Classical Period

The classical period was from 1750 to 1810.It followed the Baroque period. 


In the Classical period many new terms and techniques were created and perfected:




Diatonic music- The phrase diatonic means that the piece of music only uses all notes in the same key. This to ensure that there are no clashing sounds, this would be deemed 'unacceptable' in the classical period if there were clashing notes.


 Even phrases- Classical composers made sure all their phrases were balanced an equal. Phrases are measured in bars. They start and end where you would breathe if singing. They are regular chunks of equal lengths of music.  


Homophonic- The term homophonic means that when a melody line moves around the accompanying parts move with it.
As you can tell from the diagram, different parts move the same way, homo meaning 'same'.

The piano became the dominant Keyboard instrument of the era and is the most commonly used instrument in classical music. 


 Alberti bass: This was used in the classical period.It's played on the left hand of the piano, it's very steady and uses a broken chord. Then a melody is played over the top of the alberti bass part.


Concerto: A concerto is piece of music for a solo instrument and orchestra. The Orchestra accompanies the soloist. 


 Symphony:This is an extended musical piece split into movements. It's a Large orchestral piece. Classical composers had specific rules about their music. There were three movements in a symphony. The First mvt. was in Sonata form. The Second mvt. was written in a different contrasting key , it was slower and had a stronger melody line. The Third mvt. was livelier and more light hearted.It was in Rondo form.


 Sonata: A sonata was an instrumental composition, usually in three or more movements, for piano alone (piano sonata) or for any other instrument with or without piano accompaniment (violin sonata, cello sonata)