Okay--recently it occurred to me to wonder what the dictionary had as the definition of music. Well, I just looked at FOUR on-line sources and I have problems with all of them. (I won't bother to put the links--if you want to LIU for yourself go right ahead.)

MUSIC
AHD offers
NOUN:
1. The art of arranging sounds in time so as to produce a continuous, unified, and evocative composition, as through melody, harmony, rhythm, and timbre.
2. Vocal or instrumental sounds possessing a degree of melody, harmony, or rhythm.
3.
a. A musical composition.
b. The written or printed score for such a composition.
c. Such scores considered as a group: We keep our music in a stack near the piano.
4. A musical accompaniment.
5. A particular category or kind of music.
6. An aesthetically pleasing or harmonious sound or combination of sounds: the music of the wind in the pines.

Technically, yes, art is a noun; but arranging sounds is definitely an action.

Cambridge Online says:
music noun /ˈmjuː.zɪk/ n [U]
• a pattern of sounds made by musical instruments, singing or computers, or a combination of these, intended to give pleasure to people listening to it
classical/pop/dance/rock music
a beautiful piece of music
What sort of music do you listen to?
They play good music (= recordings of music) on this (radio) station.
I just like making music (= playing music or singing).
Shall I put on some music (= play a recording)?

• the art or study of music
I studied music at college.
the music business/industry
music lessons

• the written system of symbols representing musical notes
Can you read music?
I don't think that music is always "intended to give pleasure to people listening to it".

Dictionary.com has:
–noun
1. an art of sound in time that expresses ideas and emotions in significant forms through the elements of rhythm, melody, harmony, and color.
2. the tones or sounds employed, occurring in single line (melody) or multiple lines (harmony), and sounded or to be sounded by one or more voices or instruments, or both.
3. musical work or compositions for singing or playing.
4. the written or printed score of a musical composition.
5. such scores collectively.
6. any sweet, pleasing, or harmonious sounds or sound: the music of the waves.
7. appreciation of or responsiveness to musical sounds or harmonies: Music was in his very soul.
8. Fox Hunting . the cry of the hounds.
Ok, I'm willing to admit ignorance on the fox hunting part, but. As a musician, I happen to know what "in time" refers to, but not everyone necessarily would. In time for what? In time, as in whenever the composer gets around to it? I also think the use of the word color could be confusing.

Lastly, M-W says
1a : the science or art of ordering tones or sounds in succession, in combination, and in temporal relationships to produce a composition having unity and continuity b : vocal, instrumental, or mechanical sounds having rhythm, melody, or harmony
2a : an agreeable sound : euphony <her voice was music to my ears> b : musical quality <the music of verse>
3: a musical accompaniment <a play set to music>
4: the score of a musical composition set down on paper
5: a distinctive type or category of music <there is a music for everybody — Eric Salzman>
This one too defines a noun by an action. I do think "in temporal relationships" is much more accurate than "in time".

So--is anybody going to argue set me straight on this? And, can anybody come up with a really good definition of music? Or better, your immediate, not-overthought one.

arranging sounds.. ordering tones

gerunds, or verbal nouns, constitute standard lexicographical constructs. howz dat for straightening dope?

An artistic form of auditory communication
(incorporating instrumental or vocal tones in a structured and continuous manner)

You can see 'the art of arranging' as a noun, me seems.
@stuwm, yes like the saying goes in your favorite language: "C'est le ton qui fait la musique". Anyway, no definition will ever stop the music.(and dance)

and I have problems with all of them.

I'd like to hear what your problems are with the definitions. They seem rather good to me.

I don't know how to define it, but I know it when I hear it...

I'd like to hear what your problems are with the definitions. Em--I put them in my OP.

Jackie, I think in your objections to the Dictionary.com definition, you're applying too technical a reading of "in time". It doesn't mean that the time signature and metronome setting are being strictly adhered to or what you're getting at with your comment "in time for what?". It just means what you mean by "in temporal relationships" but in a language that is aimed at the common reader.

Em--I put them in my OP.

Hmm, how did I miss those.

It just means what you mean by "in temporal relationships" Thats how I discerned it. But the way it is written it could be interpreted three ways.

I don't think that music is always "intended to give pleasure to people listening to it".

I agree. I also have *issues with "continuous, unified, and evocative" as well as "significant forms". Upon further reflection, I feel "evocative" might werk.

I'll have to mull this one... over.

If music didn't give me pleasure...I wouldn't listen to it.

evocative is a good word......but I think emotive might be better.

Music can stir happy thoughts or console you when you are sad, even when you are depressed you may listen to sad music...which may make you even sadder. But sometimes you just want to dwell in your unhappy thoughts. The song Gloomy Sunday, a song composed by Hungarian pianist and composer Rezső Seress is said to cause suicides.

I'll have to recommend that to some of my
gloomier friends. (Talk about Sadism).

HaHa......

Billie Holiday does it best


Billie

The art of arranging sounds in time so as to produce a continuous, unified, and evocative composition, as through melody, harmony, rhythm, and timbre.

Well, I've had more time to think about it, and the definition above is pretty close to speaking or at least reciting poetry. There are prosodic elements to even normal speech. In English tone is not used phonemically (e.g., to distinguish lexical items) but supersegmentally to add or affect the syntax of an utterance.

I think the evocative part applies to all art forms. Somehow consuming the work of art produces some kind of emotional response in the consumer. Continuous and unified are problematic, too. What is the longest rest that does not cut a piece into two parts? Also, different songs released on the same CD. They can be more closely unified (concept album, opera, etc.) than other pieces by the same composers/performers.

I took a music course back in college in the Dark Ages in which one of our early assignments was to come up with a definition of music. I'm not sure I quite remember what it was and what else besides music would have fit in it, but I do remember that it would have excluded John Cage's compositions (well, except for maybe 4" 33'). The relevant part of the definition was that the composer pretty much knew what it was going to sound like when it was done.

The relevant part of the definition was that the composer pretty much knew what it was going to sound like when it was done. Well now, that is interesting. What if a composer makes it up as he goes along? (Other than the fact that it's unlikely to be a coherent piece, which ain't necessarily a bad thing.)

Nice to see you here, muse! [HUG]

Well, that describes what they call improvisations. It was usually done at the keyboard, often the organ. Some of them are quite good pieces of music. But even then the composers knew what things were going to sound like, just not putting a lot of thought into it, rather letting their skills dictate what was going to happen. It also defines jazz.

I know I'm taking your words out of context, Jackie.....but I like the band MUSE

Then the third option is knowing exactly what you want but unable to get it instantly. You try this and that and you know what you have is not *the* thing. So you keep trying and improvising until you get to a place where you instinctively know "this is it!". It is in between knowing and not knowing. You know what you want but you do not know how to get there. You "waste" (?) or spend a lot of time and effort in the journey searching.