Easy Guide to Appreciating Classical Music | Lifehacker

Jumping into the world of classical music can be overwhelming, given the near 6-centuries-worth of music available. Nick Douglas shows you where to start.


Watch more from Fusion friends:

[rooftopkorean]

Start anywhere, the only thing you'll regret is not starting earlier than before

[bgkuenn]

I was always fascinated with classical when I was a kid but I never listened to it much cause my family would bully me about listening to “boring music” my family listened to loud blasting rap/latin music. I couldn’t stand it. But when I was alone in the car, I would turn it to our local classical radio station while they went into the shops. It gave me a piece of mind with my loud family of 4 others. My family always found me weird cause of it. But now that I am about to be 25, I could care less about what anyone says about it. My boyfriend really loves how I listen to it. And he doesn’t mind it, he likes it actually ️ I bought us tickets to an nice orchestra a couple times and we dressed up and I felt so alive. Being able to sit there and let the music take you away from the world. ️ it has so much feeling to it. I thought it was time that I finally understand true classical to immerse myself more into it. ️ thank you ️

[oulPower]

I thought classical music was boring when I was first introduced to it. I couldn’t wrap my head around Bach, found Mozart and Beethoven boring. Those were the 3 usual names you were introduced to and so I wrote off classical music as boring.. until I heard Debussy, Ravel, Albeniz, Satie and Stravinsky. I think people should give later period composers more credit when introducing classical music to others.

[calebrands]

The thing about classical music is that it's not like Mozart and Beethoven are releasing their new album.

[cquktvp]

chopin = musician
op 9 = 9th catalogue
no 2 = 2nd movement
nocturne = gener
e flat = key on which the music is based

mediaeval, baroque, classical, romantic, modern

musicians
• johan sabastian bach

[existentialbaby]

thank you so much guys i am from a middle class family in a dusty little town in india..thank you for making this video..
i have already discovered bach, liszt, vivaldi. pachelbel

[BoriZ]

Can you make further videos on the other periods?

[KennyBentley]

Actually, regarding Opus numbers, those started in the late classical to early romantic era Baroque and early classical composers were given their own catalog initials. Handel's is HWV, for another example.

[jaybird]

Nice video but I think you’re off just a bit in your description of nomenclature in the Chopin example. Opus is often a GROUP of works with what follows being the individual work within that group. The next, more granular level down, would be the movement within that work. For example, Beethoven’s Op. 18 contains his first 6 String Quartets. Each Quartet is then noted by the musical key it that it was written around. Each piece (a string quartet in this case) is made up of multiple movements. Each movement is usually described by its tempo. Op. 18, String Quartet #1 in F Major, has four movements. The second movement (typically performed in about 8 and a half minutes) is an Adagio, or in plain-talk, a slow movement.

[tudormiller]

My first exposure to Classical Music was listening to Mozart on cassette tape on my Sony Walkman growing up in the 80s. ❤

[timm]

For me, starting with the piano sonatas made things easy. Maybe because piano sonatas are what I am/was mainly interested in, but it was easy to get a taste of what each composer was like, just based off of piano works. I think it can be a little more approachable than symphonies, anyway.

[carloszetina]

Dying Fetus is a very easy listening for noobs out there.

[CharlieFortuneCookie]

I love fugues and Little Fugue is one of my favorites

[ild]

0:39 I can't believe this guy is listening to the band Porcupine Tree. You can see their album In Abstenia but it's a little blurred

[mikereiss]

I liked seeing the Italian prog rock in the center (Area and Banco) at 0:38. Banco actually had an excellent instrumental album that was a combination of rock, jazz and classical called di terra.

[ronniemacsween]

Thank you so much. I am 68 years old, an i fell in love with classical music 3 days ago. Have you got any more info on the basic history, who when, where, an his style. Thanks again, an God Bless you!

[ibzpzyc]

When I prepare a Big Dinner, This type of music helps me put all of the ingredients, cooking times ect. in a orderly manner.

[bobdamuffingamer]

Stuff like fuges, operas, cantatas, ovetures, concertos, sonatas, duets, piano trios, etc are like the genres of classical music. In my opinion calssical music is not a genre, nor the periods. and each of those genres have their own phases, styles, structures, instrumentation and themes, just as modern music would be divided into genres for the same reasons. Like an overture, which were different depending on the region and period. A baorque overture in the french style would be different to the baroque overture in italian style. the classical overtures that can be hear (or atleast from the classical overtures I have heard) have similarities to the italian styled overtures of the baroque period but have their own flare. Romantic music is another great example of those differences in styles depending on the regions where it was written thanks to a high sense of nationalism.

[yajy]

The hardest struggle for me was learning to read the long @ss track titles. Haha Pop music really simplifies things with one or two word titles. For most of my life I thought classical music was interesting but I never really took the time to truly appreciate it. Then one day I heard a piece that just captivated my attention and I couldn’t go back lol

[knifegun]

Kingpin preparing his food while listening to classical is what bought me here