Music is an art form that combines sounds and silence in an organized fashion to create some combination of form, harmony, melody, rhythm, or otherwise expressive content. It is an aspect of all human societies and a cultural universal, although definitions of music vary depending on culture. While scholars agree that music is defined by a few specific elements, there is no consensus on their precise definitions. The creation of music is commonly divided into musical composition, musical improvisation, and musical performance, though the topic itself extends into academic disciplines, criticism, philosophy, and psychology.
Music may be performed or improvised using a vast range of instruments, including the human voice. In some musical contexts, a performance or composition may be to some extent improvised. For instance, in Hindustani classical music, the performer plays spontaneously while following a partially defined structure and using characteristic.
According to several authors, music is composed of melody, harmony, and rhythm. Melody is the main voice of sound, what can be sung, while harmony is an overlapping of notes that serves as the basis for the melody. Rhythm is the pattern of sounds and silences that occur over time.
Music is a protean art that lends itself easily to alliances with words, as in song, and with physical movement, as in dance. It is an art that, in one guise or another, permeates every human society.
