Classical music is broadly divided into four main periods.

If you are wondering why we are discussing the four periods of classical music on this concrete leveling website, it’s because we feel you should do what you can to learn something new every day. In the last few weeks, you learned how to make a patio bench out of cinder blocks, learned how to make a lobster frittata, learned how to restore a 1968 Chevy Camaro and you learned that mud jacking in Nashville is a great way to restore your driveway. While this is all certainly admirable, we think you need to learn more about music. And yes, we are impressed by the fact that you know all the words to every song on Led Zeppelin IV and can name every drummer that ever played with Pearl Jam, but we think you need to learn more about the roots of music, classical music.

Over time, music scholars have attempted to break classical music into stages. This was a difficult task because the four broad periods used today doesn’t represent the complexity and different styles and techniques used through the years. Consider this: Could you put the category of rock music into four periods? Probably not, at least not without broad implications.

But we digress, here are the four periods of classical music and a little information on each.

Baroque 1600-1750

The Baroque period saw an explosion of new musical styles with the introduction of the sonata, the opera and the concerto. The loosening of the Church’s political grip of Europe meant that music that was non-religious could now flourish. And it certainly did, especially in instrumental music.

This is the period when instruments were grouped together in a standard way, giving us the very first versions of the modern orchestra. Pioneers of the Baroque period included such composers as Vivaldi, Bach and Handel, who developed new styles like the concerto and sonata.

Classical 1750-1830

The Classical period refers to the musical era spanning from 1750 to 1830 and includes some well-known composers like Beethoven, Haydn and Mozart. This new musical style happened at the same time as the Age of Enlightenment, a time of radical change in social values, human rights and religious freedoms.

This period is marked by changes in orchestras. The organ and the harpsichord were no longer the foundations of music and wind instruments like the trumpet, flute and clarinet joined the string section to create a groundbreaking sound.

Romantic 1830-1900

The Romantic era began around 1830 and was marked by compositions that were becoming increasingly inventive and expressive. Symphonies, piano works and operas were passionate and took inspiration from literature and art.

Well-known Romantic composers include Brahms, Verdi and Tchaikovsky. Chopin is also a noted composer of the time and he managed to turn opera on its head by introducing subject material with political, social or nationalistic themes.

Contemporary 1900-Present

Classical music in the 20th and 21st century is greatly influenced by history and politics. Pioneering composers include Gershwin, Williams and Stravinsky. Some American composers, like Gershwin and Ellington, would draw on jazz, their own native music, for a unique sound.

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