When the dance known as the waltz first became popular in Europe in the late 1700's and early 1800's, it was considered by many observers to be the ultimate in lewdness and licentiousness, a corrupter of youth.

The clarinet was the last of the principal woodwind instruments to join the orchestra. The modern clarinet evolved from earlier forms in the early 1700's—later than the modern oboe, bassoon, and flute—and it wasn’t until late in the century that orchestral composers included the clarinet in their scores with any regularity.

The harpsichord, the keyboard workhorse of the Baroque period, is an instrument with a problem: varying the touch on the keys has absolutely no effect on volume or tone quality. Depress a key gently or pound on it, it doesn’t matter — the note will sound the same.

Atonal music is music that isn’t written in a key, music that doesn’t follow the traditional rules of harmony. But although the term “atonal” tells us what a piece isn’t , it doesn’t tell us what it is . Many different styles and musical languages, whether harsh or lush, cool or intense, simple or complex can be described as atonal.

Serenade is one of those musical terms that has meant many different things at many different times. The term itself comes from the Italian sereno , which is from the Latin serenus , which means “serene.”

The word sonata comes from the Italian sonare , an old form of suonare , which means “to sound,” or “to play,” as in “to play an instrument.” And indeed a sonata is always an instrumental piece—and since about 1750 the term has usually referred to pieces that are written either for solo piano or for piano and one other instrument.

Atonality and dissonance are often linked in listeners’ minds, but they’re not the same thing. Dissonance, from the Latin words for “sounding” and “apart,” is the simultaneous sounding of two or more notes to produce a clashing, or unpleasant effect. Its opposite is consonance , a pleasing sound, a “sounding together .”

Chamber music rehearsals are very different from orchestra rehearsals. In an orchestra rehearsal, it’s the conductor’s job to make the overall musical decisions and to ensure that the members of the orchestra carry them out.

In operatic singing, there are three principal voice types for women. From high to low, they are soprano, mezzo-soprano— mezzo meaning “middle” in Italian—and contralto.

Have you ever wondered how the violin came to play such an important role in the history of classical music? Well, it starts with singing. The invention of opera, in late 16th century Florence, marks the beginning of the Baroque period in music, and with it the rise to supremacy of the musical style known as “melody and accompaniment.”