Music Defined
Music: [< Old French musique, from Latin m?sica < Greek mousik téchn? art of the Muses < Moûsa Muse < Greek Mythology, oneoftheninegoddessesofthefinearts and sciences]
(1) MUSIC is a language. (2) AESTHETIC communication that uses SOUND as its medium1. (3) an artistic form of auditory communication incorporating instrumental and/or vocal tones in a structured and continuous manner. (4) MUSIC can be divided into three parts: MELODY, HARMONY, RHYTHM. (5) any rhythmic, melodic, or harmonic grouping of sounds that is specifically composed and that forms a unity so as to convey a message, to communicate, or to entertain. 2
Musician: a person who creates MUSIC. Someone who plays, performs, composes, arranges, records MUSIC.
Musicianship: skill in creating music: His musicianship increased markedly after studying full-time for 6 months.
Musicology: the academic study of MUSIC and its history.
Music Theory (Theory of Music): information about how MUSIC is put together, for example; the subject of music can be divided into three parts: Melody, Harmony, and Rhythm.
Melody: notes played or sung one at a time Harmony: two or more NOTES played together.
Rhythm: the temporal3 element of MUSIC relating to how sounds are made into patterns.
Note: (1) a SOUND of a definite PITCH. (2) a symbol that represents a musical SOUND.
Pitch: refers to the FREQUENCY (speed) of vibration which determines how high or low a SOUND is in relation to other sounds, pitch is one of the three elements of SOUND.
1 Medium: a method or means of doing something. 2 Def. #5 of Music: from Virginia Tech Multimedia Music Dictionary. http://www.music.vt.edu/musicdictionary/ 3 Temporal: of or relating to or having to do with time.
