Its common elements are pitch (which governs melody and harmony),...
Its common elements 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 Greek μουσικ&...
The word derives from Greek μουσική (mousike; "art of the Muses").

The creation, performance, significance, and even the definition ...
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 recr...
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 divi...
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...
Within "the arts", music may be classified as a performing art, a fine art, and auditory art.

There is also a strong connection between music and mathematics....
There is also a strong connection between music and mathematics.

To many people in many cultures, music is an important part of th...
To many people in many cultures, music is an important part of their way of life.

Ancient Greek and Indian philosophers defined music as tones orde...
Ancient Greek and Indian philosophers defined music as tones ordered horizontally as melodies and vertically as harmonies.

Common sayings such as "the harmony of the spheres" and "it is mu...
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 c...
However, 20th-century composer John Cage thought that any sound can be music, saying, for example, "There is no noise, only sound.

" Musicologist Jean-Jacques Nattiez summarizes the relativist, po...
" Musicologist Jean-Jacques Nattiez summarizes the relativist, post-modern viewpoint: "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 co...
By all accounts there is no single and intercultural universal concept defining what music might be.

"Composition" is often classed as the creation and recording of m...
"Composition" is often classed as the creation and recording of music via a medium by which others can interpret it (i.

Many cultures use at least part of the concept of preconceiving m...
Many cultures use at least part of the concept of preconceiving musical material, or composition, as held in western classical music.

Even when music is notated precisely, there are still many decisi...
Even when music is notated precisely, there are still many decisions that a performer has to make.

The process of a performer deciding how to perform music that has...
The process of a performer deciding how to perform music that has been previously composed and notated is termed interpretation.

Different performers' interpretations of the same music can vary ...
Different performers' interpretations of the same music can vary widely.

Composers and song writers who present their own music are interp...
Composers and song writers who present their own music are interpreting, just as much as those who perform the music of others or folk music.

The standard body of choices and techniques present at a given ti...
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 either individual choices of a performer, or an aspect of music that is not clear, and therefore has a "standard" interpretation.

In some musical genres, such as jazz and blues, even more freedom...
In some musical genres, such as jazz and blues, even more freedom is given to the performer to engage in improvisation on a basic melodic, harmonic, or rhythmic framework.

The greatest latitude is given to the performer in a style of per...
The greatest latitude is given to the performer in a style of performing called free improvisation, which is material that is spontaneously "thought of" (imagined) while being performed, not preconceived.

Improvised music usually follows stylistic or genre conventions a...
Improvised music usually follows stylistic or genre conventions and even "fully composed" includes some freely chosen material.

Composition does not always mean the use of notation, or the know...
Composition does not always mean the use of notation, or the known sole authorship of one individual.

Music can also be determined by describing a "process" that creat...
Music can also be determined by describing a "process" that creates musical sounds.

Examples of this range from wind chimes, through computer program...
Examples of this range from wind chimes, through computer programs that select sounds.

Music from random elements is called Aleatoric music, and is asso...
Music from random elements is called Aleatoric music, and is associated with such composers as John Cage, Morton Feldman, and Witold Lutosławski.

Music can be composed for repeated performance or it can be impro...
Music can be composed for repeated performance or it can be improvised: composed on the spot.

The music can be performed entirely from memory, from a written s...
The music can be performed entirely from memory, from a written system of musical notation, or some combination of both.

Study of composition has traditionally been dominated by examinat...
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 spontaneously improvised works like those of free jazz performers and African drummers such as the Ewe drummers.

In the West, much of the history of music that is taught deals wi...
In the West, much of the history of music that is taught deals with the Western civilization's art music.

The history of music in other cultures ("world music" or the fiel...
The history of music in other cultures ("world music" or the field of "ethnomusicology") is also taught in Western universities.

This includes the documented classical traditions of Asian countr...
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 styles of music varied widely from culture to culture, an...
Popular styles of music varied widely from culture to culture, and from period to period.

Different cultures emphasised different instruments, or technique...
Different cultures emphasised different instruments, or techniques, or uses for music.

Music has been used not only for entertainment, for ceremonies, a...
Music has been used not only for entertainment, for ceremonies, and for practical and artistic communication, but also for propaganda.

There is a host of music classifications, many of which are caugh...
There is a host of music classifications, many of which are caught up in the argument over the definition of music.

Among the largest of these is the division between classical musi...
Among the largest of these is the division between classical music (or "art" music), and popular music (or commercial music – including rock music, country music, and pop music).

Some genres do not fit neatly into one of these "big two" classif...
Some genres do not fit neatly into one of these "big two" classifications, (such as folk music, world music, or jazz music).

As world cultures have come into greater contact, their indigenou...
As world cultures have come into greater contact, their indigenous musical styles have often merged into new styles.

For example, the United States bluegrass style contains elements ...
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 society.

Genres of music are determined as much by tradition and presentat...
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 ...
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.

Indian music, for example, is one of the oldest and longest livin...
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, Hindustan...
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 perc...
It has also a large repertoire of styles, which involve only percussion music such as the talavadya performances famous in South India.