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EntityQ638· pop 314· linked from 6,108 articles

music

Also known as musical art

thumb|upright=1.2|Grooved side of the Voyager Golden Record launched aboard the Voyager probes to space, which features music from around the world

OverviewAI-generated

Music is a field of study and academic discipline classified as a subclass of entertainment and arts. It is characterized by a tonal system, music genre, rhythm, and texture. The subject is distinct from a musical work. It is studied through musicology, music theory, and sociomusicology.

The topic is maintained by WikiProject Music, WikiProject Classical music, WikiProject Hip hop, and WikiProject Religion. It is practiced by music teachers, musicians, instrumentalists, and disc jockeys. Music has a history that includes music and politics. It is described by sources such as the Jewish Encyclopedia of Brockhaus and Efron, the Brockhaus and Efron Encyclopedic Dictionary, the Encyclopædia Britannica 11th edition, and the Gujin Tushu Jicheng.

The subject appears in the Portal:Music and Category:Music. It is referenced by 6,108 other encyclopedia articles. PubMed lists a count of 43,571 for the query music. The Unicode characters 🎵 and 🎶 represent the topic. The abbreviation is mus.

Synthesized by Vinony from 25 facts across 3 sources: Wikidata, PubMed, Vinony graph. Generated from structured data (not the Wikipedia text) and checked against those facts — may still contain errors.

Research

43,571 papers

Biological principles for music and mental health.ReviewTranslational psychiatry · 2023Bowling DLDOI: 10.1038/s41398-023-02671-4
The future of music in therapy and medicine.ReviewAnnals of the New York Academy of Sciences · 2005Thaut MHDOI: 10.1196/annals.1360.023
The molecular basis of music-induced neuroplasticity in humans: A systematic review.Neuroscience and biobehavioral reviews · 2025Kunikullaya U K, Pranjić M, Rigby A et al.DOI: 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2025.106219
Benefits of Music Intervention on Anxiety, Pain, and Physiologic Response in Adults Undergoing Surgery: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis.Asian nursing research · 2023Lee HY, Nam ES, Chai GJ et al.DOI: 10.1016/j.anr.2023.05.002
Music interventions for dental anxiety.ReviewOral diseases · 2018Bradt J, Teague ADOI: 10.1111/odi.12615
The effect of music on anaerobic exercise performance and muscular endurance.The Journal of sports medicine and physical fitness · 2020Cutrufello PT, Benson BA, Landram MJDOI: 10.23736/S0022-4707.19.10228-9
How does music aid sleep? literature review.ReviewSleep medicine · 2019Dickson GT, Schubert EDOI: 10.1016/j.sleep.2019.05.016
Psychedelia: The interplay of music and psychedelics.ReviewAnnals of the New York Academy of Sciences · 2024Jerotic K, Vuust P, Kringelbach MLDOI: 10.1111/nyas.15082

via PubMed

~84 min read

Encyclopedic overview

55 sections

Contents

Etymology and terminology
History
Origins and prehistory
Antiquity
Asian cultures
Western classical
Early music
Common practice period
Baroque
Classicism
Romanticism
20th and 21st century
Creation
Composition
Performance
Improvisation
Art and entertainment
Notation
Oral and aural tradition
Elements
Pitch
Melody
Harmony
Rhythm
Texture
Timbre
Expression
Form
Philosophy
Psychology
Neuroscience
Cognitive musicology
Psychoacoustics
Evolutionary musicology
Cultural effects
Perceptual
Sociological aspects
Role of women
Media and technology
Education
Non-institutional
Institutional
Academic study
Musicology
Music theory
Zoomusicology
Ethnomusicology
Therapy
See also
References
Notes
Citations
Sources
Further reading
External links

thumb|upright=1.2|Grooved side of the Voyager Golden Record launched aboard the Voyager probes to space, which features music from around the world

Music is the arrangement of sound to create some combination of form, harmony, melody, rhythm, or otherwise expressive content. Music is generally agreed to be a cultural universal that is present in all human societies. Definitions of music vary widely in substance and approach. While scholars agree that music is defined by a small number of specific elements, there is no consensus as to what these necessary elements are. Music is often characterized as a highly versatile medium for expressing human creativity. Diverse activities are involved in the creation of music, and are often divided into categories of composition, improvisation, and performance. Music may be performed using a wide variety of musical instruments, including the human voice. It can also be composed, sequenced, or otherwise produced to be indirectly played mechanically or electronically, such as via a music box, barrel organ, or digital audio workstation software on a computer.

Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “music” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.