# Signature notes of Musical eras



## opus67 (Jan 30, 2007)

Whenever you hear a Baroque or Classical (typically Mozart) piece, there's this series of notes that end "every line." (Well, that's the layman way of thinking. I'm not trained in music, so please bear with me.) Do they have any specific names? Were the rules/fad of some sort in music of those days? Of course, the Baroque one is different from the Classical one.

I'll try to upload small clips to make clear what I'm talking about. If you already know what I'm referring to, then I'm all ears!


----------



## IAmKing (Dec 3, 2006)

You may be referring to cadences and common chord progressions (ii-V-I etc.). 

Its not the same notes as much as it is the same or similar harmonic structure, which were used as a result of a set of rules (music theory) that were thought up as rules for music that sounds "nice".

Of course, into the late classical, romantic, modern periods, composers began to break those rules and realise that a. other, previously not-legit methods of composing sounded "nice" too, and b. "good" music didn't have to sound "nice".


----------



## opus67 (Jan 30, 2007)

Hi,
I think it may well be a cadence (from what I can understand from the Wikipedia article). Thanks for your reply.


----------



## Kurkikohtaus (Oct 22, 2006)

Also, there is a typical phrasing at the ends of pieces and movements, where there are either alternating V-I chords or possibly simply repeated tonic chords.

This phrasing is 4+2+1 (in bars), and gives pieces from the classical period that satisfying sense of finality.


----------

