The first instrument was discovered in the 1990s and dates back to 41,000 BC, according to Our World Our Music by Robert L. Elliot. This indicates that there may have been music at this time. It's hard to know what that looked like because their rating system might have been different. It wasn't until the 1800s that people started recording music (Elliot chapter 2: p. 53). The first form of music was gospel and that was because the church had such an impact at that time. It was not until the Renaissance that “secular music” became popular. This music involved everything that wasn't gospel. Over time, just like animals, music has evolved. They started adding more vocals, instruments and lyrics. We went from one voice to polyphony. The Resistance was the period in history when all forms of art flourished. The renaissance, as some might call it, was the time when music was officially in print. This had two big impacts: the first was that it allowed music to travel around the world unaltered and the second was that it allowed multiple copies to be disrupted around the world..