The Art of Music

Music is the art of combining vocal or instrumental sounds for beauty of form or emotional expression. It consists of rhythm, melody, and, in Western music, harmony. Whether it is a simple folk song or a complex electronic composition, music has been a source of enjoyment and satisfaction for all cultures throughout history.

The nature of musical beauty is the subject of intense debate. Musicologists largely agree that musical sound must be pleasing to the ear, but they disagree about what criteria should be used to evaluate melodies, harmonies, and other musical structures.

A central concern of theorists is the relationship between musical form and meaning. Some, like the 19th-century English psychologist Edmund Gurney (1847–88), advocate a theory of music that integrates formalist, symbolist, and expressive elements in varying proportions. Others, such as the 20th-century German philosopher Arnold Schönberg (1905–1988), prefer a less theoretical approach that emphasizes the importance of context in the interpretation of music.

From Ancient Greece to snappy pop, the history of music is a story of its changing role in society. Its ability to make easy alliances with poetry (as in folk songs and art songs, with drama and dance, as theatrical entertainment and background music, or in musical theatre) shows that it is capable of reflecting a broad range of human emotions.

Music production involves a wide variety of tools, techniques and skills. It is often a collaborative process, with many different people involved in various stages of the recording process.