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what was the first song ever made

The first song ever made is unknown , because music existed long before writing, so the earliest song we can actually point to is only the oldest surviving one we’ve found. The best-known candidate is “Hurrian Hymn No. 6,” an ancient song from around the 14th century BCE that survives in written notation.

Why there isn’t a single answer

No one was recording music when the first humans started singing, so the true “first song” is lost to history. What researchers can identify is the oldest preserved song with notation , and that’s why “Hurrian Hymn No. 6” usually comes up in this question.

Closest known answers

  • Oldest surviving written song: Hurrian Hymn No. 6.
  • Another very early complete song: “Seikilos Epitaph,” often cited as the oldest fully preserved and translatable song.
  • First known recorded song: “Au Clair de la Lune” was recorded in 1860, much later than the ancient written songs.

Quick takeaway

If you mean the earliest song humans ever made , nobody knows. If you mean the oldest song we can still study today , the usual answer is Hurrian Hymn No. 6.