A dulcimer is a stringed folk instrument which basically comes in two different varieties: the hammered dulcimer – which has strings stretched over a sounding board with a trapezoidal shape, generally ...

The influence of W.A. Mozart across all areas of culture has been colossal, from the Baby Mozart Project through to contemporary song. You can hardly pass through a day without encountering the music ...

The tambourine is probably one of the easiest and most fun musical instruments to play anywhere in the world. If you have any rhythm at all, and sometimes even if you don’t, you, too, can play a ...

Contemporary classical music is a varied genre that generally includes music written throughout the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. The term “contemporary classical music” embodies a wide range ...

With the distance of one hundred and ten years between us now and the premiere of Stravinsky’s ballet The Rite of Spring, it can be difficult to understand what the fuss was all about. Several things ...

This article is dedicated to one of the unsung heroes of the French Baroque period of musical history. In his day, Rameau (1683-1764) was one of the most influential, well-respected, and important ...

Before plunging headlong into the details of this title, let’s just take a moment to appreciate what is meant when the word counterpoint is used in music. Sometimes confused with polyphony, which ...

I hesitate to describe any work by the famous and celebrated polish composer Frederik Chopin as easy, however, it is true to say that some of his piano works are not as challenging as others. What we ...

If we trace harmonic history back in time we discover that is was during Bach’s lifetime that the present system of keys and tonality was established. Before this, there were many other equally valid ...

Music is littered with vocabulary. Dictionaries of music list the numerous terms that you have the option to embed into your language if you wish. Many of these terms are Italian as that wonderful ...

If you have ever seen Baroque architecture and paintings you will have a good idea of how ornate its appearance is. The style emanated from late 16 th Century Italy and was characterized by grandeur, ...

It’s maybe an odd thought to consider that once there were no orchestras. That fabulous collection of a hundred or more hard-working musicians ready to perform a symphony or concerto, not existing.