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MUSIC

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Form of art using sound and silence
For other uses, see Music (disambiguation).

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Allegory of Music, by François Boucher, 1764

Part of a series onPerforming arts
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Music is the art of arranging sounds in time through the elements of melody,
harmony, rhythm, and timbre.[1][2] It is one of the universal cultural aspects
of all human societies. General definitions of music include common elements
such as pitch (which governs melody and harmony), rhythm (and its associated
concepts tempo, meter, and articulation), dynamics (loudness and softness), and
the sonic qualities of timbre and texture (which are sometimes termed the
"color" of a musical sound). Different styles or types of music may emphasize,
de-emphasize or omit some of these elements. Music is performed with a vast
range of instruments and vocal techniques ranging from singing to rapping; there
are solely instrumental pieces, solely vocal pieces (such as songs without
instrumental accompaniment) and pieces that combine singing and instruments. The
word derives from Greek μουσική (mousiké; "(art) of the Muses").[3]

In its most general form, the activities describing music as an art form or
cultural activity include the creation of works of music (songs, tunes,
symphonies, and so on), the criticism of music, the study of the history of
music, and the aesthetic examination of music. Ancient Greek and Indian
philosophers defined music in two parts: melodies, as tones ordered
horizontally, and harmonies as tones ordered vertically. Common sayings such as
"the harmony of the spheres" and "it is music to my ears" point to the notion
that music is often ordered and pleasant to listen to. However, 20th-century
composer John Cage thought that any sound can be music, saying, for example,
"There is no noise, only sound."[4]

The creation, performance, significance, and even the definition of music vary
according to culture and social context. Indeed, throughout history, some new
forms or styles of music have been criticized as "not being music", including
Beethoven's Grosse Fuge string quartet in 1825,[5] early jazz in the beginning
of the 1900s[6] and hardcore punk in the 1980s.[7] There are many types of
music, including popular music, traditional music, art music, music written for
religious ceremonies, and work songs such as chanteys. Music ranges from
strictly organized compositions—such as Classical music symphonies from the
1700s and 1800s—through to spontaneously played improvisational music such as
jazz, and avant-garde styles of chance-based contemporary music from the 20th
and 21st centuries.

Music can be divided into genres (e.g., country music) and genres can be further
divided into subgenres (e.g., alternative country and country pop are two of the
many country subgenres), although the dividing lines and relationships between
music genres are often subtle, sometimes open to personal interpretation, and
occasionally controversial. For example, it can be hard to draw the line between
some early 1980s hard rock and heavy metal. Within the arts, music may be
classified as a performing art, a fine art, or as an auditory art. Music may be
played or sung and heard live at a rock concert or orchestra performance, heard
live as part of a dramatic work (a music theater show or opera), or it may be
recorded and listened to on a radio, MP3 player, CD player, smartphone or as
film score or TV show.

In many cultures, music is an important part of people's way of life, as it
plays a key role in religious rituals, rite of passage ceremonies (e.g.,
graduation and marriage), social activities (e.g., dancing) and cultural
activities ranging from amateur karaoke singing to playing in an amateur funk
band or singing in a community choir. People may make music as a hobby, like a
teen playing cello in a youth orchestra, or work as a professional musician or
singer. The music industry includes the individuals who create new songs and
musical pieces (such as songwriters and composers), individuals who perform
music (which include orchestra, jazz band and rock band musicians, singers and
conductors), individuals who record music (music producers and sound engineers),
individuals who organize concert tours, and individuals who sell recordings,
sheet music, and scores to customers. Even once a song or piece has been
performed, music critics, music journalists, and music scholars may assess and
evaluate the piece and its performance.

CONTENTS

* 1 Etymology
* 2 Art and entertainment
* 2.1 Composition
* 2.2 Notation
* 2.3 Improvisation
* 2.4 Theory
* 3 Elements
* 3.1 Rudimentary
* 3.2 Perceptual
* 3.3 Descriptions
* 3.3.1 Pitch and melody
* 3.3.2 Harmony and chords
* 3.3.3 Rhythm
* 3.3.4 Texture
* 3.3.5 Timbre or "tone color"
* 3.3.6 Expression
* 3.3.7 Form
* 3.4 Analysis of styles
* 4 History
* 4.1 Prehistory
* 4.2 Ancient Egypt
* 4.3 Asian cultures
* 4.4 Ancient Greece
* 4.5 Western classical
* 4.5.1 Middle Ages
* 4.5.2 Renaissance
* 4.5.3 Baroque
* 4.5.4 Classicism
* 4.5.5 Romanticism
* 4.6 20th and 21st century
* 5 Performance
* 5.1 Oral and aural tradition
* 5.2 Ornamentation
* 6 Philosophy and aesthetics
* 7 Psychology
* 7.1 Neuroscience
* 7.2 Cognitive musicology
* 7.3 Psychoacoustics
* 7.4 Evolutionary musicology
* 7.5 Cultural effects
* 8 Sociological aspects
* 8.1 Role of women
* 9 Media and technology
* 9.1 Internet
* 10 Business
* 10.1 Intellectual property laws
* 11 Education
* 11.1 Non-professional
* 11.2 Professional
* 11.2.1 Undergraduate
* 11.2.2 Graduate
* 11.2.3 Musicology
* 11.2.4 Music theory
* 11.2.5 Zoomusicology
* 11.2.6 Ethnomusicology
* 12 Therapy
* 13 See also
* 14 References
* 15 Sources
* 16 Further reading
* 17 External links

ETYMOLOGY

In Greek mythology, the nine Muses were the inspiration for many creative
endeavors, including the arts.

The word 'music' is derived from Ancient Greek μουσική (mousiké) '(art) of the
Muses'.[3] In Greek mythology, the nine Muses were the goddesses who inspired
literature, science, and the arts and who were the source of the knowledge
embodied in the poetry, song-lyrics, and myths in the Greek culture. According
to the Online Etymology Dictionary, the term music is derived from "mid-13c.,
musike, from Old French musique (12c.) and directly from Latin musica 'the art
of music', also including poetry (also [the] source of Spanish música, Italian
musica, Old High German mosica, German Musik, Dutch muziek, Danish musik)." This
is derived from the "...Greek mousike (techne) '(art) of the Muses,' from fem.
of mousikos 'pertaining to the Muses', from Mousa 'Muse' (see muse (n.)). Modern
spelling [dates] from [the] 1630s. In classical Greece, [the term 'music' refers
to] any art in which the Muses presided, but especially music and lyric
poetry."[8][better source needed]

ART AND ENTERTAINMENT

The examples and perspective in this section may not represent a worldwide view
of the subject. You may improve this section, discuss the issue on the talk
page, or create a new section, as appropriate. (October 2021) (Learn how and
when to remove this template message)

Khatia Buniatishvili playing a grand piano

Music is composed and performed for many purposes, ranging from aesthetic
pleasure, religious or ceremonial purposes, or as an entertainment product for
the marketplace. When music was only available through sheet music scores, such
as during the Classical and Romantic eras, music lovers would buy the sheet
music of their favourite pieces and songs so that they could perform them at
home on the piano. With the advent of the phonograph, records of popular songs,
rather than sheet music became the dominant way that music lovers would enjoy
their favourite songs. With the advent of home tape recorders in the 1980s and
digital music in the 1990s, music lovers could make tapes or playlists of their
favourite songs and take them with them on a portable cassette player or MP3
player. Some music lovers create mix tapes of their favourite songs, which serve
as a "self-portrait, a gesture of friendship, prescription for an ideal party...
[and] an environment consisting solely of what is most ardently loved".[9]

Amateur musicians can compose or perform music for their own pleasure, and
derive their income elsewhere. Professional musicians are employed by a range of
institutions and organisations, including armed forces (in marching bands,
concert bands and popular music groups), churches and synagogues, symphony
orchestras, broadcasting or film production companies, and music schools.
Professional musicians sometimes work as freelancers or session musicians,
seeking contracts and engagements in a variety of settings. There are often many
links between amateur and professional musicians. Beginning amateur musicians
take lessons with professional musicians. In community settings, advanced
amateur musicians perform with professional musicians in a variety of ensembles
such as community concert bands and community orchestras.

A distinction is often made between music performed for a live audience and
music that is performed in a studio so that it can be recorded and distributed
through the music retail system or the broadcasting system. However, there are
also many cases where a live performance in front of an audience is also
recorded and distributed. Live concert recordings are popular in both classical
music and in popular music forms such as rock, where illegally taped live
concerts are prized by music lovers. In the jam band scene, live, improvised jam
sessions are preferred to studio recordings.

COMPOSITION

Main article: Musical composition

People composing music in 2013 using electronic keyboards and computers.

French Baroque music composer Michel Richard Delalande (1657–1726), pen in hand.

"Composition" is the act or practice of creating a song, an instrumental music
piece, a work with both singing and instruments, or another type of music. In
many cultures, including Western classical music, the act of composing also
includes the creation of music notation, such as a sheet music "score", which is
then performed by the composer or by other singers or musicians. In popular
music and traditional music, the act of composing, which is typically called
songwriting, may involve the creation of a basic outline of the song, called the
lead sheet, which sets out the melody, lyrics and chord progression. In
classical music, the composer typically orchestrates his or her own
compositions, but in musical theatre and in pop music, songwriters may hire an
arranger to do the orchestration. In some cases, a songwriter may not use
notation at all, and instead, compose the song in her mind and then play or
record it from memory. In jazz and popular music, notable recordings by
influential performers are given the weight that written scores play in
classical music.

Even when music is notated relatively precisely, as in classical music, there
are many decisions that a performer has to make, because notation does not
specify all of the elements of music precisely. The process of deciding how to
perform music that has been previously composed and notated is termed
"interpretation". Different performers' interpretations of the same work of
music can vary widely, in terms of the tempos that are chosen and the playing or
singing style or phrasing of the melodies. Composers and songwriters who present
their own music are interpreting their songs, just as much as those who perform
the music of others. The standard body of choices and techniques present at a
given time and a given place is referred to as performance practice, whereas
interpretation is generally used to mean the individual choices of a
performer.[citation needed]

Although a musical composition often uses musical notation and has a single
author, this is not always the case. A work of music can have multiple
composers, which often occurs in popular music when a band collaborates to write
a song, or in musical theatre, when one person writes the melodies, a second
person writes the lyrics, and a third person orchestrates the songs. In some
styles of music, such as the blues, a composer/songwriter may create, perform
and record new songs or pieces without ever writing them down in music notation.
A piece of music can also be composed with words, images, or computer programs
that explain or notate how the singer or musician should create musical sounds.
Examples range from avant-garde music that uses graphic notation, to text
compositions such as Aus den sieben Tagen, to computer programs that select
sounds for musical pieces. Music that makes heavy use of randomness and chance
is called aleatoric music, and is associated with contemporary composers active
in the 20th century, such as John Cage, Morton Feldman, and Witold Lutosławski.
A more commonly known example of chance-based music is the sound of wind chimes
jingling in a breeze.

The study of composition has traditionally been dominated by examination of
methods and practice of Western classical music, but the definition of
composition is broad enough to include the creation of popular music and
traditional music songs and instrumental pieces as well as spontaneously
improvised works like those of free jazz performers and African percussionists
such as Ewe drummers.

NOTATION

Main article: Musical notation

Sheet music is a written representation of music. Homorhythmic (i.e.,
hymn-style) arrangement of the traditional "Adeste Fideles" in standard
two-staff format for mixed voices.
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0:00

In the 2000s, music notation typically means the written expression of music
notes and rhythms on paper using symbols. When music is written down, the
pitches and rhythm of the music, such as the notes of a melody, are notated.
Music notation also often provides instructions on how to perform the music. For
example, the sheet music for a song may state that the song is a "slow blues" or
a "fast swing", which indicates the tempo and the genre. To read music notation,
a person must have an understanding of music theory, harmony and the performance
practice associated with a particular song or piece's genre.

Written notation varies with the style and period of music. In the 2000s,
notated music is produced as sheet music or, for individuals with computer
scorewriter programs, as an image on a computer screen. In ancient times, music
notation was put onto stone or clay tablets. To perform music from notation, a
singer or instrumentalist requires an understanding of the rhythmic and pitch
elements embodied in the symbols and the performance practice that is associated
with a piece of music or a genre. In genres requiring musical improvisation, the
performer often plays from music where only the chord changes and form of the
song are written, requiring the performer to have a great understanding of the
music's structure, harmony and the styles of a particular genre (e.g., jazz or
country music).

In Western art music, the most common types of written notation are scores,
which include all the music parts of an ensemble piece, and parts, which are the
music notation for the individual performers or singers. In popular music, jazz,
and blues, the standard musical notation is the lead sheet, which notates the
melody, chords, lyrics (if it is a vocal piece), and structure of the music.
Fake books are also used in jazz; they may consist of lead sheets or simply
chord charts, which permit rhythm section members to improvise an accompaniment
part to jazz songs. Scores and parts are also used in popular music and jazz,
particularly in large ensembles such as jazz "big bands." In popular music,
guitarists and electric bass players often read music notated in tablature
(often abbreviated as "tab"), which indicates the location of the notes to be
played on the instrument using a diagram of the guitar or bass fingerboard.
Tablature was also used in the Baroque era to notate music for the lute, a
stringed, fretted instrument.

IMPROVISATION

Improvisation plays a central role in jazz; musicians learn progressions using
scale and chord tones (Pictured is Johnny Hodges)
Main article: Musical improvisation

Musical improvisation is the creation of spontaneous music, often within (or
based on) a pre-existing harmonic framework or chord progression. Improvisers
use the notes of the chord, various scales that are associated with each chord,
and chromatic ornaments and passing tones which may be neither chord tones nor
from the typical scales associated with a chord. Musical improvisation can be
done with or without preparation. Improvisation is a major part of some types of
music, such as blues, jazz, and jazz fusion, in which instrumental performers
improvise solos, melody lines, and accompaniment parts.

In the Western art music tradition, improvisation was an important skill during
the Baroque era and during the Classical era. In the Baroque era, performers
improvised ornaments, and basso continuo keyboard players improvised chord
voicings based on figured bass notation. As well, the top soloists were expected
to be able to improvise pieces such as preludes. In the Classical era, solo
performers and singers improvised virtuoso cadenzas during concerts.

However, in the 20th and early 21st century, as "common practice" Western art
music performance became institutionalized in symphony orchestras, opera houses,
and ballets, improvisation has played a smaller role, as more and more music was
notated in scores and parts for musicians to play. At the same time, some 20th
and 21st century art music composers have increasingly included improvisation in
their creative work. In Indian classical music, improvisation is a core
component and an essential criterion of performances.

THEORY

Main article: Music theory

Music theory encompasses the nature and mechanics of music. It often involves
identifying patterns that govern composers' techniques and examining the
language and notation of music. In a grand sense, music theory distills and
analyzes the parameters or elements of music – rhythm, harmony (harmonic
function), melody, structure, form, and texture. Broadly, music theory may
include any statement, belief, or conception of or about music.[10] People who
study these properties are known as music theorists, and they typically work as
professors in colleges, universities, and music conservatories. Some have
applied acoustics, human physiology, and psychology to the explanation of how
and why music is perceived. Music theorists publish their research in music
theory journals and university press books.

ELEMENTS

Main article: History of music
The examples and perspective in this section may not represent a worldwide view
of the subject. You may improve this section, discuss the issue on the talk
page, or create a new section, as appropriate. (October 2021) (Learn how and
when to remove this template message)

Main article: Elements of music

Music has many different fundamentals or elements. Depending on the definition
of "element" being used, these can include pitch, beat or pulse, tempo, rhythm,
melody, harmony, texture, style, allocation of voices, timbre or color,
dynamics, expression, articulation, form, and structure. The elements of music
feature prominently in the music curriculums of Australia, the UK, and the US.
All three curriculums identify pitch, dynamics, timbre, and texture as elements,
but the other identified elements of music are far from universally agreed upon.
Below is a list of the three official versions of the "elements of music":

* Australia: pitch, timbre, texture, dynamics and expression, rhythm, form and
structure.[11]
* UK: pitch, timbre, texture, dynamics, duration, tempo, structure.[12]
* USA: pitch, timbre, texture, dynamics, rhythm, form, harmony,
style/articulation.[13]

In relation to the UK curriculum, in 2013 the term: "appropriate musical
notations" was added to their list of elements and the title of the list was
changed from the "elements of music" to the "inter-related dimensions of music".
The inter-related dimensions of music are listed as: pitch, duration, dynamics,
tempo, timbre, texture, structure, and appropriate musical notations.[14]

The phrase "the elements of music" is used in a number of different contexts.
The two most common contexts can be differentiated by describing them as the
"rudimentary elements of music" and the "perceptual elements of music".

RUDIMENTARY

In the 1800s, the phrases "the elements of music" and "the rudiments of music"
were used interchangeably.[15][16] The elements described in these documents
refer to aspects of music that are needed in order to become a musician, Recent
writers such as Espie Estrella seem to be using the phrase "elements of music"
in a similar manner.[17] A definition which most accurately reflects this usage
is: "the rudimentary principles of an art, science, etc.: the elements of
grammar."[18] The UK's curriculum switch to the "inter-related dimensions of
music" seems to be a move back to using the rudimentary elements of music.

PERCEPTUAL

Since the emergence of the study of psychoacoustics in the 1930s, most lists of
elements of music have related more to how we hear music than how we learn to
play it or study it. C.E. Seashore, in his book Psychology of Music,[19]
identified four "psychological attributes of sound". These were: "pitch,
loudness, time, and timbre" (p. 3). He did not call them the "elements of music"
but referred to them as "elemental components" (p. 2). Nonetheless, these
elemental components link precisely with four of the most common musical
elements: "Pitch" and "timbre" match exactly, "loudness" links with dynamics,
and "time" links with the time-based elements of rhythm, duration, and tempo.
This usage of the phrase "the elements of music" links more closely with
Webster's New 20th Century Dictionary definition of an element as: "a substance
which cannot be divided into a simpler form by known methods"[20] and
educational institutions' lists of elements generally align with this definition
as well.

Although writers of lists of "rudimentary elements of music" can vary their
lists depending on their personal (or institutional) priorities, the perceptual
elements of music should consist of an established (or proven) list of discrete
elements which can be independently manipulated to achieve an intended musical
effect. It seems at this stage that there is still research to be done in this
area.

A slightly different way of approaching the identification of the elements of
music, is to identify the "elements of sound" as: pitch, duration, loudness,
timbre, sonic texture and spatial location,[21] and then to define the "elements
of music" as: sound, structure, and artistic intent.[21]

DESCRIPTIONS

PITCH AND MELODY

Pitch is an aspect of a sound that we can hear, reflecting whether one musical
sound, note, or tone is "higher" or "lower" than another musical sound, note, or
tone. We can talk about the highness or lowness of pitch in the more general
sense, such as the way a listener hears a piercingly high piccolo note or
whistling tone as higher in pitch than a deep thump of a bass drum. We also talk
about pitch in the precise sense associated with musical melodies, basslines and
chords. Precise pitch can only be determined in sounds that have a frequency
that is clear and stable enough to distinguish from noise. For example, it is
much easier for listeners to discern the pitch of a single note played on a
piano than to try to discern the pitch of a crash cymbal that is struck.

The melody to the traditional song "Pop Goes the Weasel"
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A melody (also called a "tune") is a series of pitches (notes) sounding in
succession (one after the other), often in a rising and falling pattern. The
notes of a melody are typically created using pitch systems such as scales or
modes. Melodies also often contain notes from the chords used in the song. The
melodies in simple folk songs and traditional songs may use only the notes of a
single scale, the scale associated with the tonic note or key of a given song.
For example, a folk song in the key of C (also referred to as C major) may have
a melody that uses only the notes of the C major scale (the individual notes C,
D, E, F, G, A, B, and C; these are the "white notes" on a piano keyboard. On the
other hand, Bebop-era jazz from the 1940s and contemporary music from the 20th
and 21st centuries may use melodies with many chromatic notes (i.e., notes in
addition to the notes of the major scale; on a piano, a chromatic scale would
include all the notes on the keyboard, including the "white notes" and "black
notes" and unusual scales, such as the whole tone scale (a whole tone scale in
the key of C would contain the notes C, D, E, F♯, G♯ and A♯). A low, deep
musical line played by bass instruments such as double bass, electric bass, or
tuba is called a bassline.

HARMONY AND CHORDS

When musicians play three or more different notes at the same time, this creates
a chord. In Western music, including classical music, pop music, rock music, and
many related styles, the most common chords are triads– three notes usually
played at the same time. The most commonly used chords are the major chord and
the minor chord. An example of a major chord is the three pitches C, E and G. An
example of a minor chord is the three pitches A, C, and E. (Pictured is a guitar
player performing a chord on a guitar).

Harmony refers to the "vertical" sounds of pitches in music, which means pitches
that are played or sung together at the same time to create a chord. Usually,
this means the notes are played at the same time, although harmony may also be
implied by a melody that outlines a harmonic structure (i.e., by using melody
notes that are played one after the other, outlining the notes of a chord). In
music written using the system of major-minor tonality ("keys"), which includes
most classical music written from 1600 to 1900 and most Western pop, rock, and
traditional music, the key of a piece determines the scale used, which centres
around the "home note" or tonic of the key. Simple classical pieces and many pop
and traditional music songs are written so that all the music is in a single
key. More complex Classical, pop, and traditional music songs and pieces may
have two keys (and in some cases three or more keys). Classical music from the
Romantic era (written from about 1820–1900) often contains multiple keys, as
does jazz, especially Bebop jazz from the 1940s, in which the key or "home note"
of a song may change every four bars or even every two bars.

RHYTHM

Rhythm is the arrangement of sounds and silences in time. Meter animates time in
regular pulse groupings, called measures or bars, which in Western classical,
popular, and traditional music often group notes in sets of two (e.g., 2/4
time), three (e.g., 3/4 time, also known as Waltz time, or 3/8 time), or four
(e.g., 4/4 time). Meters are made easier to hear because songs and pieces often
(but not always) place an emphasis on the first beat of each grouping. Notable
exceptions exist, such as the backbeat used in much Western pop and rock, in
which a song that uses a measure that consists of four beats (called 4/4 time or
common time) will have accents on beats two and four, which are typically
performed by the drummer on the snare drum, a loud and distinctive-sounding
percussion instrument. In pop and rock, the rhythm parts of a song are played by
the rhythm section, which includes chord-playing instruments (e.g., electric
guitar, acoustic guitar, piano, or other keyboard instruments), a bass
instrument (typically electric bass or for some styles such as jazz and
bluegrass, double bass) and a drum kit player.

TEXTURE

Musical texture is the overall sound of a piece of music or song. The texture of
a piece or song is determined by how the melodic, rhythmic, and harmonic
materials are combined in a composition, thus determining the overall nature of
the sound in a piece. Texture is often described in regard to the density, or
thickness, and range, or width, between lowest and highest pitches, in relative
terms as well as more specifically distinguished according to the number of
voices, or parts, and the relationship between these voices (see common types
below). For example, a thick texture contains many 'layers' of instruments. One
of these layers could be a string section or another brass. The thickness also
is affected by the amount and the richness of the instruments. Texture is
commonly described according to the number of and relationship between parts or
lines of music:

* monophony: a single melody (or "tune") with neither instrumental
accompaniment nor a harmony part. A mother singing a lullaby to her baby
would be an example.
* heterophony: two or more instruments or singers playing/singing the same
melody, but with each performer slightly varying the rhythm or speed of the
melody or adding different ornaments to the melody. Two bluegrass fiddlers
playing the same traditional fiddle tune together will typically each vary
the melody by some degree and each add different ornaments.
* polyphony: multiple independent melody lines that interweave together, which
are sung or played at the same time. Choral music written in the Renaissance
music era was typically written in this style. A round, which is a song such
as "Row, Row, Row Your Boat", which different groups of singers all start to
sing at a different time, is an example of polyphony.
* homophony: a clear melody supported by chordal accompaniment. Most Western
popular music songs from the 19th century onward are written in this texture.

Music that contains a large number of independent parts (e.g., a double concerto
accompanied by 100 orchestral instruments with many interweaving melodic lines)
is generally said to have a "thicker" or "denser" texture than a work with few
parts (e.g., a solo flute melody accompanied by a single cello).

TIMBRE OR "TONE COLOR"

Timbre, sometimes called "color" or "tone color" is the quality or sound of a
voice or instrument.[22] Timbre is what makes a particular musical sound
different from another, even when they have the same pitch and loudness. For
example, a 440 Hz A note sounds different when it is played on oboe, piano,
violin, or electric guitar. Even if different players of the same instrument
play the same note, their notes might sound different due to differences in
instrumental technique (e.g., different embouchures), different types of
accessories (e.g., mouthpieces for brass players, reeds for oboe and bassoon
players) or strings made out of different materials for string players (e.g.,
gut strings versus steel strings). Even two instrumentalists playing the same
note on the same instrument (one after the other) may sound different due to
different ways of playing the instrument (e.g., two string players might hold
the bow differently).

The physical characteristics of sound that determine the perception of timbre
include the spectrum, envelope, and overtones of a note or musical sound. For
electric instruments developed in the 20th century, such as electric guitar,
electric bass and electric piano, the performer can also change the tone by
adjusting equalizer controls, tone controls on the instrument, and by using
electronic effects units such as distortion pedals. The tone of the electric
Hammond organ is controlled by adjusting drawbars.

EXPRESSION

Singers add expression to the melodies they sing using many methods, including
changing the tone of their singing, adding vibrato to certain notes, and
emphasizing important words in the lyrics.

Expressive qualities are those elements in music that create change in music
without changing the main pitches or substantially changing the rhythms of the
melody and its accompaniment. Performers, including singers and
instrumentalists, can add musical expression to a song or piece by adding
phrasing, by adding effects such as vibrato (with voice and some instruments,
such as guitar, violin, brass instruments, and woodwinds), dynamics (the
loudness or softness of piece or a section of it), tempo fluctuations (e.g.,
ritardando or accelerando, which are, respectively slowing down and speeding up
the tempo), by adding pauses or fermatas on a cadence, and by changing the
articulation of the notes (e.g., making notes more pronounced or accented, by
making notes more legato, which means smoothly connected, or by making notes
shorter).

Expression is achieved through the manipulation of pitch (such as inflection,
vibrato, slides etc.), volume (dynamics, accent, tremolo etc.), duration (tempo
fluctuations, rhythmic changes, changing note duration such as with legato and
staccato, etc.), timbre (e.g. changing vocal timbre from a light to a resonant
voice) and sometimes even texture (e.g. doubling the bass note for a richer
effect in a piano piece). Expression therefore can be seen as a manipulation of
all elements in order to convey "an indication of mood, spirit, character
etc."[23] and as such cannot be included as a unique perceptual element of
music,[24] although it can be considered an important rudimentary element of
music.

FORM

See also: Strophic form, Binary form, Ternary form, Rondo form, Variation
(music), and Musical development

Sheet music notation for the chorus (refrain) of the Christmas song "Jingle
Bells"
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In music, form describes the overall structure or plan of a song or piece of
music,[25] and it describes the layout of a composition as divided into
sections.[26] In the early 20th century, Tin Pan Alley songs and Broadway
musical songs were often in AABA 32 bar form, in which the A sections repeated
the same eight bar melody (with variation) and the B section provided a
contrasting melody or harmony for eight bars. From the 1960s onward, Western pop
and rock songs are often in verse-chorus form, which is based around a sequence
of verse and chorus ("refrain") sections, with new lyrics for most verses and
repeating lyrics for the choruses. Popular music often makes use of strophic
form, sometimes in conjunction with the twelve bar blues.[citation needed]

In the tenth edition of The Oxford Companion to Music, Percy Scholes defines
musical form as "a series of strategies designed to find a successful mean
between the opposite extremes of unrelieved repetition and unrelieved
alteration."[27] Examples of common forms of Western music include the fugue,
the invention, sonata-allegro, canon, strophic, theme and variations, and rondo.

Scholes states that European classical music had only six stand-alone forms:
simple binary, simple ternary, compound binary, rondo, air with variations, and
fugue (although musicologist Alfred Mann emphasized that the fugue is primarily
a method of composition that has sometimes taken on certain structural
conventions.[28])

Where a piece cannot readily be broken down into sectional units (though it
might borrow some form from a poem, story or programme), it is said to be
through-composed. Such is often the case with a fantasia, prelude, rhapsody,
etude (or study), symphonic poem, Bagatelle, impromptu, etc.[citation needed]
Professor Charles Keil classified forms and formal detail as "sectional,
developmental, or variational."[29]

ANALYSIS OF STYLES

Funk places most of its emphasis on rhythm and groove, with entire songs based
around a vamp on a single chord. Pictured are the influential funk musicians
George Clinton and Parliament-Funkadelic in 2006.

Some styles of music place an emphasis on certain of these fundamentals, while
others place less emphasis on certain elements. To give one example, while
Bebop-era jazz makes use of very complex chords, including altered dominants and
challenging chord progressions, with chords changing two or more times per bar
and keys changing several times in a tune, funk places most of its emphasis on
rhythm and groove, with entire songs based around a vamp on a single chord.
While Romantic era classical music from the mid- to late-1800s makes great use
of dramatic changes of dynamics, from whispering pianissimo sections to
thunderous fortissimo sections, some entire Baroque dance suites for harpsichord
from the early 1700s may use a single dynamic. To give another example, while
some art music pieces, such as symphonies are very long, some pop songs are just
a few minutes long.

HISTORY

PREHISTORY

Prehistoric music can only be theorized based on findings from paleolithic
archaeology sites. Flutes are often discovered, carved from bones in which
lateral holes have been pierced; these are thought to have been blown at one end
like the Japanese shakuhachi.[citation needed] The Divje Babe flute, carved from
a cave bear femur, is thought to be at least 40,000 years old, though there is
considerable debate surrounding whether it is truly a musical instrument or an
object formed by animals.[30] Instruments such as the seven-holed flute and
various types of stringed instruments, such as the Ravanahatha, have been
recovered from the Indus Valley Civilization archaeological sites.[31] India has
one of the oldest musical traditions in the world—references to Indian classical
music (marga) are found in the Vedas, ancient scriptures of the Hindu
tradition.[32] The earliest and largest collection of prehistoric musical
instruments was found in China and dates back to between 7000 and 6600 BC.[33]
The "Hurrian Hymn to Nikkal", found on clay tablets that date back to
approximately 1400 BC, is the oldest surviving notated work of music.[34][35]

ANCIENT EGYPT

Main article: Music of Egypt

Musicians of Amun, Tomb of Nakht, 18th Dynasty, Western Thebes

The earliest material and representational evidence of Egyptian musical
instruments dates to the Predynastic period, but the evidence is more securely
attested in the Old Kingdom when harps, flutes and double clarinets were
played.[36] Percussion instruments, lyres and lutes were added to orchestras by
the Middle Kingdom. Cymbals[37] frequently accompanied music and dance, much as
they still do in Egypt today. Egyptian folk music, including the traditional
Sufi dhikr rituals, are the closest contemporary music genre to ancient Egyptian
music, having preserved many of its features, rhythms and instruments.[38][39]

ASIAN CULTURES

Indian women dressed in regional attire playing a variety of musical instruments
popular in different parts of India

Gangubai Hangal
Durga

Asian music covers a vast swath of music cultures surveyed in the articles on
Arabia, Central Asia, East Asia, South Asia, and Southeast Asia. Several have
traditions reaching into antiquity.

Indian classical music is one of the oldest musical traditions in the world.[40]
The Indus Valley civilization has sculptures that show dance[41] and old musical
instruments, like the seven holed flute. Various types of stringed instruments
and drums have been recovered from Harappa and Mohenjo Daro by excavations
carried out by Sir Mortimer Wheeler.[42] The Rigveda has elements of present
Indian music, with a musical notation to denote the metre and the mode of
chanting.[43] Indian classical music (marga) is monophonic, and based on a
single melody line or raga rhythmically organized through talas. Silappadhikaram
by Ilango Adigal provides information about how new scales can be formed by
modal shifting of the tonic from an existing scale.[44] Present day Hindi music
was influenced by Persian traditional music and Afghan Mughals. Carnatic music,
popular in the southern states, is largely devotional; the majority of the songs
are addressed to the Hindu deities. There are also many songs emphasising love
and other social issues.

Chinese classical music, the traditional art or court music of China, has a
history stretching over around three thousand years. It has its own unique
systems of musical notation, as well as musical tuning and pitch, musical
instruments and styles or musical genres. Chinese music is pentatonic-diatonic,
having a scale of twelve notes to an octave (5 + 7 = 12) as does
European-influenced music.

ANCIENT GREECE

Epitaph of Seikilos (0:50)
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Melody sung in an approximation of Koine Greek pronunciation and in modern
popular vocal style.

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Music was an important part of social and cultural life in ancient Greece, in
fact it was one of the main subjects taught to children. Musical education was
considered to be important for the development of an individual's soul.
Musicians and singers played a prominent role in Greek theater[45] and the ones
who received a musical education were seen as nobles and in perfect harmony (as
we can read in the Republic, Plato) Mixed-gender choruses performed for
entertainment, celebration, and spiritual ceremonies.[46] Holy Ancient Greek
music will be considered an example of perfection and purity. Instruments
included the double-reed aulos and a plucked string instrument, the lyre,
principally the special kind called a kithara. Music was an important part of
education, and boys were taught music starting at age six. Greek musical
literacy created a flowering of music development. Greek music theory included
the Greek musical modes, that eventually became the basis for Western religious
and classical music. Later, influences from the Roman Empire, Eastern Europe,
and the Byzantine Empire changed Greek music. The Seikilos epitaph is the oldest
surviving example of a complete musical composition, including musical notation,
from anywhere in the world.[47] The oldest surviving work written on the subject
of music theory is Harmonika Stoicheia by Aristoxenus.[48]

WESTERN CLASSICAL

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MIDDLE AGES

Léonin or Pérotin
Breves dies hominis

Musical notation from a Catholic Missal, c. 1310–1320

The medieval era (476 to 1400), which took place during the Middle Ages, started
with the introduction of monophonic (single melodic line) chanting into Roman
Catholic Church services. Musical notation was used since Ancient times in Greek
culture, but in the Middle Ages, notation was first introduced by the Catholic
church so that the chant melodies could be written down, to facilitate the use
of the same melodies for religious music across the entire Catholic empire. The
only European Medieval repertory that has been found in written form from before
800 is the monophonic liturgical plainsong chant of the Roman Catholic Church,
the central tradition of which was called Gregorian chant. Alongside these
traditions of sacred and church music there existed a vibrant tradition of
secular song (non-religious songs). Examples of composers from this period are
Léonin, Pérotin, Guillaume de Machaut, and Walther von der Vogelweide.

RENAISSANCE

T.L. de Victoria
Amicus meus

Allegory of Music, by Filippino Lippi

Renaissance music (c. 1400 to 1600) was more focused on secular (non-religious)
themes, such as courtly love. Around 1450, the printing press was invented,
which made printed sheet music much less expensive and easier to mass-produce
(prior to the invention of the printing press, all notated music was
hand-copied). The increased availability of sheet music helped to spread musical
styles more quickly and across a larger area. Musicians and singers often worked
for the church, courts and towns. Church choirs grew in size, and the church
remained an important patron of music. By the middle of the 15th century,
composers wrote richly polyphonic sacred music, in which different melody lines
were interwoven simultaneously. Prominent composers from this era include
Guillaume Dufay, Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina, Thomas Morley, and Orlande de
Lassus. As musical activity shifted from the church to the aristocratic courts,
kings, queens and princes competed for the finest composers. Many leading
important composers came from the Netherlands, Belgium, and northern France.
They are called the Franco-Flemish composers. They held important positions
throughout Europe, especially in Italy. Other countries with vibrant musical
activity included Germany, England, and Spain.

BAROQUE

J.S. Bach
Toccata and Fugue

The Baroque era of music took place from 1600 to 1750, as the Baroque artistic
style flourished across Europe; and during this time, music expanded in its
range and complexity. Baroque music began when the first operas (dramatic solo
vocal music accompanied by orchestra) were written. During the Baroque era,
polyphonic contrapuntal music, in which multiple, simultaneous independent
melody lines were used, remained important (counterpoint was important in the
vocal music of the Medieval era). German Baroque composers wrote for small
ensembles including strings, brass, and woodwinds, as well as for choirs and
keyboard instruments such as pipe organ, harpsichord, and clavichord. During
this period several major music forms were defined that lasted into later
periods when they were expanded and evolved further, including the fugue, the
invention, the sonata, and the concerto.[49] The late Baroque style was
polyphonically complex and richly ornamented. Important composers from the
Baroque era include Johann Sebastian Bach (Cello suites), George Frideric Handel
(Messiah), Georg Philipp Telemann and Antonio Lucio Vivaldi (The Four Seasons).

CLASSICISM

W.A. Mozart
Symphony 40 G minor

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (seated at the keyboard) was a child prodigy virtuoso
performer on the piano and violin. Even before he became a celebrated composer,
he was widely known as a gifted performer and improviser.

The music of the Classical period (1730 to 1820) aimed to imitate what were seen
as the key elements of the art and philosophy of Ancient Greece and Rome: the
ideals of balance, proportion and disciplined expression. (Note: the music from
the Classical period should not be confused with Classical music in general, a
term which refers to Western art music from the 5th century to the 2000s, which
includes the Classical period as one of a number of periods). Music from the
Classical period has a lighter, clearer and considerably simpler texture than
the Baroque music which preceded it. The main style was homophony,[50] where a
prominent melody and a subordinate chordal accompaniment part are clearly
distinct. Classical instrumental melodies tended to be almost voicelike and
singable. New genres were developed, and the fortepiano, the forerunner to the
modern piano, replaced the Baroque era harpsichord and pipe organ as the main
keyboard instrument (though pipe organ continued to be used in sacred music,
such as Masses).

Importance was given to instrumental music. It was dominated by further
development of musical forms initially defined in the Baroque period: the
sonata, the concerto, and the symphony. Others main kinds were the trio, string
quartet, serenade and divertimento. The sonata was the most important and
developed form. Although Baroque composers also wrote sonatas, the Classical
style of sonata is completely distinct. All of the main instrumental forms of
the Classical era, from string quartets to symphonies and concertos, were based
on the structure of the sonata. The instruments used chamber music and orchestra
became more standardized. In place of the basso continuo group of the Baroque
era, which consisted of harpsichord, organ or lute along with a number of bass
instruments selected at the discretion of the group leader (e.g., viol, cello,
theorbo, serpent), Classical chamber groups used specified, standardized
instruments (e.g., a string quartet would be performed by two violins, a viola
and a cello). The Baroque era improvised chord-playing of the continuo
keyboardist or lute player was gradually phased out between 1750 and 1800.

One of the most important changes made in the Classical period was the
development of public concerts. The aristocracy still played a significant role
in the sponsorship of concerts and compositions, but it was now possible for
composers to survive without being permanent employees of queens or princes. The
increasing popularity of classical music led to a growth in the number and types
of orchestras. The expansion of orchestral concerts necessitated the building of
large public performance spaces. Symphonic music including symphonies, musical
accompaniment to ballet and mixed vocal/instrumental genres such as opera and
oratorio became more popular.

The best known composers of Classicism are Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach, Christoph
Willibald Gluck, Johann Christian Bach, Joseph Haydn, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart,
Ludwig van Beethoven and Franz Schubert. Beethoven and Schubert are also
considered to be composers in the later part of the Classical era, as it began
to move towards Romanticism.

ROMANTICISM

The piano was the centrepiece of social activity for middle-class urbanites in
the 19th century (Moritz von Schwind, 1868). The man at the piano is composer
Franz Schubert.

R. Wagner
Die Walküre

Romantic music (c. 1810 to 1900) from the 19th century had many elements in
common with the Romantic styles in literature and painting of the era.
Romanticism was an artistic, literary, and intellectual movement was
characterized by its emphasis on emotion and individualism as well as
glorification of all the past and nature. Romantic music expanded beyond the
rigid styles and forms of the Classical era into more passionate, dramatic
expressive pieces and songs. Romantic composers such as Wagner and Brahms
attempted to increase emotional expression and power in their music to describe
deeper truths or human feelings. With symphonic tone poems, composers tried to
tell stories and evoke images or landscapes using instrumental music. Some
composers promoted nationalistic pride with patriotic orchestral music inspired
by folk music. The emotional and expressive qualities of music came to take
precedence over tradition.

Romantic composers grew in idiosyncrasy, and went further in the syncretism of
exploring different art-forms in a musical context, (such as literature),
history (historical figures and legends), or nature itself. Romantic love or
longing was a prevalent theme in many works composed during this period. In some
cases, the formal structures from the classical period continued to be used
(e.g., the sonata form used in string quartets and symphonies), but these forms
were expanded and altered. In many cases, new approaches were explored for
existing genres, forms, and functions. Also, new forms were created that were
deemed better suited to the new subject matter. Composers continued to develop
opera and ballet music, exploring new styles and themes.[45]

In the years after 1800, the music developed by Ludwig van Beethoven and Franz
Schubert introduced a more dramatic, expressive style. In Beethoven's case,
short motifs, developed organically, came to replace melody as the most
significant compositional unit (an example is the distinctive four note figure
used in his Fifth Symphony). Later Romantic composers such as Pyotr Ilyich
Tchaikovsky, Antonín Dvořák, and Gustav Mahler used more unusual chords and more
dissonance to create dramatic tension. They generated complex and often much
longer musical works. During the late Romantic period, composers explored
dramatic chromatic alterations of tonality, such as extended chords and altered
chords, which created new sound "colours". The late 19th century saw a dramatic
expansion in the size of the orchestra, and the industrial revolution helped to
create better instruments, creating a more powerful sound. Public concerts
became an important part of well-to-do urban society. It also saw a new
diversity in theatre music, including operetta, and musical comedy and other
forms of musical theatre.[45]

20TH AND 21ST CENTURY

Main article: 20th-century music

In the 19th century, one of the key ways that new compositions became known to
the public was by the sales of sheet music, which middle class amateur music
lovers would perform at home on their piano or other common instruments, such as
violin. With 20th-century music, the invention of new electric technologies such
as radio broadcasting and the mass market availability of gramophone records
meant that sound recordings of songs and pieces heard by listeners (either on
the radio or on their record player) became the main way to learn about new
songs and pieces. There was a vast increase in music listening as the radio
gained popularity and phonographs were used to replay and distribute music,
because whereas in the 19th century, the focus on sheet music restricted access
to new music to the middle class and upper-class people who could read music and
who owned pianos and instruments, in the 20th century, anyone with a radio or
record player could hear operas, symphonies and big bands right in their own
living room. This allowed lower-income people, who would never be able to afford
an opera or symphony concert ticket to hear this music. It also meant that
people could hear music from different parts of the country, or even different
parts of the world, even if they could not afford to travel to these locations.
This helped to spread musical styles.

The focus of art music in the 20th century was characterized by exploration of
new rhythms, styles, and sounds. The horrors of World War I influenced many of
the arts, including music, and some composers began exploring darker, harsher
sounds. Traditional music styles such as jazz and folk music were used by
composers as a source of ideas for classical music. Igor Stravinsky, Arnold
Schoenberg, and John Cage were all influential composers in 20th-century art
music. The invention of sound recording and the ability to edit music gave rise
to new subgenre of classical music, including the acousmatic[51] and Musique
concrète schools of electronic composition. Sound recording was also a major
influence on the development of popular music genres, because it enabled
recordings of songs and bands to be widely distributed. The introduction of the
multitrack recording system had a major influence on rock music, because it
could do much more than record a band's performance. Using a multitrack system,
a band and their music producer could overdub many layers of instrument tracks
and vocals, creating new sounds that would not be possible in a live
performance.

Jazz evolved and became an important genre of music over the course of the 20th
century, and during the second half of that century, rock music did the same.
Jazz is an American musical artform that originated in the beginning of the 20th
century in African American communities in the Southern United States from a
confluence of African and European music traditions. The style's West African
pedigree is evident in its use of blue notes, improvisation, polyrhythms,
syncopation, and the swung note.[52]

Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed in the 1960s from 1950s
rock and roll, rockabilly, blues, and country music.[53] The sound of rock often
revolves around the electric guitar or acoustic guitar, and it uses a strong
back beat laid down by a rhythm section. Along with the guitar or keyboards,
saxophone and blues-style harmonica are used as soloing instruments. In its
"purest form", it "has three chords, a strong, insistent back beat, and a catchy
melody".[This quote needs a citation] The traditional rhythm section for popular
music is rhythm guitar, electric bass guitar, drums. Some bands also have
keyboard instruments such as organ, piano, or, since the 1970s, analog
synthesizers. In the 1980s, pop musicians began using digital synthesizers, such
as the DX-7 synthesizer, electronic drum machines such as the TR-808 and synth
bass devices (such as the TB-303) or synth bass keyboards. In the 1990s, an
increasingly large range of computerized hardware musical devices and
instruments and software (e.g., digital audio workstations) were used. In the
2020s, soft synths and computer music apps make it possible for bedroom
producers to create and record some types of music, such as electronic dance
music in their own home, adding sampled and digital instruments and editing the
recording digitally. In the 1990s, some bands in genres such as nu metal began
including DJs in their bands. DJs create music by manipulating recorded music on
record players or CD players, using a DJ mixer.

Innovation in music technology continued into the 21st century, including the
development of isomorphic keyboards and Dynamic Tonality.

PERFORMANCE

Chinese Naxi musicians

Assyrians playing zurna and Davul, instruments that go back thousands of years.

Performance is the physical expression of music, which occurs when a song is
sung or when a piano piece, electric guitar melody, symphony, drum beat or other
musical part is played by musicians. In classical music, a musical work is
written in music notation by a composer and then it is performed once the
composer is satisfied with its structure and instrumentation. However, as it
gets performed, the interpretation of a song or piece can evolve and change. In
classical music, instrumental performers, singers or conductors may gradually
make changes to the phrasing or tempo of a piece. In popular and traditional
music, the performers have a lot more freedom to make changes to the form of a
song or piece. As such, in popular and traditional music styles, even when a
band plays a cover song, they can make changes to it such as adding a guitar
solo to or inserting an introduction.

A performance can either be planned out and rehearsed (practiced)—which is the
norm in classical music, with jazz big bands and many popular music styles–or
improvised over a chord progression (a sequence of chords), which is the norm in
small jazz and blues groups. Rehearsals of orchestras, concert bands and choirs
are led by a conductor. Rock, blues and jazz bands are usually led by the
bandleader. A rehearsal is a structured repetition of a song or piece by the
performers until it can be sung or played correctly and, if it is a song or
piece for more than one musician, until the parts are together from a rhythmic
and tuning perspective. Improvisation is the creation of a musical idea–a melody
or other musical line–created on the spot, often based on scales or pre-existing
melodic riffs.

Many cultures have strong traditions of solo performance (in which one singer or
instrumentalist performs), such as in Indian classical music, and in the Western
art-music tradition. Other cultures, such as in Bali, include strong traditions
of group performance. All cultures include a mixture of both, and performance
may range from improvised solo playing to highly planned and organised
performances such as the modern classical concert, religious processions,
classical music festivals or music competitions. Chamber music, which is music
for a small ensemble with only a few of each type of instrument, is often seen
as more intimate than large symphonic works.

ORAL AND AURAL TRADITION

Many types of music, such as traditional blues and folk music were not written
down in sheet music; instead, they were originally preserved in the memory of
performers, and the songs were handed down orally, from one musician or singer
to another, or aurally, in which a performer learns a song "by ear". When the
composer of a song or piece is no longer known, this music is often classified
as "traditional" or as a "folk song". Different musical traditions have
different attitudes towards how and where to make changes to the original source
material, from quite strict, to those that demand improvisation or modification
to the music. A culture's history and stories may also be passed on by ear
through song.

ORNAMENTATION

Trill sign—a rapid alternation between two notes.
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In music, an ornament consists of added notes that provide decoration to a
melody, bassline or other musical part. The detail included explicitly in the
music notation varies between genres and historical periods. In general, art
music notation from the 17th through the 19th centuries required performers to
have a great deal of contextual knowledge about performing styles. For example,
in the 17th and 18th centuries, music notated for solo performers typically
indicated a simple, unadorned melody. Performers were expected to know how to
add stylistically appropriate ornaments to add interest to the music, such as
trills and turns. Different styles of music use different ornaments. A Baroque
flute player might add mordents, which are short notes that are played before
the main melody note, either above or below the main melody note. A blues
guitarist playing electric guitar might use string bending to add expression; a
heavy metal guitar player might use hammer-ons and pull-offs.

In the 19th century, art music for solo performers may give a general
instruction such as to perform the music expressively, without describing in
detail how the performer should do this. The performer was expected to know how
to use tempo changes, accentuation, and pauses (among other devices) to obtain
this "expressive" performance style. In the 20th century, art music notation
often became more explicit and used a range of markings and annotations to
indicate to performers how they should play or sing the piece. In popular music
and traditional music styles, performers are expected to know what types of
ornaments are stylistically appropriate for a given song or piece, and
performers typically add them in an improvised fashion. One exception is
note-for-note solos, in which some players precisely recreate a famous version
of a solo, such as a guitar solo.

PHILOSOPHY AND AESTHETICS

Further information: Aesthetics of music

Painting by Boldini of a woman playing the piano

Philosophy of music is a subfield of philosophy. The philosophy of music is the
study of fundamental questions regarding music. The philosophical study of music
has many connections with philosophical questions in metaphysics and aesthetics.
Some basic questions in the philosophy of music are[according to whom?]:

* What is the definition of music? (What are the necessary and sufficient
conditions for classifying something as music?)
* What is the relationship between music and mind?
* What does music history reveal to us about the world?
* What is the connection between music and emotions?
* What is meaning in relation to music?

In ancient times, such as with the Ancient Greeks, the aesthetics of music
explored the mathematical and cosmological dimensions of rhythmic and harmonic
organization. In the 18th century, focus shifted to the experience of hearing
music, and thus to questions about its beauty and human enjoyment (plaisir and
jouissance) of music. The origin of this philosophic shift is sometimes
attributed to Alexander Gottlieb Baumgarten in the 18th century, followed by
Immanuel Kant. Through their writing, the ancient term 'aesthetics', meaning
sensory perception, received its present-day connotation. In the 2000s,
philosophers have tended to emphasize issues besides beauty and enjoyment. For
example, music's capacity to express emotion has been a central issue.[citation
needed]

In the 20th century, important contributions were made by Peter Kivy, Jerrold
Levinson, Roger Scruton, and Stephen Davies. However, many musicians, music
critics, and other non-philosophers have contributed to the aesthetics of music.
In the 19th century, a significant debate arose between Eduard Hanslick, a music
critic and musicologist, and composer Richard Wagner regarding whether music can
express meaning. Harry Partch and some other musicologists, such as Kyle Gann,
have studied and tried to popularize microtonal music and the usage of alternate
musical scales. Also many modern composers like La Monte Young, Rhys Chatham and
Glenn Branca paid much attention to a scale called just intonation.[citation
needed]

It is often thought that music has the ability to affect our emotions,
intellect, and psychology; it can assuage our loneliness or incite our passions.
The philosopher Plato suggests in The Republic that music has a direct effect on
the soul. Therefore, he proposes that in the ideal regime music would be closely
regulated by the state (Book VII).[citation needed] In Ancient China, the
philosopher Confucius believed that music and rituals or rites are
interconnected and harmonious with nature; he stated that music was the
harmonization of heaven and earth, while the order was brought by the rites
order, making them extremely crucial functions in society.[54]

There has been a strong tendency in the aesthetics of music to emphasize the
paramount importance of compositional structure; however, other issues
concerning the aesthetics of music include lyricism, harmony, hypnotism,
emotiveness, temporal dynamics, resonance, playfulness, and color (see also
musical development).[citation needed]

PSYCHOLOGY

Modern music psychology aims to explain and understand musical behavior and
experience.[55] Research in this field and its subfields are primarily
empirical; their knowledge tends to advance on the basis of interpretations of
data collected by systematic observation of and interaction with human
participants. In addition to its focus on fundamental perceptions and cognitive
processes, music psychology is a field of research with practical relevance for
many areas, including music performance, composition, education, criticism, and
therapy, as well as investigations of human aptitude, skill, intelligence,
creativity, and social behavior.

NEUROSCIENCE

Main article: Neuroscience of music

The primary auditory cortex is one of the main areas associated with superior
pitch resolution.

Cognitive neuroscience of music is the scientific study of brain-based
mechanisms involved in the cognitive processes underlying music. These
behaviours include music listening, performing, composing, reading, writing, and
ancillary activities. It also is increasingly concerned with the brain basis for
musical aesthetics and musical emotion. The field is distinguished by its
reliance on direct observations of the brain, using such techniques as
functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), transcranial magnetic stimulation
(TMS), magnetoencephalography (MEG), electroencephalography (EEG), and positron
emission tomography (PET).

COGNITIVE MUSICOLOGY

Cognitive musicology is a branch of cognitive science concerned with
computationally modeling musical knowledge with the goal of understanding both
music and cognition.[56] The use of computer models provides an exacting,
interactive medium in which to formulate and test theories and has roots in
artificial intelligence and cognitive science.[57]

This interdisciplinary field investigates topics such as the parallels between
language and music in the brain. Biologically inspired models of computation are
often included in research, such as neural networks and evolutionary
programs.[58] This field seeks to model how musical knowledge is represented,
stored, perceived, performed, and generated. By using a well-structured computer
environment, the systematic structures of these cognitive phenomena can be
investigated.[59]

PSYCHOACOUSTICS

Further information: Hearing

Psychoacoustics is the scientific study of sound perception. More specifically,
it is the branch of science studying the psychological and physiological
responses associated with sound (including speech and music). It can be further
categorized as a branch of psychophysics.

EVOLUTIONARY MUSICOLOGY

Evolutionary musicology concerns the "origins of music, the question of animal
song, selection pressures underlying music evolution", and "music evolution and
human evolution".[60] It seeks to understand music perception and activity in
the context of evolutionary theory. Charles Darwin speculated that music may
have held an adaptive advantage and functioned as a protolanguage,[61] a view
which has spawned several competing theories of music evolution.[62][63][64] An
alternate view sees music as a by-product of linguistic evolution; a type of
"auditory cheesecake" that pleases the senses without providing any adaptive
function.[65] This view has been directly countered by numerous music
researchers.[66][67][68]

CULTURAL EFFECTS

Main article: Culture in music cognition
See also: Ethnomusicology

An individual's culture or ethnicity plays a role in their music cognition,
including their preferences, emotional reaction, and musical memory. Musical
preferences are biased toward culturally familiar musical traditions beginning
in infancy, and adults' classification of the emotion of a musical piece depends
on both culturally specific and universal structural features.[69][70]
Additionally, individuals' musical memory abilities are greater for culturally
familiar music than for culturally unfamiliar music.[71][72]

SOCIOLOGICAL ASPECTS

Main article: Sociomusicology

Song Dynasty (960–1279) painting, Night Revels of Han Xizai, showing Chinese
musicians entertaining guests at a party in a 10th-century household

Many ethnographic studies demonstrate that music is a participatory,
community-based activity.[73][74] Music is experienced by individuals in a range
of social settings ranging from being alone to attending a large concert,
forming a music community, which cannot be understood as a function of
individual will or accident; it includes both commercial and non-commercial
participants with a shared set of common values. Musical performances take
different forms in different cultures and socioeconomic milieus. In Europe and
North America, there is often a divide between what types of music are viewed as
a "high culture" and "low culture." "High culture" types of music typically
include Western art music such as Baroque, Classical, Romantic, and modern-era
symphonies, concertos, and solo works, and are typically heard in formal
concerts in concert halls and churches, with the audience sitting quietly in
seats.

Other types of music—including, but not limited to, jazz, blues, soul, and
country—are often performed in bars, nightclubs, and theatres, where the
audience may be able to drink, dance, and express themselves by cheering. Until
the later 20th century, the division between "high" and "low" musical forms was
widely accepted as a valid distinction that separated out better quality, more
advanced "art music" from the popular styles of music heard in bars and dance
halls.

However, in the 1980s and 1990s, musicologists studying this perceived divide
between "high" and "low" musical genres argued that this distinction is not
based on the musical value or quality of the different types of music.[citation
needed] Rather, they argued that this distinction was based largely on the
socioeconomics standing or social class of the performers or audience of the
different types of music.[citation needed] For example, whereas the audience for
Classical symphony concerts typically have above-average incomes, the audience
for a rap concert in an inner-city area may have below-average incomes.[citation
needed] Even though the performers, audience, or venue where non-"art" music is
performed may have a lower socioeconomic status, the music that is performed,
such as blues, rap, punk, funk, or ska may be very complex and sophisticated.

When composers introduce styles of music that break with convention, there can
be a strong resistance from academic music experts and popular culture.
Late-period Beethoven string quartets, Stravinsky ballet scores, serialism,
bebop-era jazz, hip hop, punk rock, and electronica have all been considered
non-music by some critics when they were first introduced.[citation needed] Such
themes are examined in the sociology of music. The sociological study of music,
sometimes called sociomusicology, is often pursued in departments of sociology,
media studies, or music, and is closely related to the field of ethnomusicology.

ROLE OF WOMEN

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Main article: Women in music

19th-century composer and pianist Clara Schumann

Navneet Aditya Waiba- Nepali Folk Singer. The only singer using
authentic/original folk instruments and singing authentic unadulterated Nepali
Folk songs.

Women have played a major role in music throughout history, as composers,
songwriters, instrumental performers, singers, conductors, music scholars, music
educators, music critics/music journalists and other musical professions. As
well, it describes music movements, events and genres related to women, women's
issues and feminism. In the 2010s, while women comprise a significant proportion
of popular music and classical music singers, and a significant proportion of
songwriters (many of them being singer-songwriters), there are few women record
producers, rock critics and rock instrumentalists. Although there have been a
huge number of women composers in classical music, from the medieval period to
the present day, women composers are significantly underrepresented in the
commonly performed classical music repertoire, music history textbooks and music
encyclopedias; for example, in the Concise Oxford History of Music, Clara
Schumann is one of the only female composers who is mentioned.

Women comprise a significant proportion of instrumental soloists in classical
music and the percentage of women in orchestras is increasing. A 2015 article on
concerto soloists in major Canadian orchestras, however, indicated that 84% of
the soloists with the Orchestre Symphonique de Montreal were men. In 2012, women
still made up just 6% of the top-ranked Vienna Philharmonic orchestra. Women are
less common as instrumental players in popular music genres such as rock and
heavy metal, although there have been a number of notable female
instrumentalists and all-female bands. Women are particularly underrepresented
in extreme metal genres.[75] In the 1960s pop-music scene, "[l]ike most aspects
of the...music business, [in the 1960s,] songwriting was a male-dominated field.
Though there were plenty of female singers on the radio, women ...were primarily
seen as consumers:... Singing was sometimes an acceptable pastime for a girl,
but playing an instrument, writing songs, or producing records simply wasn't
done."[76] Young women "...were not socialized to see themselves as people who
create [music]."[76]

Women are also underrepresented in orchestral conducting, music criticism/music
journalism, music producing, and sound engineering. While women were discouraged
from composing in the 19th century, and there are few women musicologists, women
became involved in music education "...to such a degree that women dominated
[this field] during the later half of the 19th century and well into the 20th
century."[77]

According to Jessica Duchen, a music writer for London's The Independent, women
musicians in classical music are "...too often judged for their appearances,
rather than their talent" and they face pressure "...to look sexy onstage and in
photos."[78] Duchen states that while "[t]here are women musicians who refuse to
play on their looks,...the ones who do tend to be more materially
successful."[78] According to the UK's Radio 3 editor, Edwina Wolstencroft, the
music industry has long been open to having women in performance or
entertainment roles, but women are much less likely to have positions of
authority, such as being the conductor of an orchestra.[79] In popular music,
while there are many women singers recording songs, there are very few women
behind the audio console acting as music producers, the individuals who direct
and manage the recording process.[80] One of the most recorded artists is Asha
Bhosle, an Indian singer best known as a playback singer in Hindi cinema.[81]

MEDIA AND TECHNOLOGY

Further information: Computer music and Music technology

Music production in the 2000s using a digital audio workstation (DAW) with an
electronic keyboard and a multi-monitor set-up

The music that composers and songwriters make can be heard through several
media; the most traditional way is to hear it live, in the presence of the
musicians (or as one of the musicians), in an outdoor or indoor space such as an
amphitheatre, concert hall, cabaret room, theatre, pub, or coffeehouse. Since
the 20th century, live music can also be broadcast over the radio, television or
the Internet, or recorded and listened to on a CD player or Mp3 player.

Some musical styles focus on producing songs and pieces for a live performance,
while others focus on producing a recording that mixes together sounds that were
never played "live." Even in essentially live styles such as rock, recording
engineers often use the ability to edit, splice and mix to produce recordings
that may be considered "better" than the actual live performance. For example,
some singers record themselves singing a melody and then record multiple harmony
parts using overdubbing, creating a sound that would be impossible to do live.

Technology has had an influence on music since prehistoric times, when cave
people used simple tools to bore holes into bone flutes 41,000 years ago.
Technology continued to influence music throughout the history of music, as it
enabled new instruments and music notation reproduction systems to be used, with
one of the watershed moments in music notation being the invention of the
printing press in the 1400s, which meant music scores no longer had to be hand
copied. In the 19th century, music technology led to the development of a more
powerful, louder piano and led to the development of new valves brass
instruments.

In the early 20th century (in the late 1920s), as talking pictures emerged in
the early 20th century, with their prerecorded musical tracks, an increasing
number of moviehouse orchestra musicians found themselves out of work.[82]
During the 1920s, live musical performances by orchestras, pianists, and theater
organists were common at first-run theaters.[83] With the coming of the talking
motion pictures, those featured performances were largely eliminated. The
American Federation of Musicians (AFM) took out newspaper advertisements
protesting the replacement of live musicians with mechanical playing devices.
One 1929 ad that appeared in the Pittsburgh Press features an image of a can
labeled "Canned Music / Big Noise Brand / Guaranteed to Produce No Intellectual
or Emotional Reaction Whatever"[84]

Since legislation introduced to help protect performers, composers, publishers
and producers, including the Audio Home Recording Act of 1992 in the United
States, and the 1979 revised Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and
Artistic Works in the United Kingdom, recordings and live performances have also
become more accessible through computers, devices and Internet in a form that is
commonly known as Music-On-Demand.

In many cultures, there is less distinction between performing and listening to
music, since virtually everyone is involved in some sort of musical activity,
often in a communal setting. In industrialized countries, listening to music
through a recorded form, such as sound recording on record or radio became more
common than experiencing live performance, roughly in the middle of the 20th
century. By the 1980s, watching music videos was a popular way to listen to
music, while also seeing the performers.

Sometimes, live performances incorporate prerecorded sounds. For example, a disc
jockey uses disc records for scratching, and some 20th-century works have a solo
for an instrument or voice that is performed along with music that is
prerecorded onto a tape. Some pop bands use recorded backing tracks. Computers
and many keyboards can be programmed to produce and play Musical Instrument
Digital Interface (MIDI) music. Audiences can also become performers by
participating in karaoke, an activity of Japanese origin centered on a device
that plays voice-eliminated versions of well-known songs. Most karaoke machines
also have video screens that show lyrics to songs being performed; performers
can follow the lyrics as they sing over the instrumental tracks.

INTERNET

The advent of the Internet and widespread high-speed broadband access has
transformed the experience of music, partly through the increased ease of access
to recordings of music via streaming video and vastly increased choice of music
for consumers. Chris Anderson, in his book The Long Tail: Why the Future of
Business Is Selling Less of More, suggests that while the traditional economic
model of supply and demand describes scarcity, the Internet retail model is
based on abundance. Digital storage costs are low, so a company can afford to
make its whole recording inventory available online, giving customers as much
choice as possible. It has thus become economically viable to offer music
recordings that very few people are interested in. Consumers' growing awareness
of their increased choice results in a closer association between listening
tastes and social identity, and the creation of thousands of niche markets.[85]

Another effect of the Internet arose with online communities and social media
websites like YouTube and Facebook, a social networking service. These sites
make it easier for aspiring singers and amateur bands to distribute videos of
their songs, connect with other musicians, and gain audience interest.
Professional musicians also use YouTube as a free publisher of promotional
material. YouTube users, for example, no longer only download and listen to
MP3s, but also actively create their own. According to Don Tapscott and Anthony
D. Williams, in their book Wikinomics, there has been a shift from a traditional
consumer role to what they call a "prosumer" role, a consumer who both creates
content and consumes. Manifestations of this in music include the production of
mashes, remixes, and music videos by fans.[86]

BUSINESS

Music store selling various singles and albums

The music industry refers to the businesses connected with the creation and sale
of music. It consists of songwriters and composers who create new songs and
musical pieces, music producers and sound engineers who record songs and pieces,
record labels and publishers that distribute recorded music products and sheet
music internationally and that often control the rights to those products. Some
music labels are "independent," while others are subsidiaries of larger
corporate entities or international media groups. In the 2000s, the increasing
popularity of listening to music as digital music files on MP3 players, iPods,
or computers, and of trading music on file sharing websites or buying it online
in the form of digital files had a major impact on the traditional music
business. Many smaller independent CD stores went out of business as music
buyers decreased their purchases of CDs, and many labels had lower CD sales.
Some companies did well with the change to a digital format, though, such as
Apple's iTunes, an online music store that sells digital files of songs over the
Internet.

INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY LAWS

Main article: Royalty payment § Music royalties

In spite of some international copyright treaties, determining which music is in
the public domain is complicated by the variety of national copyright laws that
may be applicable. US copyright law formerly protected printed music published
after 1923 for 28 years and with renewal for another 28 years, but the Copyright
Act of 1976 made renewal automatic, and the Digital Millennium Copyright Act
changed the calculation of the copyright term to 70 years after the death of the
creator. Recorded sound falls under mechanical licensing, often covered by a
confusing patchwork of state laws; most cover versions are licensed through the
Harry Fox Agency. Performance rights may be obtained by either performers or the
performance venue; the two major organizations for licensing are BMI and ASCAP.
Two online sources for public domain music are IMSLP (International Music Score
Library Project) and Choral Public Domain Library (CPDL).

EDUCATION

NON-PROFESSIONAL

Main article: Music education

A Suzuki violin recital with students of varying ages

The incorporation of some music or singing training into general education from
preschool to post secondary education is common in North America and Europe.
Involvement in playing and singing music is thought to teach basic skills such
as concentration, counting, listening, and cooperation while also promoting
understanding of language, improving the ability to recall information, and
creating an environment more conducive to learning in other areas.[87] In
elementary schools, children often learn to play instruments such as the
recorder, sing in small choirs, and learn about the history of Western art music
and traditional music. Some elementary school children also learn about popular
music styles. In religious schools, children sing hymns and other religious
music. In secondary schools (and less commonly in elementary schools), students
may have the opportunity to perform in some types of musical ensembles, such as
choirs (a group of singers), marching bands, concert bands, jazz bands, or
orchestras. In some school systems, music lessons on how to play instruments may
be provided. Some students also take private music lessons after school with a
singing teacher or instrument teacher. Amateur musicians typically learn basic
musical rudiments (e.g., learning about musical notation for musical scales and
rhythms) and beginner- to intermediate-level singing or instrument-playing
techniques.

At the university level, students in most arts and humanities programs can
receive credit for taking a few music courses, which typically take the form of
an overview course on the history of music, or a music appreciation course that
focuses on listening to music and learning about different musical styles. In
addition, most North American and European universities have some types of
musical ensembles that students in arts and humanities are able to participate
in, such as choirs, marching bands, concert bands, or orchestras. The study of
Western art music is increasingly common outside of North America and Europe,
such as the Indonesian Institute of the Arts in Yogyakarta, Indonesia, or the
classical music programs that are available in Asian countries such as South
Korea, Japan, and China. At the same time, Western universities and colleges are
widening their curriculum to include music of non-Western cultures, such as the
music of Africa or Bali (e.g. Gamelan music).

PROFESSIONAL

Manhattan School of Music professor and professional double bass player Timothy
Cobb teaching a bass lesson in the late 2000s. His bass has a low C extension
with a metal "machine" with buttons for playing the pitches on the extension.

People aiming to become professional musicians, singers, composers, songwriters,
music teachers and practitioners of other music-related professions such as
music history professors, sound engineers, and so on study in specialized
post-secondary programs offered by colleges, universities and music
conservatories. Some institutions that train individuals for careers in music
offer training in a wide range of professions, as is the case with many of the
top U.S. universities, which offer degrees in music performance (including
singing and playing instruments), music history, music theory, music
composition, music education (for individuals aiming to become elementary or
high school music teachers) and, in some cases, conducting. On the other hand,
some small colleges may only offer training in a single profession (e.g., sound
recording).

While most university and conservatory music programs focus on training students
in classical music, there are a number of universities and colleges that train
musicians for careers as jazz or popular music musicians and composers, with
notable U.S. examples including the Manhattan School of Music and the Berklee
College of Music. Two important schools in Canada which offer professional jazz
training are McGill University and Humber College. Individuals aiming at careers
in some types of music, such as heavy metal music, country music or blues are
less likely to become professionals by completing degrees or diplomas in
colleges or universities. Instead, they typically learn about their style of
music by singing or playing in many bands (often beginning in amateur bands,
cover bands and tribute bands), studying recordings available on CD, DVD and the
Internet and working with already-established professionals in their style of
music, either through informal mentoring or regular music lessons. Since the
2000s, the increasing popularity and availability of Internet forums and YouTube
"how-to" videos have enabled many singers and musicians from metal, blues and
similar genres to improve their skills. Many pop, rock and country singers train
informally with vocal coaches and singing teachers.

UNDERGRADUATE

Undergraduate university degrees in music, including the Bachelor of Music, the
Bachelor of Music Education, and the Bachelor of Arts (with a major in music)
typically take about four years to complete. These degrees provide students with
a grounding in music theory and music history, and many students also study an
instrument or learn singing technique as part of their program. Graduates of
undergraduate music programs can seek employment or go on to further study in
music graduate programs. Bachelor's degree graduates are also eligible to apply
to some graduate programs and professional schools outside of music (e.g.,
public administration, business administration, library science, and, in some
jurisdictions, teacher's college, law school or medical school).

GRADUATE

Graduate music degrees include the Master of Music, the Master of Arts (in
musicology, music theory or another music field), the Doctor of Philosophy
(Ph.D.) (e.g., in musicology or music theory), and more recently, the Doctor of
Musical Arts, or DMA. The Master of Music degree, which takes one to two years
to complete, is typically awarded to students studying the performance of an
instrument, education, voice (singing) or composition. The Master of Arts
degree, which takes one to two years to complete and often requires a thesis, is
typically awarded to students studying musicology, music history, music theory
or ethnomusicology.

The PhD, which is required for students who want to work as university
professors in musicology, music history, or music theory, takes three to five
years of study after the master's degree, during which time the student will
complete advanced courses and undertake research for a dissertation. The DMA is
a relatively new degree that was created to provide a credential for
professional performers or composers that want to work as university professors
in musical performance or composition. The DMA takes three to five years after a
master's degree, and includes advanced courses, projects, and performances. In
Medieval times, the study of music was one of the Quadrivium of the seven
Liberal Arts and considered vital to higher learning. Within the quantitative
Quadrivium, music, or more accurately harmonics, was the study of rational
proportions.

MUSICOLOGY

Musicology, the academic study of the subject of music, is studied in
universities and music conservatories. The earliest definitions from the 19th
century defined three sub-disciplines of musicology: systematic musicology,
historical musicology, and comparative musicology or ethnomusicology. In
2010-era scholarship, one is more likely to encounter a division of the
discipline into music theory, music history, and ethnomusicology. Research in
musicology has often been enriched by cross-disciplinary work, for example in
the field of psychoacoustics. The study of music of non-Western cultures, and
the cultural study of music, is called ethnomusicology. Students can pursue the
undergraduate study of musicology, ethnomusicology, music history, and music
theory through several different types of degrees, including bachelor's degrees,
master's degrees and PhD degrees.

MUSIC THEORY

Music theory is the study of music, generally in a highly technical manner
outside of other disciplines. More broadly it refers to any study of music,
usually related in some form with compositional concerns, and may include
mathematics, physics, and anthropology. What is most commonly taught in
beginning music theory classes are guidelines to write in the style of the
common practice period, or tonal music. Theory, even of music of the common
practice period, may take many other forms. Musical set theory is the
application of mathematical set theory to music, first applied to atonal music.
Speculative music theory, contrasted with analytic music theory, is devoted to
the analysis and synthesis of music materials, for example tuning systems,
generally as preparation for composition.

ZOOMUSICOLOGY

Zoomusicology is the study of the music of non-human animals, or the musical
aspects of sounds produced by non-human animals. As George Herzog (1941) asked,
"do animals have music?" François-Bernard Mâche's Musique, mythe, nature, ou les
Dauphins d'Arion (1983), a study of "ornitho-musicology" using a technique of
Nicolas Ruwet's Langage, musique, poésie (1972) paradigmatic segmentation
analysis, shows that bird songs are organised according to a
repetition-transformation principle. Jean-Jacques Nattiez (1990), argues that
"in the last analysis, it is a human being who decides what is and is not
musical, even when the sound is not of human origin. If we acknowledge that
sound is not organised and conceptualised (that is, made to form music) merely
by its producer, but by the mind that perceives it, then music is uniquely
human."

ETHNOMUSICOLOGY

Main article: Ethnomusicology

Ethnomusicologist Frances Densmore recording Blackfoot chief Mountain Chief for
the Bureau of American Ethnology (1916)

In the West, much of the history of music that is taught deals with the Western
civilization's art music, which is known as classical music. The history of
music in non-Western cultures ("world music" or the field of "ethnomusicology"),
which typically covers music from Africa and Asia is also taught in Western
universities. This includes the documented classical traditions of Asian
countries outside the influence of Western Europe, as well as the folk or
indigenous music of various other cultures. Popular or folk styles of music in
non-Western countries varied widely from culture to culture, and from period to
period. Different cultures emphasised different instruments, techniques, singing
styles and uses for music. Music has been used for entertainment, ceremonies,
rituals, religious purposes and for practical and artistic communication.
Non-Western music has also been used for propaganda purposes, as was the case
with Chinese opera during the Cultural Revolution.

There is a host of music classifications for non-Western music, many of which
are caught up in the argument over the definition of music. Among the largest of
these is the division between classical music (or "art" music), and popular
music (or commercial music – including non-Western styles of rock, country, and
pop music-related styles). Some genres do not fit neatly into one of these "big
two" classifications, (such as folk music, world music, or jazz-related music).

As world cultures have come into greater global contact, their indigenous
musical styles have often merged with other styles, which produces new styles.
For example, the United States bluegrass style contains elements from
Anglo-Irish, Scottish, Irish, German and African instrumental and vocal
traditions, which were able to fuse in the United States' multi-ethnic "melting
pot" society. Some types of world music contain a mixture of non-Western
indigenous styles with Western pop music elements. Genres of music are
determined as much by tradition and presentation as by the actual music. Some
works, like George Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue, are claimed by both jazz and
classical music, while Gershwin's Porgy and Bess and Leonard Bernstein's West
Side Story are claimed by both opera and the Broadway musical tradition. Many
current music festivals for non-Western music include bands and singers from a
particular musical genre, such as world music.

Indian music, for example, is one of the oldest and longest living types of
music, and is still widely heard and performed in South Asia, as well as
internationally (especially since the 1960s). Indian music has mainly three
forms of classical music, Hindustani, Carnatic, and Dhrupad styles. It has also
a large repertoire of styles, which involve only percussion music such as the
talavadya performances famous in South India.

THERAPY

A music therapist from a "Blues in the Schools" program plays harmonica with a
US Navy sailor at a Naval Therapy Center.

Music therapy is an interpersonal process in which a trained therapist uses
music and all of its facets—physical, emotional, mental, social, aesthetic, and
spiritual—to help clients to improve or maintain their health. In some
instances, the client's needs are addressed directly through music; in others
they are addressed through the relationships that develop between the client and
therapist. Music therapy is used with individuals of all ages and with a variety
of conditions, including: psychiatric disorders, medical problems, physical
disabilities, sensory impairments, developmental disabilities, substance abuse
issues, communication disorders, interpersonal problems, and aging. It is also
used to improve learning, build self-esteem, reduce stress, support physical
exercise, and facilitate a host of other health-related activities. Music
therapists may encourage clients to sing, play instruments, create songs, or do
other musical activities.

One of the earliest mentions of music therapy was in Al-Farabi's (c. 872–950)
treatise Meanings of the Intellect, which described the therapeutic effects of
music on the soul.[88][verification needed] Music has long been used to help
people deal with their emotions. In the 17th century, the scholar Robert
Burton's The Anatomy of Melancholy argued that music and dance were critical in
treating mental illness, especially melancholia.[89] He noted that music has an
"excellent power ...to expel many other diseases" and he called it "a sovereign
remedy against despair and melancholy." He pointed out that in Antiquity, Canus,
a Rhodian fiddler, used music to "make a melancholy man merry, ...a lover more
enamoured, a religious man more devout."[90][91][92] In the Ottoman Empire,
mental illnesses were treated with music.[93] In November 2006, Dr. Michael J.
Crawford[94] and his colleagues also found that music therapy helped
schizophrenic patients.[95]

Albert Einstein had a lifelong love of music (particularly the works of Bach and
Mozart),[96] once stating that life without playing music would be inconceivable
to him. In some interviews Einstein even attributed much of his scientific
intuition to music, with his son Hans recounting that "whenever he felt that he
had come to the end of the road or into a difficult situation in his work, he
would take refuge in music, and that would usually resolve all his
difficulties." Something in the music, according to Michele and Robert
Root-Bernstein in Psychology Today, "would guide his thoughts in new and
creative directions."[97] It has been said that Einstein considered Mozart's
music to reveal a universal harmony that Einstein believed existed in the
universe, "as if the great Wolfgang Amadeus did not 'create' his beautifully
clear music at all, but simply discovered it already made. This perspective
parallels, remarkably, Einstein’s views on the ultimate simplicity of nature and
its explanation and statement via essentially simple mathematical
expressions."[98] A review suggests that music may be effective for improving
subjective sleep quality in adults with insomnia symptoms.[99] Music is also
being used in clinical rehabilitation of cognitive and motor disorders.[100]

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