Music forms a close part of life of ancient Peru, the most diverse phases of development of its inhabitants are accompanied by happy or sad, solemn or festive music. Every region and every occasion possessed its own songs and dances that could not be exchanged or changed.

An Inca characteristic was the performance of music during agricultural labors on State lands, with which the hard work turned into pleasant gatherings.

The musical instruments used in corporal expression were different according to the dances to interpret, the constituents, the regions or the motives of the celebrations.

Flutes were one of the most popular instruments. Quenas in general were made of human bones while other flutes were of clay, silver, or, the most common one, of reeds.

Among these stood out the sikus of cane, each one is divided in two halves with complementary tones and played as a pair of instruments. To shape a melody it is necessary that both instruments play alternately when it is their turn and moreover in a simultaneous manner with the rest of the registers.

Antaras or panpipes are made of pottery of nine layered pipes; those of reeds are held together by fine small cords.

As for trumpets found in tombs on the coast, they belonged to one of the tributes of the yunga lords. They are frequently found broken seeing as how their destruction forms part of the funeral ritual.

The marine snail or Strombus is represented since the epoch of Chavín de Huantar and in Quechua it is called huayllaquepa. The word pututu which it is also now called comes from the Caribbean and was brought by the Spaniards the same as the words maíz, chicha and ají, among others. It is an adaptation of Fututo but in Quechua the sound "f" doesn't exist.

A basic musical instrument was the drum. This could be of a variety of sizes and sounds and was used to mark the rhythm in dances and collective dances. There were small ones, illustrated by Guaman Poma, played by women; large ones that were made with puma or otorongo skins and called poma tinya and finally, the runa tinya, made with human skin.

The tempo is marked also with silver bells or clusters of seeds which are tied to the legs of the dancers. In Moche culture, the great lords or the gods used large rattles of gold tied to tied to their waists, like the ones of the Lord of Sipan.

Among certain peasant groups and in certain festivities and celebrations they blew into dried heads of deer as though they were flutes and marked with them the steps during the dance.