Music

Music is a natural intuitive phenomenon operating in the three worlds of time, pitch, energy, and under the three distinct and interrelated organization structures of rhythm, harmony, and melody.

Production

:Main article: Music industry.

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The music industry is that which creates, performs, and promotes music. A great deal of music is produced by amateurs.

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Performance

:Main article: Performance.

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Someone who performs, composes, or conducts music is a musician. Performance is a method for musicians to share music with others.

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Solo and ensemble

Many cultures include strong traditions of solo or soloistic performance, such as in Indian classical music, while 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 one's enjoyment to highly planned and organized performance rituals such as the modern classical concert or religious processions. What is called chamber music is often seen as more intimate than symphonic works. A performer is called a musician, a group being a musical ensemble such as a rock band or symphony orchestra.

Related Topics:
Solo - Performance - Indian classical music - Bali - Group - Concert - Religious procession - Chamber music - Symphonic - Musician - Musical ensemble - Rock band - Orchestra

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Oral tradition and notation

:Main article: Musical notation.

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Music is often preserved in memory and performance only, handed down orally, or aurally ("by ear"). Such music, especially that which has no known individual composer, is often classified as "traditional". Different musical traditions have different attitudes towards how and where to make changes to the original source material, from quite strict, to those which demand improvisation. If the music is written down, it is generally in some manner which attempts to capture both what should be heard by listeners, and what the musician should do to perform the music. This is referred to as musical notation, and the study of how to read notation involves music theory. Written notation varies with style and period of music, and includes scores, lead sheets, guitar tablature, among the more common notations. Generally music which is to be performed is produced as sheet music. To perform music from notation requires an understanding of both the musical style and performance practice expected or acceptable.

Related Topics:
Orally - Improvisation - Musical notation - Music theory - Sheet music

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Improvisation, interpretation, composition

:Main articles: Musical composition, Improvisation/Music, and Free improvisation.

Related Topics:
Musical composition - Improvisation/Music - Free improvisation

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Most cultures use at least part of the concept of preconceiving musical material, or composition, as held in western classical music. Many, but fewer, cultures also include the related concept of interpretation, performing material conceived by others, to the contrasting concepts of improvisation and free improvisation, which is material that is spontaneously "thought of" (imagined) while being performed, not preconceived. However, many cultures and people do not have this distinction at all, using a broader concept which incorporates both without discrimination. Improvised music virtually always follows some rules or conventions and even "fully composed" includes some freely chosen material. See also, precompositional. Composition does not always mean the use of notation, or the known sole authorship of one individual.

Related Topics:
Composition - Interpretation - Improvisation - Free improvisation - Precompositional

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Music can also be determined by describing a "process" which may create musical sounds, examples of this range from wind chimes, through computer programs which select sounds. Music which contains elements selected by chance is called Aleatoric music, and is most famously associated with John Cage and Witold Lutos?awski. See: precompositional, form (music), modulation, twelve tone technique, serialism, and process music.

Related Topics:
Aleatoric music - John Cage - Witold Lutos?awski - Precompositional - Form (music) - Modulation - Twelve tone technique - Serialism - Process music

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Compositions

Musical composition is a term that describes the makeup of a piece of music. Methods of composition vary widely, however in analyzing music all forms -- spontaneous, trained, or untrained -- are built from elements comprising a musical piece. 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 system of musical notation, or some combination of both. 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.

Related Topics:
Musical composition - Improvised - Musical notation - Western classical music - Free jazz - African

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What is important in understanding the composition of a piece is singling out its elements. An understanding of music's formal elements can be helpful in deciphering exactly how a piece is made. A universal element of music is time or more generally rhythm. When a piece appears to have no time, it is considered rubato. The Italian term, meaning "free time," does not mean "without rhythm," but rather that the tempo or time of the piece changes dynamically. Even random placement of random sounds, often occurring in musical montage, occurs within some kind of time, and thus employs time as a musical element.

Related Topics:
Formal elements - Time - Rhythm - Rubato - Italian - Tempo - Musical montage

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Any musical event comprised of elements can be considered a "composition."

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