Outline of music

The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to music:

See also: Index of music articles

Music – human expression in the medium of time using the structures of sounds or tones and silence. It is expressed in terms of pitch, rhythm, harmony, and timbre.

What type of thing is music?

• One of the arts –
  • One of the performing arts –
• One of the humanities –
• An academic discipline –

History of music

See also: List of musical genres by era

History of music

• Timeline of musical events –
• Dates of classical music eras
• Musical periods
  • Prehistoric music
  • Ancient music
  • Biblical period
  • Early music period
    • Andalusian classical music
    • Arab classical music
    • Chinese classical music
    • Indian classical music
    • Iranian classical music
    • European medieval music
      • the ars antiqua
      • the ars nova
      • the ars subtilior
    • Renaissance music
  • Common practice period
    • Baroque music
      • the galant music period
    • Classical period
    • Romantic music
  • 20th-century classical music
    • Impressionism
    • Expressionist
    • Modernism
    • Neoclassicism
    • Experimental music
    • Postmodern music
    • Contemporary classical music
  • 21st-century classical music

By region or ethnicity

• Timeline of trends in Australian music –
• Byzantine music –
• Timeline of Chinese music –
• Timeline of trends in Italian music –
• Timeline of music in the United States –

Musical ensembles

Musical ensemble  

• Band –
  • Band (rock and pop) –
  • Brass band –
  • Concert band –
  • Fanfare band –
  • Jazz band –
    • Big band –
  • Marching band –
  • Military band –
    • Ottoman military band –
  • One-man band –
  • Pipe band –
• Camerata –
• Chapel –
• Choir –
  • Flute choir –
  • Men's chorus –
  • Singakademie –
• Decet –
• Duet –
  • Piano duet –
• Duodecet –
• Gamelan –
• Nonet –
• Octet –
  • String octet –
• Orchestra –
  • Pit orchestra –
  • String orchestra –
• Percussion ensemble –
• Quartet –
  • Flute quartet –
  • Piano quartet –
  • Saxophone quartet –
  • String quartet –
  • Wind quartet –
  • Woodwind quartet –
• Quintet –
  • Brass quintet –
  • Clarinet quintet –
  • Pierrot ensemble –
  • String quintet –
  • Wind quintet –
• Septet –
• Sextet –
  • Piano sextet –
  • String sextet –
• Sinfonietta –
• Trio –
  • Clarinet trio –
  • Jazz trio –
    • Organ trio –
  • Piano trio –
  • String trio –

Genres of music

Music genre   (list)

• Blues –
• Classical –
• Country –
• Electronic –
  • Electronic dance –
• Electronica –
• Funk –
• Gospel –
• Grunge –
• Hip hop –
• Jazz –
  • Avant-garde jazz –
  • Chamber jazz –
  • Free jazz –
  • Latin jazz –
  • Orchestral jazz –
• Latin –
  • Latin ballad –
• Martial music
• Reggae –
• Rhythm and blues –
• Rock –
  • Heavy metal –
  • Progressive rock –
  • Psychedelic rock –
  • Punk rock –
• Ska –
• Theatre music –
  • Ballet –
  • Opera –
  • Musical theatre –
    • Incidental music

Music by region

Cultural and regional genres of music

Africa

West Africa

Benin • Burkina Faso • Cape Verde • Côte d'Ivoire • Gambia • Ghana • Guinea • Guinea-Bissau • Liberia • Mali • Mauritania • Niger • Nigeria • Senegal • Sierra Leone • Togo

North Africa

Algeria • Egypt • Libya • Mauritania • Morocco • Sudan • South Sudan •Tunisia • Western Sahara

Central Africa

Angola • Burundi • Cameroon • Central African Republic • Chad • The Democratic Republic of the Congo • Equatorial Guinea • Gabon • Republic of the Congo • Rwanda • São Tomé and Príncipe

East Africa

Burundi • Comoros • Djibouti • Eritrea • Ethiopia • Kenya • Madagascar • Malawi • Mauritius • Mozambique • Rwanda • Seychelles • Somalia • Tanzania • Uganda • Zambia • Zimbabwe

Southern Africa

Botswana • Lesotho • Namibia • South Africa • Eswatini

Dependencies

Mayotte (France) • St. Helena (UK) • Puntland • Somaliland • Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic

Antarctica

None

Asia

Central Asia

Kazakhstan • Kyrgyzstan • Tajikistan • Turkmenistan • Uzbekistan

East Asia

China

Tibet

Hong Kong • Macau

Japan • North Korea • South Korea • Mongolia • Taiwan

North Asia

Russia

Southeast Asia

Brunei • Burma (Myanmar) • Cambodia • East Timor (Timor-Leste) • Indonesia • Laos • Malaysia • Philippines (Metro Manila) • Singapore • Thailand (Bangkok) • Vietnam

South Asia

Afghanistan • Bangladesh • Bhutan • Maldives • Nepal • Pakistan • Sri Lanka

India

States of India: Andhra Pradesh • Arunachal Pradesh • Assam • Bihar • Chhattisgarh • Goa • Gujarat • Haryana • Himachal Pradesh • Jammu and Kashmir • Jharkhand • Karnataka • Kerala • Madhya Pradesh • Maharashtra • Manipur • Meghalaya • Mizoram • Nagaland • Odisha • Punjab • Rajasthan • Sikkim • Tamil Nadu • Telangana • Tripura • Uttar Pradesh • Uttarakhand • West Bengal

West Asia

Armenia • Azerbaijan • Bahrain • Cyprus (including disputed Northern Cyprus) • Georgia • Iran • Iraq • Israel • Jordan • Kuwait • Lebanon • Oman • State of Palestine • Qatar • Saudi Arabia • Syria • Turkey • United Arab Emirates • Yemen

Caucasus (a region considered to be in both Asia and Europe, or between them)

North Caucasus

Parts of Russia (Chechnya, Ingushetia, Dagestan, Adyghea, Kabardino-Balkaria, Karachai-Cherkessia, North Ossetia, Krasnodar Krai, Stavropol Krai)

South Caucasus

Georgia (including disputed Abkhazia, South Ossetia) • Armenia • Azerbaijan (including disputed Nagorno-Karabakh Republic)

Europe

Akrotiri and Dhekelia • Åland • Albania • Andorra • Armenia • Austria • Azerbaijan • Belarus • Belgium • Bosnia and Herzegovina • Bulgaria • Croatia • Cyprus • Czech Republic • Denmark • Estonia • Faroe Islands • Finland • France • Georgia • Germany • Gibraltar • Greece • Guernsey • Hungary • Iceland • Ireland • Isle of Man • Italy (Rome) • Jersey • Kazakhstan • Kosovo • Latvia • Liechtenstein • Lithuania • Luxembourg • Macedonia • Malta • Moldova (including disputed Transnistria) • Monaco • Montenegro • Netherlands • Poland • Portugal • Romania • Russia • San Marino • Serbia • Slovakia • Slovenia •

Norway

Svalbard

Spain

Autonomous communities of Spain: Catalonia

Sweden • Switzerland • Turkey • Ukraine

United Kingdom

England (London) • Northern Ireland • Scotland • Wales • Cornwall

Vatican City

European Union

North America

Canada

Provinces of Canada: • Alberta • British Columbia (Vancouver) • Manitoba • New Brunswick • Newfoundland and Labrador • Nova Scotia • Ontario • Prince Edward Island • Quebec • Saskatchewan

Territories of Canada: Northwest Territories • Nunavut • Yukon

Greenland • Saint Pierre and Miquelon

United States

Alabama • Alaska • Arizona (Tucson) • Arkansas • California (Los Angeles)  • Colorado Denver • Connecticut • Delaware • Florida • Georgia (Athens, Atlanta)  • Hawaii • Idaho • Illinois (Chicago) • Indiana • Iowa • Kansas • Kentucky • Louisiana • Maine • Maryland (Annapolis, Baltimore)  • Massachusetts • Michigan (Detroit)  • Minnesota • Mississippi • Missouri • Montana • Nebraska • Nevada • New Hampshire • New Jersey • New Mexico • New York (New York City)  • North Carolina • North Dakota • Ohio • Oklahoma • Oregon • Pennsylvania (Philadelphia) • Rhode Island • South Carolina • South Dakota • Tennessee • Texas Austin • Utah • Vermont • Virginia • Washington (Olympia, Seattle)  • West Virginia • Wisconsin • Wyoming

Washington, D.C.

Mexico

Central America

Belize • Costa Rica • El Salvador • Guatemala • Honduras • Nicaragua • Panama

Caribbean

Anguilla • Antigua and Barbuda • Aruba • Bahamas • Barbados • Bermuda • British Virgin Islands • Cayman Islands • Cuba • Dominica • Dominican Republic • Grenada • Haiti • Jamaica • Montserrat • Netherlands Antilles • Puerto Rico • Saint Barthélemy • Saint Kitts and Nevis • Saint Lucia • Saint Martin • Saint Vincent and the Grenadines • Trinidad and Tobago • Turks and Caicos Islands • United States Virgin Islands

Oceania (includes the continent of Australia)

Australasia

Australia

(Adelaide, Perth, Sydney)

Dependencies/Territories of Australia

Christmas Island • Cocos (Keeling) Islands • Norfolk Island

New Zealand

Melanesia

Fiji • Indonesia (Oceanian part only) • New Caledonia (France) • Papua New Guinea • Solomon Islands • Vanuatu •

Micronesia

Federated States of Micronesia • Guam (USA) • Kiribati • Marshall Islands • Nauru • Northern Mariana Islands (USA) • Palau • Wake Island (USA) •

Polynesia

American Samoa (USA) • Chatham Islands (NZ) • Cook Islands (NZ) • Easter Island (Chile) • French Polynesia (France) • Hawaii (USA) • Loyalty Islands (France) • Niue (NZ) • Pitcairn Islands (UK) • Adamstown • Samoa • Tokelau (NZ) • Tonga • Tuvalu • Wallis and Futuna (France)

South America

Argentina • Bolivia • Brazil • Chile • Colombia • Ecuador • Falkland Islands • Guyana • Paraguay • Peru • Suriname • Uruguay • Venezuela

South Atlantic

Ascension Island • Saint Helena • Tristan da Cunha

Musical compositions

Musical composition

Types of musical pieces and compositions

Musical form

Single-movement forms

• Strophic form (AA...) –
• Binary form (AB) –
• Ternary form less often tertiary (ABA) –
• Arch form (ABCBA)

Multi-movement forms

• Ballet –
• Cantata –
• Chorale –
• Concerto –
• Dance –
• Etude –
• Fantasia –
• Fugue –
• Mass –
• Opera –
• Oratorio –
• Prelude –
• Requiem –
• Rhapsody –
• Sonata –
• Suite –
• Symphonic poem –
• Symphony –

Sections of a piece or composition

Section (music)

• Introduction –
• Exposition –
• Recapitulation –
• Verse –
• Refrain (chorus) –
• Bridge –
• Interlude –
• Guitar solo –
• Conclusion –
• Coda –
• Fadeout

Musical notation

Musical notation –

• Staff –
  • Clefs –
  • Key signature –
    • Key –
  • Time signature –
    • Beats –
  • Bars (Measures) –
  • Ledger lines –
• Grand staff –
• Notes –
  • Note values –
  • Dotted notes –
  • Ties –
• Accidentals –
  • Tempo –
  • Dynamics –
• Lyrics (included on vocal music) –
• Modern musical symbols
• Score (for ensembles) –
• Sheet music

Variations of musical notation

• Percussion notation –
• Figured bass –
• Lead sheets –
• Chord charts –
  • Shape note system –

Musical techniques

• Bell chord
• Broken chords
  • Arpeggio
    • Bass arpeggiation
    • Non-harmonic arpeggio
• Ostinato
• Tremolo
• Guitar performance techniques

Musical skills and procedures

• Absolute pitch –
• Ear training –
• Fingering –
• Learning music by ear –
• Modulation –
• Numerical sight-singing –
• Practice –
• Relative pitch –
• Sight reading –
• "Swinging" –
• Transposition –
• Tuning –
• Virtuosity –

Vocal ranges

• Vocal range –

Female ranges

• Soprano –
• Mezzo-soprano –
• Contralto –

Male ranges

• Boy soprano –
• Sopranist –
• Alto –
• Tenor –
• Baritone –
• Bass-baritone –
• Bass –

Musical instruments

Musical instrument   (List of musical instruments)

• Wind instruments –
• Percussion instruments –
• String instruments –
• Voice –
• Electronic instruments –
• Keyboard instruments –
  • Musical keyboard –

See also the List of musical instruments by Hornbostel–Sachs number

Music technology

Music technology –

• Electric music technology
• Electronic and digital music technology
• Mechanical music technology

Music industry

Music industry

• Album –
• Compact disc (CD) –
• Compact Cassette –
• Concert –
• Concert tour –
• Grammy Awards –
• Music recording sales certification –
• Performance –
• Record –
• Record industry –
• Recording studio –
• Single –

Music industry participants

• A&R –
• ASCAP –
• Band manager –
• Booking agent –
• BMI –
• Copyright collective –
• Disc jockey –
• MCPS –
• Musician – person who writes, performs, or makes music. Musicians can be classified by their roles in creating or performing music.
  • Instrumentalist – one who plays a musical instrument.
    • Traditional instrumentalist – one who plays folk music on traditional instruments such as gongs.
    • Classical instrumentalist – one who plays classical music, usually with Western orchestral instruments such as the violin, flute etc.
    • Instrumentalists who plays popular music – one who plays with instruments in the big band, e.g. the electric guitar, drums, saxophone, trumpet, trombone etc.
  • Singer – a vocalist.
  • Composer – person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media.
    • Songwriter –
    • Arranger –
  • Conductor – leads a musical ensemble. A conductor may simultaneously act as an instrumentalist in the ensemble.
  • Recording artist – creates recorded music, such as CDs and MP3 files.
• Musicians' Union –
• Publisher –
• PRS –
• Record producer –
• Record label –
• Record distributor –
• Tour promoter –
• Road crew ("roadies") –
• Performance rights organisation –

Music theory

Music theory

Elements of music

Elements of music –

• Pitch –
• Scale –
• Mode –
• Chord –
• Dynamics (music) –
• Articulation –
• Texture –
• Consonance and dissonance –
• Expression –
• Harmony –
• Melody –
• Musical form –
• Notation –
• Rhythm –
• Timbre –

Musicology

Musicology –

• Biomusicology –
  • Evolutionary musicology –
• Cognitive musicology –
• Ethnomusicology –
• Historical musicology –
• Systematic musicology –
  • Sociomusicology (music sociology) –
  • Philosophy of music –
  • Music acoustics (physics of music) –
  • Computer sciences of music
    • Sound and music computing –
    • Music information retrieval –
    • Computing in musicology –
• Zoomusicology –

Music education

Music education –

• Music lessons –

Music and politics

Music and politics –

Music organizations

Music publications

Psychology of music

Psychology of music

• Cognitive musicology
• Cognitive neuroscience of music
• Culture in music cognition
• Music and emotion
• Music-specific disorders
• Music therapy
• Psychoacoustics
• Psychoanalysis and music
• Psychology of music preference

See also

• Index of music articles
• Glossary of musical terminology
• List of music software

External links

• Taxonomy of musical instruments
• The Virginia Tech Multimedia Music Dictionary, with definitions, pronunciations, examples, quizzes and simulations
• The Music-Web Music Encyclopedia, for musicians, composers and music lovers
• Dolmetsch free online music dictionary, complete, with references to a list of specialised music dictionaries (by continent, by instrument, by genre, etc.)
• Musico-Dico, a little music encyclopedia.
• "On Hermeneutical Ethics and Education: Bach als Erzieher", a paper by Prof. Miguel Ángel Quintana Paz in which he explains the history of the different views hold about music in Western societies, since the Ancient Greece to our days.
• BBC Blast Music For 13- to 19-year-olds interested in learning about, making, performing and talking about music.
• Musical Terms - Glossary of music terms from Naxos
• Monthly Online Features From Bloomingdale School of Music, addressing a variety of musical topics for a wide audience
• Arts and Music Uplifting Society towards Transformation and Tolerance Articles meant to stimulate people's awareness about the peace enhancing, transforming,
• PhilosophyOfMusic.org edited by Dustin Garlitz
• Experimental Early Music