音樂的定義（英語：definition of music）力求對音樂的基本屬性或本質特徵給出簡潔準確的解釋，涉及定義「音樂」一詞含義的過程。許多權威人士給出了音樂的定義，但事實證明，定義音樂比最初想像的要困難得多，人們對此爭論不休。許多解釋從音樂作為「有組織的聲音」的概念開始，但他們也強調這可能是一個過於寬泛的定義，並列舉了「有組織的聲音」中未被認為是音樂的特例，例如人類語音和存在於自然工業環境中的聲音。此外，文化對音樂認知的影響使定義音樂的問題更加複雜。
《牛津簡明辭典》將「音樂」（music）定義為「結合聲樂或器樂（或兩者）以產生形式之美、和諧和情感表達的藝術」。然而，一些音樂類型，如噪音音樂和具象音樂，通過使用不被廣泛認為是音樂，但具有美感或和諧的聲音來挑戰這類觀點，如隨機產生的電子失真、聲頻反饋、無線電噪聲、嘈雜聲和利用作曲不確定性過程產生的聲音。
美國作曲家約翰·凱奇（1912－1992）創作的音樂作品《4分33秒》（1952）經常被引用來反映定義音樂的困境。書面樂譜記錄了三個樂章，表演者出現在舞台上，用手勢或其他方式示意表演開始，然後在整個表演期間不發出任何聲音，用手勢示意各個樂章及整場演出的結束。聽眾只能聽到房間中可能出現的任何環境聲響。一些人認為《4分33秒》不是音樂，因為除其他原因外，它不包含傳統意義上被認為是「音樂」的聲音，作曲家和表演者不能控制和組織聽眾聽到的聲音。另一些人則認為它是音樂，因為傳統意義上的樂聲定義是多餘且武斷的，對聲音組織的控制是由作曲家和表演者通過手勢實現的，他們把聽眾聽到的東西分成特定的章節部分並轉換成聽眾能理解的形式。
由於音樂基本概念的差異，許多文化的語言中沒有一個可以準確地翻譯「music」的詞，使之匹配西方文化通常理解的概念。因紐特人和大多數北美印第安人的語言都沒有一個關於音樂的一般術語。在阿茲特克人中，古代墨西哥的修辭、詩歌、舞蹈和器樂理論使用納瓦特爾語術語In xochitl-in kwikatl來指代音樂和其他詩歌的語言和非語言元素的複雜組合，並只為歌唱的表達保留Kwikakayotl（或cuicacayotl）一詞。
Levi R. Bryant對音樂的定義不是一種語言，而是一種基於標記的、解決問題的方法，與數學相當。
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審美過程
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| 作曲家（製作人）
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聲音（痕跡）
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聽者（接收者）
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引用
來源
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