Area of Study 1: Musical Forms and Devices
What's covered
Key facts
Basso continuo (a bass line plus chords) is a hallmark of Baroque texture.
The Alberti bass is a broken-chord accompaniment typical of Classical keyboard music.
It is fast, energetic and virtuosic — a showpiece for the solo flute.
Binary form sections are usually each repeated.
Terraced dynamics means sudden shifts between loud and soft, not gradual changes.
Many WCT melodies begin with an anacrusis (an upbeat).
Badinerie was composed by Johann Sebastian Bach.
A ground bass is a repeating bass line used in Baroque variations.
The Alberti bass is a common Classical accompaniment pattern.
Imitation, where one part copies another, is common in Baroque counterpoint.
Sample questions
A taste of the 42 questions in this topic, answers marked. Sign up to practise the full set with spaced repetition.
What are terraced dynamics?
- •A slow fade down to silence
- •A steady medium volume throughout
- •Gradual changes in the volume
- ✓Sudden shifts between loud and soft
The Alberti bass is a broken-chord accompaniment typical of which keyboard style?
- •Baroque
- ✓Classical
- •Modern
- •Romantic
Who composed Badinerie?
- •Handel
- ✓J.S. Bach
- •Mozart
- •Vivaldi
Baroque dance movements in a suite are usually in which form?
- ✓Binary
- •Rondo
- •Sonata
- •Strophic
Classical-period music is best characterised by?
- ✓Clear, balanced phrases
- •Dense Baroque ornamentation
- •Electronic dance-music loops
- •Huge late-Romantic orchestras
Ornamentation such as trills is especially characteristic of which period?
- ✓Baroque
- •Classical
- •Modern
- •Romantic
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