Music is a form of art and cultural activity that uses sound and silence as its medium. The term has its origin in the Greek language, mousike, which translates to art of the Muses. According to the mythology of the Greeks, muses were nine goddesses who inspired the arts, science, and literature. They were sources of knowledge that is embodied within the cultural myths, song-lyrics, and poetry in Ancient Greek. In order to understand more about music Oakland is a great place to check out.

The reasons why people engage in this art differ. Some of the reasons are to derive aesthetic pleasure and ceremonial purposes. Increasingly, musicians today produce the art for public consumption in the marketplace. People played music on home pianos during Romantic and Classical eras when sound recording capabilities had not been invented yet. Enjoyment of the art was made much easier when technology for recording sound was invented.

A lot of expansion in the technology used in this field has been experienced. Major technological inventions are the home tape recorder in 1980s and digital music of the 1990s. With the latter invention, people could carry portable cassette players and MP3 players to listen to their own playlists. Mix tapes are used as gifts to friends of family members, prescription for parties, or self-portraits.

Almost everyone loves music. Amateur musicians create music for personal pleasure while engaging in other activities for income generation. Institutions that employ professional musicians are many, and they include music schools, symphony orchestras, the armed forces, broadcasting companies, churches, synagogues, and film production companies among others. In the armed forces, professional musicians are known for participating in the marching bands.

Professional musicians also commonly work as freelancers or session musicians in some settings. Here, they seek engagements and contracts from clients. Professional musicians also train amateur musicians to get better. Professional artists also sometimes allow advanced amateur musicians to perform together with them in community orchestras, concert bands, and similar events. Performances are done before audiences in a live setting or within a studio.

There is always a difference between music produced in the studio and that which is performed live before an audience. Studio-produced art is usually recorded and distributed to the public, usually at a price. Live performances are usually not recorded in most cases. However, they may also be recorded and distributed to people through various platforms such as the internet.

Music is composed of several elements, commonly, pitch, rhythm, dynamics, and sonic qualities of texture and timbre. The element of pitch governs harmony and melody while rhythm has associated concepts, which include articulation, meter, and tempo. The emphasis and de-emphasis of these elements differ with the style and type of music.

It takes various vocal techniques and musical instruments to perform this art. The vocal techniques used range from instrument-free singing to rapping. The various styles and other aspects of this field have evolved a lot since its discovery. New styles come up regularly as old ones lose popularity in the mainstream. The industry is actively expanding and reaching new corners of the world and accompanying technology gets better.