| Music theory is the study of the practices and possibilities of music. |
音樂理論是研究音樂實踐與可行性的學科。 |
| Music theory is frequently concerned with describing how musicians and composers make music, including tuning systems and composition methods among other topics. |
音樂理論通常關注音樂家與作曲家如何製造音樂，包括樂律與作曲作法等。 |
| Because of the ever-expanding conception of what constitutes music (see Definition of music), a more inclusive definition could be that music theory is the consideration of any sonic phenomena, including silence, as they relate to music. |
因為「何為音樂」的概念正在繼續擴張中（請參照音樂的定義），對於音樂理論的更綜合的定義是考慮任何聲音，包括沉默，如何與音樂有關。 |
| This is not an absolute guideline; for example, the study of "music" in the Quadrivium liberal arts university curriculum that was common in medieval Europe was an abstract system of proportions that was carefully studied at a distance from actual musical practice. |
這不是絕對規則；例如，中世紀歐洲大學四術中的「音樂研究」不是關於音樂實踐的研究而是關於比例的抽象系統。 |
| However, this medieval discipline became the basis for tuning systems in later centuries, and it is generally included in modern scholarship on the history of music theory. |
但是這中世紀的學科成為下世紀的樂律，所以將音樂理論歷史的現代學問通常包括。 |
| Music theory as a practical discipline encompasses the methods and concepts composers and other musicians use in creating music. |
音樂理論的實踐包括作曲家與其他音樂家如何製造音樂的方法與概念。 |
| The development, preservation, and transmission of music theory in this sense may be found in oral and written music-making traditions, musical instruments, and other artifacts. |
這實踐的發展、保護與傳承的證明會在音樂製造的口頭傳統與書面傳統、樂器與其他遺物中顯示。 |
| For example, ancient instruments from Mesopotamia, China, and prehistoric sites around the world reveal details about the music they produced and potentially something of the musical theory that might have been used by their makers (see History of music and Musical instrument). |
例如，在美索不達米亞、中國與其他史前遺址發現的古代樂器會顯示這文化如何製造音樂，也會顯示製造者的音樂理論（請參照音樂歷史與樂器）。 |
| In ancient and living cultures around the world, the deep and long roots of music theory are clearly visible in instruments, oral traditions, and current music making. |
古代文化與現代文化的樂器、口頭傳統與音樂製造都會顯示音樂理論的根源。 |
| Many cultures, at least as far back as ancient Mesopotamia and ancient China, have also considered music theory in more formal ways such as written treatises and music notation. |
許多文化，包括美索不達米亞與古代中國，為了將音樂理論成為正式實踐，也寫作論文或者發明記譜法。 |
| Practical and scholarly traditions overlap, as many practical treatises about music place themselves within a tradition of other treatises, which are cited regularly just as scholarly writing cites earlier research. |
實踐傳統與學問傳統會有交叉，因為關於音樂實踐的論文會通常將其他論文引用，如同學問論文將以前的研究引用。 |
