Music

Music is an art form that involves what are sometimes organised sounds and silence, although in some forms of 20th century aleatoric, and indeed improvisational music, as well as most Eastern traditions such as Gamelou, this is not the case. It is expressed in terms of pitch (which includes melody and harmony), rhythm (which includes tempo and meter), and the quality of sound (which includes timbre, articulation, dynamics, and texture).
Music may also involve generative forms in time through the construction of patterns and combinations of natural stimuli, principally sound. Music may be used for artistic or aesthetic, communicative, entertainment, ceremonial or religious purposes and by many composers purely as an academic instrument for study.
The definition of what constitutes music varies according to culture and social context, with varied interpretations of the term being accepted under sub-genres of the art. Within "the arts", music can be classified as a performing art, a fine art, or an auditory art form.
The history of music predates the written word and is tied to the development of each unique human culture. The development of music among humans occurred against the backdrop of natural sounds such as birdsong and the sounds other animals use to communicate. Prehistoric music, once more commonly called primitive music, is the name given to all music produced in preliterate cultures (prehistory), beginning somewhere in very late geological history.