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.

General topics

• Music theory –
• Musical acoustics –
• Band (music) –
• Composition –
• Ensemble –
• Genre –
• Instrument –
• Musical keyboard –
• Mode –
• Musician –
• Music and politics –
• Music history –
• Music lessons –
• Music technology –
• Musical notation –
• Musical terminology –
• Musical theatre –
• Tuning –
• Musicology –
• Philosophy of music –
• Theatre music –

History of music

• Timeline of musical events –

By region or ethnicity

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

Music industry topics

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

People

• 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 –

Ensembles

Main articles: Musical ensemble and list of musical ensembles

• Band –
• Organ trio –
• Power trio –
• Choir –
• Concert band –
• Duet –
• Marching Band –
• Orchestra –
• Quartet –
• Quintet –
• Big band –

Genres of music

Main articles: Musical genre and List of musical genres

Examples of genres:   

• Ballet
• Blues –
• Classical –
• Country –
• Electronic –
• Electronic dance –
• Electronica –
• Funk –
• Gospel –
• Grunge –
• Hip hop –
• Jazz –
• Latin American –
• Metal –
• Opera
• Progressive rock –
• Reggae –
• Punk rock –
• Rhythm and blues –
• Rock –
• Ska

Music by region

Musical compositions

Types of musical pieces and compositions

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

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

Musical notation

Main article: Musical notation   See also: Modern musical symbols and Sheet music.

• 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) –
• Score (for ensembles) –

Variations of musical notation

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

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

Female ranges

• Soprano –
• Mezzo-soprano –
• Contralto –

Male ranges

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

Instruments

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

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

Music-related lists

• Glossary of musical terminology –
• List of Music Genome Project attributes –

External links

Find more about Music at Wikipedia's sister projects
	Definitions and translations from Wiktionary
	Media from Commons
	Quotations from Wikiquote
	Source texts from Wikisource
	Textbooks from Wikibooks
	Learning resources from Wikiversity

• This outline displayed as a mindmap, at wikimindmap.com
• 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 13-19 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