Outline of music

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

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

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

History of music

• Timeline of musical events –
  • Prehistoric music
  • Ancient music
    • Music in ancient India
    • Music of Mesopotamia
    • Music of ancient Greece
    • Music of ancient Rome

• Art music
  • Andalusian classical music
  • Arab classical music
  • Chinese classical music
  • Indian classical music
    • Carnatic music
    • Hindustani classical music
  • Persian traditional music
    • Sasanian music

• Western classical music
• Dates of classical music eras
  • Early music period
    • European medieval music
      • Saint Gall
      • Saint Martial
      • Goliard
      • Ars antiqua
        • Notre-Dame school
      • Troubadour
      • Trouvère
      • Minnesang
      • Ars nova
      • Trecento
      • 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

• Timeline of trends in Australian music
• Byzantine music
• Timeline of Chinese music
• Timeline of Italian music
• Timeline of music in the United States
• History of music in the biblical period

Musical ensemble  

Music genre   (list)

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

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 (Cornwall, London, Sussex) • Northern Ireland • Scotland • Wales (Cardiff, Newport)

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 composition

Musical form

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

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

Section (music)

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

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

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

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

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

• Vocal range –

• Soprano –
• Mezzo-soprano –
• Contralto –

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

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 –

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

Music industry

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

• 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

Elements of music –

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

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 lessons –

Music and politics –

• Musicians' Union (UK)
• Sony Music Entertainment
• International Music Council
• International Federation of the Phonographic Industry
• Australian Recording Industry Association

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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

• Index of music articles
• Glossary of musical terminology
• Outline of the Beatles
• Outline of the Doors

• 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