Music is an art form whose medium is sound organized in time. Common elements of music are pitch which governs melody and harmony, rhythm and its associated concepts tempo, meter, and articulation, dynamics, and the sonic qualities of timbre and texture. The word derives from art of the Muses. The creation, performance, significance, and even the definition of music vary according to culture and social context. Music ranges from strictly organized compositions and their recreation in performance, through improvisational music to aleatoric forms. Music can be divided into genres and subgenres, although the dividing lines and relationships between music genres are often subtle, sometimes open to individual interpretation, and occasionally controversial. Within the arts, music may be classified as a performing art, a fine art, and auditory art.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 of electric bass guitar, drums, and keyboard instruments such as organ, piano, or, since the s, digital synthesizers.
To people in many cultures, music is inextricably intertwined into their way of life. Greek philosophers and ancient Indians defined music as tones ordered horizontally as melodies and vertically as harmonies. 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, thcentury composer John Cage thought that any sound can be music, saying, for example, There is no noise, only sound. According to musicologist JeanJacques Nattiez, the border between music and noise is always culturally defined—which implies that, even within a single society, this border does not always pass through the same place in short, there is rarely a consensus.… By all accounts there is no single and intercultural universal concept defining what music might be, except that it is sound through time.Along with the guitar or keyboards, saxophone and bluesstyle harmonica are used as soloing instruments. In its purest form, it has three chords, a strong, insistent back beat, and a catchy melody. In the late s and early s, rock music branched out into different subgenres, ranging from blues rock and jazzrock fusion to heavy metal and punk rock, as well as the more classical influenced genre of progressive rock.
Western cultures
During the Medieval music era , the only European repertory which has survived from before about is the monophonic liturgical plainsong 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. From the Renaissance music era , much of the surviving music of th century Europe is secular. By the middle of the th century, composers and singers used a smooth polyphony for sacred musical compositions. The introduction of commercial printing helped to disseminate musical styles more quickly and across a larger area. The era of Baroque music began when the first operas were written and when contrapuntal music became prevalent. German Baroque composers wrote for small ensembles including strings, brass, and woodwinds, as well as choirs, pipe organ, harpsichord, and clavichord. During the Baroque 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. The music of the Classical period is characterized by homophonic texture, often featuring a prominent melody with accompaniment. These new melodies tended to be almost voicelike and singable. The now popular instrumental music was dominated by further evolution of musical forms initially defined in the Baroque period the sonata, and the concerto, with the addition of the new form, the symphony. Joseph Haydn and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart are among the central figures of the Classical period.
In , the Romantic era s in music developed, with Ludwig van Beethoven and Franz Schubert as transitional composers who introduced a more dramatic, expressive style. During this era, existing genres, forms, and functions of music were developed, and the emotional and expressive qualities of music came to take precedence over technique and tradition. In Beethovens case, motifs developed organically came to replace melody as the most significant compositional unit. The late th century saw a dramatic expansion in the size of the orchestra, and in the role of concerts as part of urban society. Later Romantic composers created complex and often much longer musical works. They used more complex chords and used more dissonance to create dramatic tension. With th century music, there was a vast increase in music listening as the radio gained popularity and phonographs were used to replay and distribute music. The focus of art music was characterized by exploration of new rhythms, styles, and sounds. Igor Stravinsky, Arnold Schoenberg, and John Cage were all influential composers in th century art music.Jazz evolved and became a significant genre of music over the course of the th century, and during the second half of that century, rock music did the same. Jazz is an American musical art form which originated in the beginning of the th century in African American communities in the Southern United States from a confluence of African and European music traditions. The styles West African pedigree is evident in its use of blue notes, improvisation, polyrhythms, syncopation, and the swung note. From its early development until the present, jazz has also incorporated music from th and th century American popular music. Jazz has, from its early th century inception, spawned a variety of subgenres, ranging from New Orleans Dixieland s to s and sera jazzrock fusion. Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed in the s from s rock and roll, rockabilly, blues, and country music.
NonWestern Classical traditions
Indian classical music is one of the oldest musical traditions in the world. The Indus Valley civilization has sculptures which show dance and old musical instruments, like the seven holed flute. Various types of stringed instruments and drums have been recovered from Harrappa and Mohenjo Daro by excavations carried out by Sir Mortimer Wheeler. The Rigveda has elements of present Indian music, with a musical notation to denote the metre and the mode of chanting. Indian classical music marga is monophonic, and based around a single melody line or raga rhythmically organized through talas. Carnatic music is largely devotional the majority of the songs are addressed to the Hindu deities. There are a lot of songs emphasising love and other social issues. Hindustani music was also influenced by the Persian performance practices of the Afghan Mughals.Asian music covers the music cultures of Arabia, Central Asia, East Asia, South Asia, and Southeast Asia. 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 pentatonicdiatonic, having a scale of twelve notes to an octave as does Europeaninfluenced music.
Persian music is the music of Persia and Persian language countries musiqi, the science and art of music, and muzik, the sound and performance of music Sakata . See also Music of Iran, Music of Afghanistan, Music of Tajikistan, Music of Uzbekistan. The music of Greece was a major part of ancient Greek theater. In Ancient Greece, mixedgender choruses performed for entertainment, celebration and spiritual reasons. Instruments included the doublereed aulos and the plucked string instrument, the lyre, especially the special kind called a kithara. Music was an important part of education in ancient Greece, and boys were taught music starting at age six. Greek musical literacy created a flowering of development Greek music theory included the Greek musical modes, eventually became the basis for Western religious music and classical music. Later, influences from the Roman Empire, Eastern Europe and the Byzantine Empire changed Greek music.
Performance
Performance is the physical expression of music. Often, a musical work is performed once its structure and instrumentation are satisfactory to its creators however, as it gets performed, it can evolve and change. A performance can either be rehearsed or improvised. Improvisation is a musical idea created without premeditation, while rehearsal is vigorous repetition of an idea until it has achieved cohesion. Musicians will sometimes add improvisation to a wellrehearsed idea to create a unique performance. Many cultures include strong traditions of solo and performance, 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 for ones enjoyment to highly planned and organised performance rituals such as the modern classical concert, religious processions, 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 symphonic works.
The detail included explicitly in the music notation varies between genres and historical periods. In general, art music notation from the th through the th century required performers to have a great deal of contextual knowledge about performing styles. For example, in the th and th century, music notated for solo performers typically indicated a simple, unornamented melody. However, it was expected that performers would know how to add stylisticallyappropriate ornaments such as trills and turns. In the th 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. It was expected that the performer would know how to use tempo changes, accentuation, and pauses among other devices to obtain this expressive performance style. In the th 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 jazz, music notation almost always indicates only the basic framework of the melody, harmony, or performance approach musicians and singers are expected to know the performance conventions and styles associated with specific genres and pieces. For example, the lead sheet for a jazz tune may only indicate the melody and the chord changes. The performers in the jazz ensemble are expected to know how to flesh out this basic structure by adding ornaments, improvised music, and chordal accompaniment.
Production
Music is composed and performed for many purposes, ranging from aesthetic pleasure, religious or ceremonial purposes, or as an entertainment product for the marketplace. Amateur musicians compose and perform music for their own pleasure, and they do not derive their income from music. Professional musicians are employed by a range of institutions and organisations, including armed forces, churches and synagogues, symphony orchestras, broadcasting or film production companies, and music schools. Professional musicians sometimes work as freelancers, 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 and orchestras. In some cases, amateur musicians attain a professional level of competence, and they are able to perform in professional performance settings. A distinction is often made between music performed for the benefit of a live audience and music that is performed for the purpose of being 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 recorded and distributed or broadcast.
Notation is the written expression of music notes and rhythms on paper using symbols. When music is written down, the pitches and rhythm of the music is notated, along with instructions on how to perform the music. The study of how to read notation involves music theory, harmony, the study of performance practice, and in some cases an understanding of historical performance methods. Written notation varies with style and period of 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. 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. Tabulature was also used in the Baroque era to notate music for the lute, a stringed, fretted instrument. Notated music is produced as sheet music. To perform music from notation requires an understanding of both the rhythmic and pitch elements embodied in the symbols and the performance practice that is associated with a piece of music or a genre.
