The Greek engineer Ctesibius of Alexandria is credited with inventing the organ in the 3rd century BC. He devised an instrument called the hydraulis, which delivered a wind supply maintained through water pressure to a set of pipes. The hydraulis was played in the arenas of the Roman Empire.

In the early years of gospel music most church fathers saw the use of instruments in Jewish worship as a "childish" weakness, less glorifying to God than words of praise. Then, in about the 10th or 12th century, Western Christians began to use the organ in the liturgy which is when they started using instruments.