THE RENAISSANCE in music occurred in the 15th and 16th centuries. This period saw the development of polyphony and denser harmonies while secular music thrives in courts of Europe. Most notable transcriptions for guitar from composers such as Milan, Download, Monteverdi, De Prez, Palestrina, and De Narvaez are studied in this period. .

BAROQUE style occurred between 1600 to 1750. The baroque period is notable for the use of partimento (romannesca), the development of dissonance, counterpoint, and harmonic complexity filled with chromatisms and many ornaments. The orchestra was born and developed to a high degree. In instrumental music the period saw the emergence of the poetic powers of the sonata, the suite, and particularly the concerto grosso, as in the music of Corelli, Vivaldi, Handel, Scarlatti and Bach.

CLASSICAL In the most general meaning of the word, classical music may designate fine or serious music. More technically the word refers to a period in the history of music from 1750 to 1825. Parallel with the age of enlightenment which valued reason over superstitions, composers sought to entertain with simplicity, balance and homophony rather than to impress with complex counterpoint, excessive ornaments, and polyphony as it had been the case in the baroque era. This is the age of Boccherini, Haydn, Mozart, Shubert, and early Beethoven. For guitar repertoire purposes, this period often refers to the great masters of guitar composition such as Sor, Giulliani, Aguado, Carcassi, Coste, and Paganini.

ROMANTIC Romanticism in cultural history is a word that defies precise definition. In music it is most commonly applied to a period or the predominant features of that period, from the early 19th century until the early 20th. Features of romanticism in music include an attention to expressing drama through feelings and emotions rather than the formal classical symmetry. Beethoven, Shubert, Wagner, Brahms, Strauss, Bartok, Stravinsky, Chopin, Liszt, Korsakov, and Tchaikovsky are prominent examples of this era. Composers to study for guitar repertoire include Liszt, Tarrega, Albeniz, Granados, De Falla, Turina, Ponce, Barrios, LLobet, Villa-Lobos, Torroba, and Tedesco.

20th CENTURY is defined by the sudden emergence of advanced technology for recording and distributing music as well as dramatic innovations in musical forms and styles. Because music was no longer limited to concerts, opera-houses, clubs, and domestic music-making, it became possible for music artists to quickly gain global recognition and influence. Twentieth-century music brought new freedom and wide experimentation with new musical styles and forms that challenged the accepted rules of music of earlier periods. Faster modes of transportation allowed musicians and fans to travel more widely to perform or listen. Amplification permitted giant concerts to be heard by those with the least expensive tickets, and the inexpensive reproduction and transmission or broadcast of music gave rich and poor alike nearly equal access to high quality music performances. Most notable composers include Prokofiev, Rachmaninoff, Gerhwinn, Strauss, Debussy, Ravel, Stravinsky, Penderecki, Scriabin, and Bartok. Some composers with unvaluable transcriptions for the guitar repertoire include: Torrroba, Barrios, Pujol, Villa-Lobos, Walton, Rodrigo, Britten, Lauro, Duarte, Piazzolla, Myers, Dyens, Brower, Montana, and Reis.

JAZZ originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African rhythms and European harmonic music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th century American popular music (stanndarts). Its West African pedigree is evident in its use of blue notes, improvisation, polyrhythms, syncopation, call-response, and the swung note. For this genre, I teach compositions known as “standarts” which include tunes by Porter.

FLAMENCO is a genre of music and dance which has its foundation in Andalusian music and dance and in whose evolution Andalusian Gypsies played an important part. The cante (singing), toque (guitar playing), dance and palmas (handclaps) are the principal facets of flamenco. In recent years flamenco has become popular all over the world and is taught in many countries - in Japan flamenco is so popular there are more academies there than in Spain. On November 16, 2010, UNESCO declared Flamenco one of the Masterpieces of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity. Because Flamenco is still taught verbally in Southern Spain, I strongly recommend studying it by listening and imitating it rather than using textbooks which tend to distract from what this form of expression really is.