Even though the Renaissance period covered over two hundred years of cultural history many of what would be considered to be famous pieces from that time are from a reasonably narrow time period. The ...

The bassoon is one of the most underrated and most misunderstood musical instruments out there. The grand reed pipe instrument is one of the more endangered instruments in music, as very few people ...

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 ...

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 ...

Reggae music has had a profound influence on many aspects of Western culture from fashion to popular music. Across the United Kingdom, the USA and Africa, Reggae secured a strong foothold in the ...

When the world of the moving picture arrived in the early part of the 20th century, it was a revolution. What is often referred to as the silent years from around 1910 to 1927 marked a turning point ...

When we think of an orchestra, we immediately think of a large number of violinists sitting in front of the stage, in an almost privileged place near the conductor, just like the cellos and violas.

How many siblings did Beethoven have? Ludwig van Beethoven was the second of seven children born to his parents, Johnann van Beethoven and Maria Magdalena Keverich, the daughter of a chef. Sadly, only ...

The two words in the title of this article are no exception and, in my experience, have been at the center of many an animated discussion regarding just how they should be played as well as when they ...

This article is dedicated to one of the unsung heroes of the French Baroque period of musical history. In his day, Rameau (1683-1764) was one of the most influential, well-respected, and important ...

It isn’t uncommon for pianists of all ages to have experienced injury or even the loss of a hand. For some, it has been the making of an entire career and for many composers presented a worthy ...

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 ...