Music

Music

Music is an art form whose medium is sound and silence. Its common element are pitch, rhythm, dynamics and the sonic qualities of timbre and texture .The creation, performance , significance and even the definition of music vary according to culture and social context. Music ranges from strictly organized compositions, through improvisational music to aleatoric form.

The best-known types of music are:

Blues Music
Classical Music
Country Music
Electronic Music
Jazz Music
Latin Music
Metal Music
Pop Music
Punk Music
Rap Music
Reggae Music
R&B Music
Rock Music


Music Theory (Basic)
Music theory is the study of the structure of music. It includes considerations of melody, rhythm, counterpoint, harmony and form; tonal systems, scales, tuning, intervals, consonance, dissonance, durational proportions and the acoustics of pitch systems; composition, performance, orchestration, ornamentation, improvisation and electronic sound production; etc.

Etymologically, music theory is an act of contemplation of music, from the Greek theōreō, to inspect, look at, behold, observe, contemplate, consider. As such, it has been opposed to practice, but such practical aspects as the creation or the performance of music, or their pedagogy, are today understood as belonging to the domain of music theory.

Music theory usually expresses itself in a body of theoretical literature: the Western art music, the Byzantine, Arabic, Hebrew, Chinese and Indian traditions possess large bodies of such literature. Yet, some consider that theory may be unwritten and that its sources may consist also, for instance, in Ancient instruments or in modern traditional practices of music.

Some important music theorists include Aristotle, Pythagoras, Guido of Arezzo, Rameau, Schenker and Schoenberg

Fundamentals of music

Music is composed of phenomena of sound and “music theory” considers how those phenomena are and can be used in music. In the most general sense, “music theory” considers elements of music including, but not limited to pitch, harmony, rhythm, melody, texture, form, performance, and style.

Notation

Musical notation and Sheet music

Tibetan musical score from the 19th century.Musical notation is the written or symbolized representation of music. This is most often achieved by the use of commonly understood graphic symbols and written verbal instructions and their abbreviations. Computer file formats have become important as well. Spoken language and hand signs are also used to symbolically represent music, primarily in teaching.

In standard Western music notation, tones are represented graphically by symbols (notes) placed on a staff or staves, the vertical axis corresponding to pitch and the horizontal axis corresponding to time. Note head shapes, stems, flags, ties and dots are used to indicate duration. Additional symbols indicate keys, dynamics, accents, rests, etc. Verbal instructions are often used to indicate tempo, technique, and other aspects.

There are many systems of music notation from different cultures and different ages. Traditional Western notation evolved during the Middle Ages and continues to be an area of experimentation and innovation.


Guitar

The guitar is a popular musical instrument classified as a string instrument with anywhere from 4 to 18 strings, usually having 6. The sound is projected either acoustically or through electrical amplification (for an acoustic guitar or an electric guitar, respectively). It is typically played by strumming or plucking the strings with the right hand while fretting (or pressing against the fret) the strings with the left hand. The guitar is a type of chordophone, traditionally constructed from wood and strung with either gut, nylon or steel strings and distinguished from other chordophones by its construction and tuning. The modern guitar was preceded by the gittern, the vihuela, the four-course Renaissance guitar, and the five-course baroque guitar, all of which contributed to the development of the modern six-string instrument.

There are three main types of modern acoustic guitar: the classical guitar (nylon-string guitar), the steel-string acoustic guitar, and the archtop guitar. The tone of an acoustic guitar is produced by the strings' vibration, amplified by the body of the guitar, which acts as a resonating chamber. The classical guitar is often played as a solo instrument using a comprehensive fingerpicking technique. The term fingerpicking can also refer to a specific tradition of folk, blues, bluegrass, and country guitar playing in the US.

Electric guitars, introduced in the 1930s, use an amplifier that can electronically manipulate and shape the tone. Early amplified guitars employed a hollow body, but a solid body was eventually found more suitable, as it was less prone to feedback. Electric guitars have had a continuing profound influence on popular culture.

The guitar is used in a wide variety of musical genres worldwide. It is recognized as a primary instrument in genres such as blues, bluegrass, country, flamenco, folk, jazz, jota, mariachi, metal, punk, reggae, rock, soul, and many forms of pop.

History
History of the classical guitar


Illustration in a Carolingian psalter from the 9th century showing an instrument of the chordophone family, most probably a lute
Before the development of the electric guitar and the use of synthetic materials, a guitar was defined as being an instrument having "a long, fretted neck, flat wooden soundboard, ribs, and a flat back, most often with incurved sides".The term is used to refer to a number of chordophones that were developed and used across Europe, beginning in the 12th century and, later, in the Americas.A 3,300-year-old stone carving of a Hittite bard playing a stringed instrument is the oldest iconographic representation of a chordophone.

The modern word guitar, and its antecedents, has been applied to a wide variety of chordophones since classical times and as such causes confusion. The English word guitar, the German Gitarre, and the French guitare were adopted from the Spanish guitarra, which comes from the Andalusian Arabic قيثارة qitara, itself derived from the Latin cithara, which in turn came from the Ancient Greek κιθάρα kithara.[A]

The term guitar is descended from the Latin word cithara but the modern guitar itself is generally not believed to have descended from the Roman instrument. Many influences are cited as antecedents to the modern guitar. Although the development of the earliest "guitars" is lost in the history of medieval Spain, two instruments are commonly cited as their most influential predecessors, the European lute and its cousin, the four-string oud; the latter was brought to Iberia by the Moors in the 8th century.


A guitarra latina (left) and a guitarra morisca (right), Spain, 13th century
At least two instruments called "guitars" were in use in Spain by 1200: the guitarra latina (Latin guitar) and the so-called guitarra moresca (Moorish guitar). The guitarra moresca had a rounded back, wide fingerboard, and several sound holes. The guitarra Latina had a single sound hole and a narrower neck. By the 14th century the qualifiers "moresca" or "morisca" and "latina" had been dropped and these two cordophones were simply referred to as guitars.

The Spanish vihuela or (in Italian) "viola da mano", a guitar-like instrument of the 15th and 16th centuries, is widely considered to have been the single most important influence in the development of the baroque guitar. It had six courses (usually), lute-like tuning in fourths and a guitar-like body, although early representations reveal an instrument with a sharply cut waist. It was also larger than the contemporary four-course guitars. By the 16th century the vihuela's construction had more in common with the modern guitar, with its curved one-piece ribs, than with the viols, and more like a larger version of the contemporary four-course guitars. The vihuela enjoyed only a relatively short period of popularity in Spain and Italy during an era dominated elsewhere in Europe by the lute; the last surviving published music for the instrument appeared in 1576.

Meanwhile the five-course baroque guitar, which was documented in Spain from the middle of the 16th century, enjoyed popularity, especially in Spain, Italy and France from the late 16th century to the mid-18th century.[B][C] In Portugal, the word viola referred to the guitar, as guitarra meant the "Portuguese guitar", a variety of cittern.