Outline of music
The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to music:
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
- 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
- Band -
- * Band -
- * 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
- 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
Musical compositions
Types of musical pieces and compositions
Single-movement forms
- Strophic form -
- Binary form -
- Ternary form less often tertiary -
- Arch form
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
- Introduction -
- Exposition -
- Recapitulation -
- Verse -
- Refrain -
- Bridge -
- -
- Guitar solo -
- Conclusion -
- Coda -
- Fadeout
Musical notation
- Staff -
- * Clefs -
- * Key signature -
- ** Key -
- * Time signature -
- ** Beats -
- * Bars -
- * Ledger lines -
- Grand staff -
- Notes -
- * Note values -
- * Dotted notes -
- * Ties -
- Accidentals -
- * Tempo -
- * Dynamics -
- Lyrics -
- Modern musical symbols
- Score -
- 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
- Wind instruments -
- Percussion instruments -
- String instruments -
- Voice -
- Electronic instruments -
- Keyboard instruments -
- * Musical keyboard -
Music technology
-- Electric music technology
- Electronic and digital music technology
- Mechanical music technology
Music industry
- Album -
- Compact disc -
- 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 -
- Performance rights organisation -
Music theory
Elements of music
-- Pitch -
- Scale -
- Mode -
- Chord -
- Dynamics -
- 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 -
- * Philosophy of music -
- * Music acoustics -
- * Computer sciences of music
- ** Sound and music computing -
- ** Music information retrieval -
- ** Computing in musicology -
- Zoomusicology -
Music education
- Music lessons -
Music and politics