Trending Musical Concepts this year
The 100 most-viewed musical concepts this year on Wikipedia. Ranked by real-world attention. Top: synesthesia.
100
Ranked
216,165
Total Views (this year)
1
synesthesia
neurological condition
27,513
views
views
2
circle of fifths
relationship among the 12 tones of the chromatic scale, their corresponding key signatures, and the associated major and minor keys; geometr
13,185
views
views
3
mode
each of the sequences ordered by the notes within an octave according to the different sequences of tones and semitones
7,580
views
views
4
syncopated rhythm
rhythm that contains syncopation
7,046
views
views
5
note sign
sign used in musical notation to describe a pitched sound (frequency + duration)
6,847
views
views
6
time signature
specification of beats in a musical bar or measure
6,362
views
views
7
scale
succession of notes organized according to a model in ascending or descending order within an octave
4,891
views
views
8
Accidental (music)
sign that changes the pitch of the note which appears outside the key signature
4,876
views
views
9
chord
harmonic set of three or more notes
4,443
views
views
10
soundtrack
musical concept; recorded music accompanying a production such as a film
4,175
views
views
11
chord progression
succession formed by the repetition of a melodic or harmonic motif at a higher or lower degree
3,929
views
views
12
timbre
quality of a musical note or sound or tone, independent of pitch and volume
3,825
views
views
13
dynamics
aspect of musical expression related to sound intensity and its variation
3,773
views
views
14
song structure
arrangement of a song, part of the songwriting process
3,733
views
views
15
harmonic series
sequence of sounds where the base frequency of each sound is an integer multiple of the lowest base frequency
3,609
views
views
16
coda
musical passage that leads on to the conclusion
3,518
views
views
17
just intonation
musical tuning based on pure intervals
3,239
views
views
18
close
set of harmonic unions that represent the end of a phrase
3,011
views
views
19
harmony
process by which individual sounds are joined together or composed into whole units or compositions
2,985
views
views
20
drum machine
electronic musical instrument that creates percussion sounds
2,856
views
views
21
backmasking
backward recording technique
2,813
views
views
22
accent
highlight a musical element by emphasizing its intensity, duration or pitch
2,770
views
views
23
pitch
perceptual property in music ordering sounds from low to high
2,757
views
views
24
tessitura
musically acceptable range for a singer or musical instrument
2,703
views
views
25
Pythagorean tuning
intonation system based on the chaining of perfect fifths
2,666
views
views
26
beat
basic unit of time in music and music theory
2,464
views
views
27
measure
time unit in rhythmic musical notation
2,313
views
views
28
polyrhythm
the simultaneous use of two or more conflicting rhythms in music
2,229
views
views
29
concert tour
series of concerts by an artist or group of artists in different venues
2,135
views
views
30
diapason
pitch reference to which a group of musical instruments are tuned for a performance
2,071
views
views
31
head voice
specific term regarding the human voice the definition of which can vary by art medium
1,988
views
views
32
blue note
music term; note that for expressive purposes is sung or played at a slightly different pitch than standard
1,879
views
views
33
refrain
repeated lines in music or poetry
1,853
views
views
34
glissando
musical ornament; to pass through all the notes or sounds between two notes
1,703
views
views
35
Groove
Jazz technique
1,697
views
views
36
overtone
tone with a frequency higher than the frequency of the reference tone
1,666
views
views
37
tonal system
arrangements of pitches or chords to induce a hierarchy of perceived relations, stabilities, and attractions
1,559
views
views
38
LinnDrum
digital drum machine
1,542
views
views
39
music sequencer
device or application software that can record, edit, or play back music
1,501
views
views
40
bridge
contrasting section of music
1,497
views
views
41
sound effect
artificially created or enhanced sounds, or sound processes used to emphasize artistic or other content of films, television shows, live per
1,442
views
views
42
rest
interval of silence in a piece of music, marked by a rest symbol indicating the length of the pause
1,409
views
views
43
cadenza
improvised or written-out ornamental passage played or sung by a soloist or soloists
1,384
views
views
44
flanging
electronic musical effect
1,376
views
views
45
neumatic notation
neume notation system
1,365
views
views
46
tablature
score consisting of a music notation where letters, numbers or graphic symbols indicate the finger position on the instrument or the name of
1,343
views
views
47
intonation
variation of pitch in speech
1,329
views
views
48
guitar solo
melodic passage, instrumental section, or entire piece of music written for a classical guitar, electric guitar or an acoustic guitar
1,314
views
views
49
meter
aspect of music
1,285
views
views
50
cantus firmus
pre-existing melody forming the basis of a polyphonic composition
1,283
views
views
51
inversion
musical term with meanings with respect to intervals, chords, voices, and melodies
1,236
views
views
52
motif
short musical idea, a salient recurring figure, musical fragment or succession of notes that has some special importance in or is characteri
1,208
views
views
53
encore
additional performance added to the end of a concert
1,194
views
views
54
mensural notation
musical notation system used for European vocal polyphonic music
1,188
views
views
55
standard
well-known musical composition, considered part of the "standard repertoire" of one or more musical genres
1,163
views
views
56
dal Segno
musical symbol/term meaning return to the (segno) sign
1,134
views
views
57
music therapy
use of music as an adjunctive therapy in the treatment of neurological, mental, or behavioral disorders
1,130
views
views
58
envelope
pattern describing a sound or note's changing amplitude over time
1,082
views
views
59
Neo-romanticism
movements from the era of Romanticism
1,061
views
views
60
scoring
the art and technique of making or adapting compositions for a group of instruments, especially the orchestra
1,029
views
views
61
da capo
indication that a composition or part should be performed
1,006
views
views
62
modes of limited transposition
musical modes or scales that fulfill specific criteria relating to their symmetry and the repetition of their interval groups
979
views
views
63
rare groove
soul or jazz music that is very hard to source or relatively obscure
944
views
views
64
rockism and poptimism
ideological arguments in music journalism
934
views
views
65
diatonic and chromatic
terms in music theory to characterize scales
905
views
views
66
movement
self-contained part of a musical composition or musical form
895
views
views
67
repeat sign
musical notation indicating repetition
893
views
views
68
sight-singing
music term; reading and performing of a piece of music or song in music notation that the performer has not seen before
890
views
views
69
svara
note in the octave (Indian classical music)
884
views
views
70
music and emotion
psychological relationship between human affect and music
877
views
views
71
upbeat
unaccented note or group of notes that precedes the initial accented period of a musical phrase
856
views
views
72
sotto voce
intentionally lowering the volume of one's voice for emphasis
842
views
views
73
tone
sound with a typical pitch; steady periodic sound; characterized by its duration, pitch, intensity (or loudness), and timbre (or quality)
829
views
views
74
tala
meter, time cycle measure in Indian music
799
views
views
75
set list
handwritten or printed document created as an ordered list of songs, jokes, stories and other elements an artist intends to present during a
773
views
views
76
phrase
unit of musical meter that has a complete musical sense of its own, built from figures, motifs, and cells, and combining to form melodies, p
752
views
views
77
slur
type of ligature indicating that the group of notes it comprises should be interpreted legato
728
views
views
78
fipple
constricted mouthpiece common to many end-blown flutes, such as the tin whistle and the recorder
725
views
views
79
texture
way in which tempo, melody, and harmony are combined in a musical composition
692
views
views
80
altered chord
chord with notes of a different key than the corresponding one, with chromatic alterations
674
views
views
81
voice leading
decision-making consideration when arranging voices in musical composition
672
views
views
82
pedal point
sustained tone, typically in the bass, during which at least one foreign, i.e., dissonant harmony is sounded in the other parts
658
views
views
83
transcription
adaptation of a musical composition to a medium for which it wasn't initially written for
657
views
views
84
generative music
music that is ever-different and changing, created by a system
651
views
views
85
elements of music
characteristic, dimension, or element taken as a part or component of music
648
views
views
86
contrafactum
vocal music term; substitution of one text for another without substantial change to the music
600
views
views
87
instrument destruction
destruction of musical instruments
593
views
views
88
obbligato
musical line that is indispensable in performance
574
views
views
89
Musikalisches Würfelspiel
musical dice game used to randomly generate music
553
views
views
90
duende
Spanish term
553
views
views
91
Tie (music)
curved line written on the staff to group some notes, used to link notes of the same pitch, add note values and indicate the continuity of a
532
views
views
92
tonewheel
electromechanical apparatus for generating electric musical notes
531
views
views
93
parallel fifths
two consecutive perfect fifths that take place between the voices, achieved through parallel motion
530
views
views
94
well temperament
class of musical tuning systems
529
views
views
95
graphic notation
representation of music through the use of visual symbols outside the realm of traditional music notation
519
views
views
96
transposition
operation in music of moving multiple notes by the same interval
517
views
views
97
groove machine
musical instrument designed for live, loop-based music
461
views
views
98
relative pitch
the ability to identify a given musical interval between two notes
460
views
views
99
sequence
immediate restatement of a motif at a higher or lower pitch in the same voice
456
views
views
100
pelog
scale used in Indonesian gamelan music
437
views
views