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 ā€œHurrian Hymn No. 6,ā€ 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 ā€œfirst songā€ is lost to history. What researchers can identify is the oldest preserved song with notation , and that’s why ā€œHurrian Hymn No. 6ā€ usually comes up in this question.

Closest known answers

  • Oldest surviving written song: Hurrian Hymn No. 6.
  • Another very early complete song: ā€œSeikilos Epitaph,ā€ often cited as the oldest fully preserved and translatable song.
  • First known recorded song: ā€œAu Clair de la Luneā€ 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.