Baroque

• Baroque


  Musical period from 1600-1750
• Baroque concerts


  • Started with orchestra played by a small group and grew overtime
• Instruments of Baroque


  • Strings: Violino piccolo, Violin, Viol, Viola, Tenor violin, Cello, Bass
  • Lute, mandolin, guitar, harp
  • Woodwind: Baroque flute, Chalumeau, Corto, Baroque oboe, recorder, Basso
  • Brass: Cornett, natural horn, Baroque trumpet, Flat trumpet, Trombone
  • Keyboards: Clavichord, Tangent piano, Forte piano, harpsichord, Organ
  • Percussion: Timpani, Tambourine, Castanets
• Baroque composers


  • Johann Sebastian Bach
  • George Frideric Handel
  • Arcangelo Corelli
  • Antonio Vivaldi
• Harpsichord


  Piano format but plucky strings instead of hitting
• Baroque music


  • Terraced dynamics (volume changes)
  • Ornamentation (tune is decorated with extra notes)
  • Trill (quick movement between notes)
  • Mordent (mini trill + notes can only resolve above or below any and back)
  • Polyphonic (multiple harmonies at the same time)
• Basso continuo


  Continuous bass, the foundation/bass of the piece, usually done by harpsichord or low string instruments
• Baroque musical forms


  • Ternary form (A, B, A)
  • Ritornello/rondo form (A, B, A, C, A)
  • Variation form (A, A', A'')
  • Fugue (complex counterpoint)
• Baroque melodic devices


  • Melodic inversion (turning a melody upside down)
  • Retrograde (playing a melody backwards)
  • Melodic sequencing (playing the same musical idea higher or lower)
  • Imitation (repeating what was played by another instrument with changes)
  • Ostinato (repeated rhythmic pattern)
• Baroque ornaments


  • Trill
  • Appoggiatura (extra note that clashes and then resolves)
  • Acciaccatura (tiny note that becomes main before main note)
  • Mordent
• Baroque (Period)


  1600-1750. Included Concerto Grosso and Solo Concerto. Orchestra was small and mainly string dominated. It featured lots of ornamentation and terraced dynamics. Polyphonic textures and Ritornello form was used.