This chapter will give you an overview of the typical musical features of each style that is often featured in this part of the examination. It is not possible to cover every eventuality here – there has been a vast amount of music created across world history – but it is possible to learn and revise the most important styles and the terminology associated with them. The IBO breaks these styles down into three main areas: Western Classical Music, Jazz and Pop, and World Music. Remember that for this examination Western Classical Music spans a period running from 1550 up to the present day – not just the style that emerged in Vienna at the end of the 18th century. The dates that are used for the different periods of Classical Music are not absolute; the Baroque period did not start the day after the Renaissance period ended! It is best to think of musical styles and periods as overlapping, constantly evolving and developing over time, with the dates given to indicate when certain methods and approaches to creating music were in vogue.

WESTERN CLASSICAL MUSIC

Renaissance Period (1550–1600)

Key features:

1. • Most Renaissance music was written for voices, either for church services and ceremonies (sacred), or for secular (i.e., non- church) purposes, such as private entertainment or dancing.

2. • Melodies are based on modes, but composers gradually added more accidentals. This is the start of the evolution towards major and minor keys established in the Baroque period. Most melodic movement is conjunct (step- wise); where there is a leap, it is almost always followed by a step back in the opposite direction.

3. • Textures tend to be polyphonic, with melodic lines imitating and weaving around each other. However, you will also hear some homophonic phrases. Composers also liked to have passages where one group sang or played, followed by an answering phrase from another group. This is called antiphony and should not be confused with ‘call and response’, a term used to describe similar passages in African drumming or Blues.

4. • Harmony consists mainly of root- position and first- inversion chords, and composers also used cadences to round off sections or end pieces.