| Baroque music was the earliest time period. This period lasted from 1600 to 1750. Of course, there was music played before then, but that music consisted of the same few notes, and almost the same rhythm would be played repeatedly (which was rather boring). In the Baroque period, the music had a lot more liveliness and much more interesting tunes. |
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Baroque music was played in churches, for kings, and for dances. Orchestras would play this music. The orchestras then had almost all the instruments that there are now. The only difference was that the harpsichord was played. It is similar to the piano, except that there are two rows of keys. It also cannot be made louder or softer. |
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Baroque music is full of embellishments. The embellishments are notes that are inserted into the main tune. If you were to take these ornaments away, the music will be too plain. There are many types of embellishments. There are trills, where you play two notes repeatedly for a certain amount of time. There are also the appogiatura, the mordent, etc. Some people devote their lives to learning all the embellishments. |
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Baroque music is quite well-known for its contrapuntal type. Contrapuntal is when one part of music starts, and later, another part is played against it. The two parts may be the same, or they may be opposites. An example of this is if one melody has notes that get higher, the other melody will get lower. |
| There are many different types of Baroque music. There are the dance pieces, like the minuet, gigue, courante, sarabande, bourreé, and the gavotte. There are other famous types, like the prelude, fugue, invention, toccata, and concerto. All these types vary. Some are harder to play, some are easier. Some are fast, some are slow. |
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There are many Baroque composers. One of the most famous composers is J.S. Bach. He showed people the different things you could do with music. Another famous composer is Handel. He is famous for the Water Music. Other famous compsers are Corelli, Monteverdi, Lully, Purcell, Rameau, and Scarlatti. Haydn is a composer that was in between Baroque and the next period, the Classical period. |
