One very windy morning last week I lay in bed listening to the wind whistling in the window above me. It was playing a pentatonic scale! Albeit accompanied by some very complex and interesting overtones. The pitches formed a major pentatonic scale: G♭4 – A♭4 – B♭4 – D♭5 – E♭5.
This led me to reflect on the origins of human music. Even though there were no windows in prehistoric times, there has always been the sound of the wind amongst the rocks and the trees, and a myriad of other sounds in the natural world. These sounds of nature must have provided the initial impetus for human music making, both vocal and instrumental.