Music is an art form whose medium is sound and silence. The common elements of music are pitch (which governs melody and harmony), rhythm (and its associated concepts tempo, meter, and articulation), dynamics, and the sonic qualities of timbre and texture (which are sometimes termed the "color" of a musical sound). Music is performed with a vast range of instruments and with vocal techniques ranging from singing to rapping, and there are both solely instrumental pieces and solely vocal pieces. 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, symphonies, and so on), the criticism of music, the study of the history of music, and the aesthetic examination of music.