Portal:Music
The Music Portal
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/7b/The_Sounds_of_Earth_-_GPN-2000-001976.jpg/260px-The_Sounds_of_Earth_-_GPN-2000-001976.jpg)
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.
Music often plays a key role in social events and religious ceremony. The techniques of making music are often transmitted from as part of a cultural tradition. Music is played in public and private contexts, highlighted at events such as festivals and concerts for various different types of ensembles. Music is used in the production of other media, such as in soundtracks to films, TV shows, operas, and video games.
Listening to music is a common means of entertainment. The culture surrounding music extends into areas of academic study, journalism, philosophy, psychology, and therapy. The music industry includes songwriters, performers, sound engineers, producers, tour organizers, distributors of instruments, accessories, and publishers of sheet music and recordings. Technology facilitating the recording and reproduction of music has historically included sheet music, microphones, phonographs, and tape machines, with playback of digital musics being a common use for MP3 players, CD players, and smartphones. (Full article...)
General images -
Selected pictures
Related portals
Did you know (auto-generated)
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/44/Nuvola_apps_filetypes.svg/47px-Nuvola_apps_filetypes.svg.png)
- ... that husband and wife Edward M. and Marie Zimmerman co-wrote the suffragist anthem "Votes for Women: Suffrage Rallying Song"?
- ... that Steve Elcock's Symphony No. 6 is dedicated to "the everlasting execration of self-serving politicians, the obscenely rich and the system that allows them to remain so"?
- ... that Wilner Burke was the director of the Lumberjack Band, the marching band of the Green Bay Packers, for 42 years?
- ... that Oksana Lyniv founded the Youth Symphony Orchestra of Ukraine in 2016 and conducted them in thirty concerts across ten music festivals in 2022?
- ... that a will bequeathing the Chestnut Street Opera House to the University of Pennsylvania was contested at the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania?
- ... that Max Weil, founder of the Halifax Symphony Orchestra, spent his later years in real estate?
Today's Birthdays
- Birthdays in Music: August 11
- John Ellison, American R&B singer, lead vocalist for John Ellison & the Soul Brothers Six, turns 83.
- Mike Hugg, British drummer for Manfred Mann, turns 82.
- Jim Kale, Canadian bassist with The Guess Who, turns 81.
- Kenny Gamble, American record producer and Grammy Award winner, turns 81.
- Bragi Ólafsson, Icelandic bassist with The Sugarcubes, turns 62.
- Charlie Sexton, American guitarist and singer-songwriter, turns 56.
- Ali Shaheed Muhammad, American disc jockey for A Tribe Called Quest, turns 54.
- Ben Gibbard, American lead vocalist with Death Cab for Cutie, turns 48.
- Mack Daddy, (nee Chris Kelly) American rapper of Kris Kross fame, turns 46.
- J-Boog, member of B2K, the defunct American boy band, turns 39.
- Alyson Stoner, American actress, dancer and Pop singer, turns 31.
Categories
Explore
Connections
WikiProjects connected with music: WikiProject Music – Songs – Albums – Alternative music - Classical music – Composers – Contemporary Christian music – Contemporary music – Electronic music – Emo music – Hip hop – Instruments – Led Zeppelin - Metal music – Jazz – Musicians – Opera – Panic at the Disco – Powderfinger (band) – Punk music – Record Labels – Record Production – Rock music – R&B and Soul Music – Terminology – The Beatles
Create a requested article: See the list of Requested articles.
Improve an article: See the Music Noticeboard for a list of tasks.
Start a music course: School of Music at Wikiversity
Associated Wikimedia
The following Wikimedia Foundation sister projects provide more on this subject:
-
Commons
Free media repository -
Wikibooks
Free textbooks and manuals -
Wikidata
Free knowledge base -
Wikinews
Free-content news -
Wikiquote
Collection of quotations -
Wikisource
Free-content library -
Wikispecies
Directory of species -
Wikiversity
Free learning tools -
Wikivoyage
Free travel guide -
Wiktionary
Dictionary and thesaurus