Different types of music style, which one do you like the most?
Baroque
c.1600-1750
Baroque music is the most early piano style. It marked the beginning of the classical period during the medieval renaissance. Many Baroque musics have a polyphonic texture, meaning that it has multiple lines of independent melody.
The sound is usually simple and the whole song only has one mood or speed(fast and sad then it will remain that way for the whole score). The keyboard range of Baroque musics are really small, only around 2 octave. We will often hear repeated patterns or similar measures throughout the music. The music won’t have any pedals to it because pedals not invented during that period of time. There are barely any dynamics(loud and soft of the music) too because the keyboard can’t play hard or soft, but if there is it would suddenly change instead of gradually. The easiest way to identify Baroque music is orientation (added notes that are relatively fast; like the word itself the function is just to orientate the music, not carry the music). Orientations like trill, mordents, and turns are really common in the music.
Bach 2-Part Invention No.13 in A minor
We can hear many repeated patterns in the music. It is polyphonic with two independent parts. The key range of this music is really short. You can't hear any loud or soft in the music because there are no dynamic.
Harpsichord Suite No.2 In F Major HWV427 : III Adagio
There are a lot of orientations in the music. It is also polyphonic on the left hand part. And There are repeated patterns too. This is a really clear Baroque music style.
More Baroque music:
Classical
c.1750-1830
Instead of polyphonic texture during the Baroque music period, it shifted to more simpler music with only 1 line(homophobic). Since it’s only 1 line for each hand, it’s shorter and clearier, especially the ending. The left hand is usually accompanmenting the other hand, and the right hand plays the main melody. There is still orientation in the music, but not as much as the Baroque music; sometimes non. Composers use trills most often. There are more dynamics, keys and wider keyboard range than Baroque music. The mood of the music is happy and joyful. Pedals are just invented, so it’s really rare for you to hear pedals for classical music. This type of music is the most well known, many of the musics are right for beginners.
Mozart Piano Sonata in C, K545. 1st movement:
The music is really light and it is homophobic. There are some oreimentation(trills) in the music, but not a lot. You get the clear sense that the music is going to end(the ending is chords and loud).
Beethoven Sonata in A, Op.2, No.2. 3rd movement:
It holds the same characteristics of the last song(Mozart Sonata), it might sound like Barque to you at the beginning, but it’s classical music. This is because you can hear a clear distinction of the right and left hand. Left hand is accompanimenting the right hand, and it is homophonbic. Just like the Mozart Sonata, it has a strong ending(chords).
More Classical music:
Romantic
c.1830-1910
Compared to Classical and Baroque music, Romantic music is longer and slower. The core of the music is the melody. It expresses the emotions and nationalism behind the music. The music is flourishing with different dynamics, pitch, and rhythm. It has a really wide range of keyboards and key change because the composer wants to show some powerful emotions in the music. There are still trills and ornaments in the music, but like classical music, it’s not that common anymore. People begin to use pedals in romantic music a lot.
Chopin Prelude in E minor, Op.28 No.4:
The music is really slow. You can Chopin expressing his feelings and emotions through the music. It is sorrowful and it has rich chromatic harmonies. This piece sounds better with pedals.
Liszt Consolation No.3 in D-flat major:
Again, the music is slow. It has really rich dynamics. You can hear loud and soft notes. It holds a wide range of keyboards. It has a long melody.
More Romantic music:
Jazz
c.1910-present day
Jazz music is the easiest to identify. Jazz has swing rhythms(triplet feel, meaning that the first note is twice as long as the second note) and blues notes. To create that “blues” style, most Jazz music’s key signature is flat instead of sharp. There are some orienmentes in some Jazz music, usually the composer would use orienment called grace notes or acciaccatura.
The structure of the Jazz score is harmonic and many have repeated patterns like Baroque. The key range can vary, but fairly big. There are many styles of jazz.
Christopher Norton ‘Tiger Blues’ from ‘Microjazz’:
We can clearly hear the blues style and the swinging rhythms in this music. The right hand is playing notes from the C blues scale. There are some grace notes used in the music too.
‘My Funny Valentine’ from the film ‘The Fabulous Baker Boys’(arranged):
This is a great example of Jazz style. There are many grace notes in the music. Blues notes and swinging rhythms; with chromatic harmonic melodies.