Music eras chart
A free music eras chart to print: Baroque, Classical, Romantic, and Modern on one page, with the years, the sound, the instruments, and the composers of each.
Classical music is often sorted into four eras: Baroque, Classical, Romantic, and Modern. The dates are rough. Composers did not all change style in the same year, and some composers belong partly to two eras. The four names still help a child sort 400 years of music.
How to use it
Page one is the chart. It shows when each era was, what the music sounds like, which instruments mark it, and which of the 24 composers on this site belong to it. Play the first piece for each era in order, from oldest to newest, and ask what changed.
Page two is blank. Each time your family hears a new piece, write it in the row for its era. Over a term, the page fills up and shows which eras your child knows well and which ones need a turn.
Each era has its own page on this site: Baroque, Classical, Romantic, and Modern.
Only the sheet below prints. It fits letter and A4 paper. For a clean page, turn off headers and footers in the print window.
The four eras of classical music
The dates are rough guides. Each era grew out of the one before it.
Baroque
About 1600 to 1750
It sounds like
- A steady beat that keeps running
- Many tunes at once that weave together
- Trills and turns for decoration
Instruments
The harpsichord, the organ, and a small orchestra of strings
Composers
Vivaldi, Bach, Handel
Hear it first
"Spring" from The Four Seasons, by Vivaldi
Classical
About 1750 to 1820
It sounds like
- One clear tune that is easy to sing back
- Tunes in matching halves, like a question and an answer
- Music that swells and fades by degrees
Instruments
The piano takes over from the harpsichord. The clarinet joins the orchestra.
Composers
Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven
Hear it first
Eine kleine Nachtmusik, by Mozart
Romantic
About 1820 to 1900
It sounds like
- Big feelings and long, singing tunes
- Stories and pictures in sound
- Folk tunes and dances from each composer's homeland
Instruments
A larger orchestra with tuba, harp, and piccolo, and a stronger piano
Composers
Schubert, Fanny Mendelssohn, Mendelssohn, Chopin, Clara Schumann, Brahms, Saint-Saëns, Tchaikovsky, Dvořák, Grieg
Hear it first
"In the Hall of the Mountain King," by Grieg
Modern
About 1900 to 2000
It sounds like
- New colors from unusual instruments
- Strong, uneven rhythms
- Folk songs, jazz, and dance music mixed in
Instruments
More percussion, the piano inside the orchestra, and later recorded sounds
Composers
Debussy, Holst, Ravel, Stravinsky, Price, Prokofiev, Copland, Britten
Hear it first
Peter and the Wolf, by Prokofiev
Music eras chart, page 1kidsclassicalmusic.com
My music eras chart
Write each piece you hear in the row for its era. Add the composer's name.
Baroque
About 1600 to 1750
Classical
About 1750 to 1820
Romantic
About 1820 to 1900
Modern
About 1900 to 2000
Music eras chart, page 2kidsclassicalmusic.com
Goes well with
- Classical composers for kids: a guide by era
- Composer timeline
- Composer timeline to print
- Composer cards to cut out
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