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 ...

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 ...

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 genre called house music is something that encapsulates a wide range of subgenres that naturally evolved from the original concept. For some the notion that house stems back as far as the 1980s ...

Extraordinary as it may sound, there have been bagpipes in a vast array of forms for around 3,000 years. The instruments are known to have been used not only in Europe but in Asia too. These ...

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 ...

In spite of composing some of the most dramatically beautiful music ever heard, Beethoven’s life was littered with tragedy. Apart from the obvious horror of gradually going deaf, Beethoven did not ...

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, ...

As a musical genre, Funk has its roots firmly embedded in jazz. Funk incorporates many elements of jazz alongside soul and earlier African-American styles of music. Following on from the immense ...

To be completely clear from the outset of this article, the term ‘folk music’ covers an immensely broad and diverse selection of music from across the world. Quite frequently this term is used to ...

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 ...