Looking up...
song
美しいうたを聞きました
I heard a beautiful song.
彼はうたを作るのが好きです
He likes to write songs.
Can refer to both singing and the song itself.
'うた' is a versatile word that can refer to both the act of singing and the song itself.
From Old Japanese 'uta', meaning 'song' or 'poem'
Can be used both as a noun and as part of verb phrases like 'うたを歌う' (to sing a song).