Common practice period  

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-The '''common practice period''', in the history of [[European art music]] (broadly called [[classical music]]), spans the [[Baroque music|Baroque]], [[Classical music era|Classical]], and [[Romantic music|Romantic]] periods. It lasted from about 1600 until about 1900, and is most often contrasted with much of the [[20th century classical music|music of the 20th century]] and with [[contemporary music]].+In the history of European [[art music]], the '''common practice period''' is the era of the [[tonality|tonal system]]. Though it has no exact dates, most features of the common-practice period persisted from the mid- to late [[Baroque Music|baroque]] period, through the [[Classical music era|Classical]], [[Romantic Music|Romantic]] and [[Impressionism in music|Impressionist]] periods, from around 1650 to 1900. The period saw considerable stylistic evolution, with some patterns and conventions flourishing and then declining, for example the [[sonata form]]. Thus, the dates 1650–1900 are necessarily nebulous and arbitrary borders that depend on context. The most important unifying feature throughout the period is a harmonic language to which modern music theorists can apply [[Roman numeral analysis|Roman numeral chord analysis]].
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-==General characteristics==+
-Common practice music obeys two different kinds of musical norms: first, it uses conventionalized sequences of chords, such as I-IV-V-I. (For more on this Roman numeral notation, see [[Chord (music)#Scale degree|chord]].) Second, it obeys specific [[counterpoint|contrapuntal]] norms, such as the avoidance of parallel fifths and octaves. +
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-Common practice music can be contrasted with the earlier [[Musical mode|modal]] music and later [[atonality|atonal]] music. It can also be contrasted with twentieth-century styles, such as rock and jazz, that are broadly tonal but do not obey the harmonic and contrapuntal norms described in the preceding paragraph. Nevertheless, there are often significant similarities between the music of the common practice period and the broadly tonal music of the twentieth century.+
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-The term seems to originate with [[Walter Piston]], who introduced it in the preface of his book ''Harmony'' (ISBN 0-393-95480-3) (1941).+
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-==Technical features==+
-===Harmony===+
-Common practice [[harmony]] is almost always derived from [[diatonic scale]]s, and features particular sequences of [[chord progression]]s. For example, the [[major triad]] built on the fifth [[degree (music)|degree]] of the scale is unlikely to progress to a [[root (music)|root]] position triad built on the fourth degree of the scale. However, the reverse progression is quite common.+
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-===Rhythm===+
-[[Rhythm]]ically, common practice [[metric structure]]s generally include:+
-# Clearly enunciated or implied [[pulse (music)|pulse]] at all levels, with the fastest levels rarely being extreme.+
-# [[Meter (music)|Meter]]s, or [[pulse group]]s, in two-pulse or three-pulse groups, most often two.+
-# Meter and pulse groups that, once established, rarely change throughout a [[section_(music)|section]] or [[musical composition|composition]].+
-# [[Synchronous]] pulse groups on all levels: all pulses on slower levels coincide with strong pulses on faster levels.+
-# Consistent [[tempo]] throughout a composition or section.+
-# Tempo, beat length, and measure length chosen to allow one [[time signature]] throughout the piece or section.+
-:(DeLone et al. (Eds.), 1975, chapter 3)+
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-===Duration===+
-{{Cleanup-section|date=June 2008}}+
-[[Durational pattern]]s typically include:+
-# Small or moderate duration complement and range, with one duration (or [[pulse (music)|pulse]]) predominating in the duration hierarchy, being heard as the basic unit throughout a composition. Exceptions are most frequently extremely long, such as [[pedal point|pedal tones]]; or, if they are short, they generally occur as the rapidly alternating or transient components of [[trill]]s, [[tremolo]]s, or other [[ornament (music)|ornaments]].+
-# [[Rhythmic unit]]s based on [[Metre (music)|metric]] or [[intrametric]] patterns, though specific [[contrametric]] or [[extrametric]] patterns are signatures of certain styles or composers. [[Tercet|Triplet]]s and other extrametric patterns are usually heard on levels higher than the basic durational unit or pulse.+
-# [[Rhythmic gesture]]s of a limited number of rhythmic units, sometimes based on a single or alternating pair.+
-# Thetic (i.e., stressed), [[anacrusis|anacrustic]] (i.e., unstressed), and initial rest rhythmic gestures are used, with anacrustic beginnings and strong endings possibly most frequent and upbeat endings most rare.+
-# Rhythmic gestures repeated exactly or in [[variation (music)|variation]] after contrasting gestures. There may be one rhythmic gesture almost exclusively throughout an entire composition; but complete avoidance of repetition is rare.+
-# [[Composite rhythm]]s which confirm the meter, often in metric or even note patterns identical to the pulse on specific metric level.+
-:(DeLone et al. (Eds.), 1975, chapter 3)+
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-Patterns of [[pitch (music)|pitch]] and [[duration]] are of primary importance in common practice [[melody]], while [[tone quality]] is of secondary importance. Durations recur and are often periodic; pitches are generally diatonic. (DeLone et al. (Eds.), 1975, chapter 4)+
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-==Later trends==+
-Many people have proposed that a "new" common practice period is now discernible in 20th century "classical" music. [[George Perle]] (1990) has argued that this amounts to "Tradition in 20th Century Music", the most significant element of which is the "shared premise of the harmonic [[inversional equivalency|equivalence]] of [[inversion]]ally [[symmetrical]] pitch-class relations," among composers such as [[Edgard Varèse]], [[Alban Berg]], [[Béla Bartók]], [[Arnold Schoenberg]], [[Alexander Scriabin]], [[Igor Stravinsky]], [[Anton Webern]], and himself. [[John Harbison]] refers to symmetry as the "new tonality".+
- +
-==References==+
-* DeLone et al. (Eds.) (1975). Aspects of Twentieth-Century Music. Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey: Prentice-Hall. ISBN 0-13-049346-5.+
-* [[George Perle|Perle, George]] (1990). ''The Listening Composer'', pp. 46-47. California: University of California Press. ISBN 0-520-06991-9.+
-* Harbison, John (1992). Symmetries and the "New Tonality". ''Contemporary Music Review'' 6 (2), pp. 71-80.+
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-==External links==+
-* Benjamin Piekut, [http://www.newmusicbox.org/page.nmbx?id=58tp00 "No Common Practice: The New Common Practice and its Historical Antecedents"] (February 1, 2004).+
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In the history of European art music, the common practice period is the era of the tonal system. Though it has no exact dates, most features of the common-practice period persisted from the mid- to late baroque period, through the Classical, Romantic and Impressionist periods, from around 1650 to 1900. The period saw considerable stylistic evolution, with some patterns and conventions flourishing and then declining, for example the sonata form. Thus, the dates 1650–1900 are necessarily nebulous and arbitrary borders that depend on context. The most important unifying feature throughout the period is a harmonic language to which modern music theorists can apply Roman numeral chord analysis.


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