Origin of Music
Communication
History
How Music Made Us Human
by
Emily Pingel
, October 21 2025.“Music is the universal language of mankind.”
- Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
There’s a popular theory that long before humans began to speak, we communicated through music. While it is still just a theory, there is growing scientific evidence that rhythm and melody were central to how early humans connected and shared meaning.
The world’s oldest known musical instrument is a 35,000-year-old bone flute carved from a vulture’s wing, found in Germany (Owen, 2009). The flute suggests that music existed long before writing or even structured language. If survival was the main priority back then, why would humans spend time making sounds that didn’t directly feed or shelter them? The answer might be that music was a key to survival as it communicates emotion and strengthens social bonds.
Before words, tone and rhythm carried meaning. A sharp sound could warn of danger, while synchronised drumming could create unity in a group. This system of communication may have been the bridge between emotional sounds and structured speech (Allison, 2025). Our brains still process tone and rhythm faster than we process words, which is why we often understand someone’s mood before we understand what they are saying (Kirkham, 2014).
Some animals, like birds, frogs, and whales can produce rhythmic or melodic sounds, but they don’t have the same ability to create complex music. So why are humans the only species capable of this? It’s because of our advanced auditory-motor networks that allow us to synchronise sound, movement, and emotion (Benítez-Burraco & Nikolsky, 2023).
Every human culture on earth has some form of music. It is key to how we learn, evident in the fact that infants respond to rhythm and pitch before they understand language. Parents instinctively use a sing-song tone, known in psychology as “infant-directed speech”, which helps with emotional bonding, while also holding the child’s attention (Nencheva & Lew-Williams, 2022). This continues into childhood learning. From the ABCs to “heads, shoulders, knees, and toes”, these songs are more than catchy, they’re neurological tools. When information is paired with melody and rhythm, the brain links it to multiple regions at once: auditory processing, language comprehension, memory, and motor coordination (Dumont et al., 2017). This strengthens neural pathways, making recall easier.
Music also triggers dopamine release, the same chemical involved in motivation and pleasure, which is why learning through songs feels enjoyable and enhances memory. Studies in cognitive neuroscience show that people remember information better when it’s paired with emotionally engaging stimuli like music (Jäncke, 2008). In the end, music isn’t just art. It helped our ancestors communicate, helped children learn, and continues to shape how we think and remember today. From prehistoric flutes to catchy songs, music remains humanity’s most powerful form of communication.
References:
- Allison, M. (2025). Before Words, There Was Rhythm: Music as a Neural Language.
- Psychology Today. https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/the-pressure-paradox/202505/before-words-there-was-rhythm-music-as-a-neural-language?
- Benítez-Burraco, A., & Nikolsky, A. (2023). The (co) evolution of language and music under human self-domestication. Human Nature, 34(2), 229-275.
- Dumont, E., Syurina, E. V., Feron, F. J., & van Hooren, S. (2017). Music interventions and child development: A critical review and further directions. Frontiers in psychology, 8, 1694.
- Jäncke, L. (2008). Music, memory and emotion. J Biol, 7(6), 21. https://doi.org/10.1186/jbiol82
- Kirkham, E. (2014). How does the brain process rhythm? Elife, 3, e02658. https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.02658
- Nencheva, M. L., & Lew-Williams, C. (2022). Understanding why infant-directed speech supports learning: A dynamic attention perspective. Developmental Review, 66, 101047. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dr.2022.101047
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Owen, J. (2009). Bone Flute Is Oldest Instrument, Study Says. National Geographic.
https://www.nationalgeographic.com/culture/article/bone-flute-is-oldest-instrument--study-says?loggedin=true&rnd=1761277284464