Music (updating
links to music sheets)
Music is an art form and cultural activity whose medium
is sound and silence, which exist in time. The common
elements of music are pitch (which governs melody and
harmony), rhythm (and its associated concepts tempo,
meter, and articulation), dynamics (loudness and
softness), and the sonic qualities of timbre and texture
(which are sometimes termed the "color" of a musical
sound). Different 
styles or types of
music may emphasize, de-emphasize or omit some of these
elements. Music is performed with a vast range of
instruments and with vocal techniques ranging from singing
to rapping, and there are solely instrumental pieces,
solely vocal pieces (such as songs without instrumental
accompaniment) and pieces that combine singing and
instruments. The word derives from Greek μουσική (mousike;
"art of the Muses").[1] In its most general form, the
activities describing music as an art form include the
production of works of music (songs, tunes, symphonies,
and so on), the criticism of music, the study of the
history of music, and the aesthetic examination of music.
Ancient Greek and Indian philosophers defined music as
tones ordered horizontally as melodies and vertically as
harmonies. Common sayings such as "the harmony of the
spheres" and "it is music to my ears" point to the notion
that music is often ordered and pleasant to listen to.
However, 20th-century composer John Cage thought that any
sound can be music, saying, for example, "There is no
noise, only sound.
