Portal:Music
The Music Portal
Music is generally defined as the art of arranging sound to create some combination of form, harmony, melody, rhythm, or otherwise expressive content. Definitions of music vary depending on culture, though it is an aspect of all human societies and a cultural universal. While scholars agree that music is defined by a few specific elements, there is no consensus on their precise definitions. The creation of music is commonly divided into musical composition, musical improvisation, and musical performance, though the topic itself extends into academic disciplines, criticism, philosophy, and psychology. Music may be performed or improvised using a vast range of instruments, including the human voice.
In some musical contexts, a performance or composition may be to some extent improvised. For instance, in Hindustani classical music, the performer plays spontaneously while following a partially defined structure and using characteristic motifs. In modal jazz, the performers may take turns leading and responding while sharing a changing set of notes. In a free jazz context, there may be no structure whatsoever, with each performer acting at their discretion. Music may be deliberately composed to be unperformable or agglomerated electronically from many performances. Music is played in public and private areas, highlighted at events such as festivals, rock concerts, and orchestra performances, and heard incidentally as part of a score or soundtrack to a film, TV show, opera, or video game. Musical playback is the primary function of an MP3 player or CD player and a universal feature of radios and smartphones.
Music often plays a key role in social activities, religious rituals, rite of passage ceremonies, celebrations, and cultural activities. The music industry includes songwriters, performers, sound engineers, producers, tour organizers, distributors of instruments, accessories, and sheet music. Compositions, performances, and recordings are assessed and evaluated by music critics, music journalists, and music scholars, as well as amateurs. (Full article...)
General images -
Selected pictures
Related portals
Did you know (auto-generated)
- ... that Paris Opera Ballet dancer Guillaume Diop co-authored a manifesto that called for the Paris Opera to make urgent changes to address racial discrimination?
- ... that Tatsuya Takahashi worked with Red Bull Music Academy to create an online game about synthesisers?
- ... that a temple once housed the New York City Opera and New York City Ballet?
- ... that Chickaboom!, by country musician Tami Neilson, was nominated for both Canadian and New Zealand music awards?
- ... that soprano Carolina White performed the title role in the United States premiere of Il segreto di Susanna at the Metropolitan Opera in 1911?
- ... that Debra Lew Harder is the fifth person to host the Metropolitan Opera radio broadcasts since they began in 1931?
Today's Birthdays
- Birthdays in Music: August 20
- Dave Brock, Brit vocalist with Hawkwind, turns 82.
- Enrico Rava, Italian trumpeter, turns 80.
- Terry Clarke, Canadian session musician (drummer), turns 79.
- Jon Povey, Brit bassist for Pretty Things, turns 79.
- Ralf Hütter, German vocalist and guitarist for Kraftwerk, turns 77.
- James Pankow, American trombone player, founding member of Chicago, turns 76.
- Robert Plant, British vocalist with Led Zeppelin, turns 75.
- John Clayton Jr., American bass player, turns 71.
- John Hiatt, American rock musician, turns 71.
- Fred Durst, American vocalist of Limp Bizkit fame, turns 52.
- Langhorne Slim, American folk singer and guitarist, turns 43.
- Demi Lovato, American actress and singer, turns 31.
Categories
Explore
Connections
WikiProjects connected with music: WikiProject Music – Songs – Albums – Alternative music - Classical music – Composers – Contemporary Christian music – Contemporary music – Electronic music – Emo music – Hip hop – Instruments – Led Zeppelin - Metal music – Jazz – Musicians – Opera – Panic at the Disco – Powderfinger (band) – Punk music – Record Labels – Record Production – Rock music – R&B and Soul Music – Terminology – The Beatles
Create a requested article: See the list of Requested articles.
Improve an article: See the Music Noticeboard for a list of tasks.
Start a music course: School of Music at Wikiversity
Associated Wikimedia
The following Wikimedia Foundation sister projects provide more on this subject:
-
Commons
Free media repository -
Wikibooks
Free textbooks and manuals -
Wikidata
Free knowledge base -
Wikinews
Free-content news -
Wikiquote
Collection of quotations -
Wikisource
Free-content library -
Wikispecies
Directory of species -
Wikiversity
Free learning tools -
Wikivoyage
Free travel guide -
Wiktionary
Dictionary and thesaurus