Music is a form of art that involves organized and audible sounds and silence. It is normally expressed in terms of pitch (which includes melody and harmony), rhythm (which includes tempo and meter), and the quality of sound (which includes timbre, articulation, dynamics, and texture). Music may also involve complex generative forms in time through the construction of patterns and combinations of natural stimuli, principally sound. Music may be used for artistic or aesthetic, communicative, entertainment, or ceremonial purposes. The definition of what constitutes music varies according to culture and social context.

If painting can be viewed as a visual art form, music can be viewed as an auditory art form.

Allegory of Music, by Filippino Lippi

Allegory of Music, by Lorenzo Lippi

Contents

1 Definition

2 History

3 Aspects

4 Production 4.1 Performance

4.2 Solo and ensemble

4.3 Oral tradition and notation

4.4 Improvisation, interpretation, composition

4.5 Composition

Main article: Definition of music

See also: Music genre

The broadest definition of music is organized sound. There are observable patterns to what is broadly labeled music, and while there are understandable cultural variations, the properties of music are the properties of sound as perceived and processed by humans and animals (birds and insects also make music).