Indigenous Australian Music

The beginnings of Australian music can be traced to the indigenous peoples that inhabited the continent 40,000 to 60,000 years ago. Music was an important aspect of their culture and was used for both ceremony and informal social gatherings. Music was, at first, performed vocally and with crude instruments, but about 1,500 years ago, the indigenous instrument for which Australia is best known was invented: the didgeridoo. Descendants of the native aborigines have brought this indigenous music into the modern world by adapting contemporary songs for native instruments and musical style.