The 6 concepts of music divide musical features into categories that can be described in words. Most music uses a combination of all the concepts. 

Combinations of musical concepts and techniques can suggest ideas, moods and images to the audience, for example:

• tension can be created by combining dissonant pitch with repeated rhythms and an increasingly loud dynamic

• unity is sensed in music when the structure includes repeated sections, ostinatos or phrases

• a sense of contrast is created when a concept of music is altered such as adding more layers, or varying the number of beats per bar.