

The book of Psalms, for example, is really a book of songs or musical poems. Even though most people read them as verses, almost all of them have become actual songs with musical accompaniment.

But, that’s not all. The Old Testament is also chock full of references to the playing of music using instruments that were popular in biblical times. Some of these instruments are no longer used. Some are still in use today. Others have evolved to more modern versions.

Here are a few, along with references to them from the Bible.

Frame-drum – “And Miriam (the prophetess, the sister of Aaron) took the frame-drum in her hand; and all the women went out after her with frame-drums and with dances” – Exodus 15:20
A Frame-drum is a large, thin drum, mostly played in biblical times by women. The drum was mostly used to accompany dancing and in secular (non-religious) celebrations.
The drum was held with the left hand played by striking the head with the thumb and forefingers of the right hand.

Bells – “And they made bells of pure gold and put the bells between the pomegranates on the hems of the robe round about, between the pomegranates:” – Exodus 39:25
These bells were more decorative than they were a musical instrument. The ones mentioned in Exodus (see above) were made of pure gold.
The bells were sewn into the hem of a garment and had a clapper or small pebble inside them that would make a ringing sound when the wearer moved.

Trumpets – “And YAHVEH spoke to Moses, saying, ‘Make two trumpets of silver. Make them out of a whole piece of beaten silver and use them for the calling of the assembly and for sounding the order to break camp'” Numbers 10:1-2
The trumpets mentioned in the Book of Numbers were used to signal the breaking of camp, for assembling people and for various rituals.
They did have a mouthpiece, much like a trumpet today, but no valves or buttons, so the number of notes they could play was limited.

Reed Pipe – “After that, you are to come to the hill of the God, where the garrison of the Philistines is. And it will occur as you come into the city, that you are going to meet a group of prophets coming down from the high place, harp and frame-drum and reed-pipe and lyre before them :” – 1 Samuel 10:5
What this instrument was, exactly, isn’t known but most scholars believe it was a type of woodwind similar to a modern oboe. The reed pipe was a popular instrument and used often in celebrations.
Several Instruments – “And David and all the house of Israel rejoiced before YAHVEH with all kinds of cypress wood [instruments] and with lyres and with harps and with frame-drums and with shakers and with cymbals.” – 2 Samuel 6:5
This verse actually has references to a whole “band” full of instruments.

Finger Cymbals — These were, most likely the small cymbals attached to the fingers of dancers in the Middle East.

Cymbal Clappers — Probably the same size and type of cymbals used in finger cymbals, but in this case, the cymbals were attached to a u-shaped handle that was shaken to produce a sound.

Wooden Clappers — Originally, wooden clappers were used for hunting. Later they became a rhythm instrument for dance. They were boomerang shaped, held, one in each hand, and struck together to make a clacking sound. Hunters used the sound to scare birds into flight, then threw one of the sticks at the bird to bring it down.

Rhythm Bones — Rhythm bones were made from wood, bone or ivory, held in one hand and played the same way “spoons” are played today by “slapping” them against the leg.

Shakers/Rattles — These simple instruments were probably made of a clay shell and hand pebbles or nuts inside that would rattle when played.

Melodic Cymbals – “and David spoke to the chiefs of the Levites to them appoint some of their brothers as singing men with instruments of song; harps, lyres and melodic cymbals for lifting up with the voice for joy” – 1 Chronicles 15:16
These tuned cymbals were very similar to modern Crotales. They were tuned to A and C, which correspond to the name YAH and an a minor triad. They provided starting notes for singers and were also used to praise YAH (God).

Lyre – “Play to YAHVEH with lyre and the sound of a melody” – Psalm 98:5
The lyre was an ancient seven or 8 stringed instrument used to accompany singers.
Harp – “Oh God, a new song I will sing to You. With a harp of ten [strings] I will play to You” – Psalm 144:9

The harp, on the other hand, had ten strings and was used to accompany the voice. It was actually played much the same as today’s harps are played.

Shofar – “My heart moans within me! I cannot keep quiet for I have heard the voice of shofar, the shout of war.” – Jeremiah 4:19
A shofar is an animal horn that has been cut and pierced so that the player can buzz his lips and produce a sound. It was not a very musical sounding instrument and mostly used for signaling.

Resources:
The following links provide much more detailed information about musical instruments mentioned in the Bible, including artwork and pictures of many of them.

http://www.musicofthebible.com/instruments.htm

http://www.angelfire.com/sc3/we_dig_montana/Music.html#II

And here is a Wikipedia article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_music_in_the_biblical_period