period
Home Up medieval renaissance baroque classical romantic modern periods test

Music Timeline
 

Home
Up
medieval
renaissance
baroque
classical
romantic
modern
periods test

Check out the piano4t blog

All Students preparing for Grade exams are recommended to use the Hofnotes on-line training pages to practise for the aural tests. 

At higher grades  you must be able to discuss with the examiner musical features such as texture, structure, style, and period of a piece of music.  My own  web pages to help with these parts of the test at Grade 5+ and at GCSE are available here!

 

 

 

 


For an overview of the musical timeline go to this website: www.piano4t.co.uk/music_timeline.htm

You may describe the period of the music in quite general terms at Grade V.  For maximum points, get to know the names of the key periods -  words like:

  •     medieval
  •     baroque
  •     classical
  •     romantic
  •     20th century
  •     contemporary
  •     jazz

Or you may relate the music to a composer you know such as

  •     Purcell
  •     Bach
  •     Handel
  •     Mozart
  •     Chopin
  •     Debussy
  •     Bartók

If it sounds like a piece you have played, say so - if it is from the same rough era, the examiner will give you credit for that... Always read the little notes at the foot of your exam pieces so you know a bit about when they were written and can start to relate that to what you hear in the music.


At later grades, you will be expected to describe certain dance and rhythmic styles, and relate them to the instrument and period. 

You should be able to use a variety of features to recognise or "typecast" a piece as being of a particular era. 

And you should be able to contrast the work of particular composers with others from the same period.

You can find more information on these in the pages in this section, but the very best thing you can do is to listen widely and critically and to explore new pieces in your own playing.

     


Home Up texture structure period style

Last updated on: 10/04/2013