Song

Song, musical setting of words, usually a short poem, often with instrumental accompaniment. There are 2 basic kinds: songs in which each verse repeats the same tune, and songs with a continuous thematic development. The origins of the song are lost in the history of folk music and poetry (poetry was originally sung); it became a mature art in Western cultures in opera arias, German Lieder—those of Schubert are supreme examples—and the French chanson. The song forms that have most influenced 20th-century popular music are probably the ballad and the blues.