Ethiopian music is a term that can mean any music of Ethiopian origin, however, often it is applied to a genre, a distinct modal system that is pentatonic, with characteristically long intervals between some notes.

Saint Yared was an Ethiopian composer in the 6th century. Often credited with being the forerunner of traditional music of Ethiopia and, and he developed the music of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church and Eritrean Orthodox Church, in a broader context the Coptic Orthodox Church and Syriac Orthodox Church the use in liturgical music, as well as the Ethiopian musical notation system. Additionally, he composed Zema, or the chant tradition of Ethiopia, particularly the chants of the Ethiopian-Eritrean Orthodox Tewahedo Churches, which are still performed today.