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{{short description|Western music history period (c. 1650 to 1900)}}
{{Inline|date=June 2022}}
{{History of Western art music}}

In [[Western classical music]], the '''common practice period''' ('''CPP''') was the period of about 250 years during which the [[tonality|tonal system]] was regarded as the only basis for composition. It began when composers' use of the tonal system had clearly superseded earlier systems, and ended when some composers began using significantly modified versions of the tonal system and developing other systems as well. Most features of '''common practice''' (the accepted concepts of composition during this time) persisted from the mid-[[Baroque Music|Baroque]] period through the [[Classical music era|Classical]] and [[Romantic Music|Romantic]] periods, roughly from 1650 to 1900. There was much stylistic evolution during these centuries, with patterns and conventions flourishing and then declining, such as the [[sonata form]]. The most prominent unifying feature throughout the period is a [[Harmony|harmonic]] language to which [[music theorist]]s can today apply [[Roman numeral analysis|Roman numeral chord analysis]]; however, the "common" in common practice does not directly refer to any type of harmony, rather it refers to the fact that for over two hundred years only one system was used.

==Technical features==

===Harmony===
{{See also|Functional harmony|Voice leading}}
The harmonic language of this period is known as "common-practice [[tonality]]", or sometimes the "tonal system" (though whether tonality implies common-practice idioms is a question of debate). Common-practice tonality represents a union between harmonic function and [[counterpoint]].  In other words, individual melodic lines, when taken together, express harmonic unity and goal-oriented progression.  In tonal music, each tone in the [[diatonic scale]] functions according to its relationship to the tonic (the fundamental pitch of the scale). While diatonicism forms the basis for the tonal system, the system can withstand considerable [[chromatic]] alteration without losing its tonal identity.

Throughout the common-practice period, certain harmonic patterns span styles, composers, regions, and epochs. [[Johann Sebastian Bach]] and [[Richard Strauss]], for instance, may both write passages that can be analysed according to the progression I-ii-V-I, despite vast differences in style and context.  Such harmonic conventions can be distilled into the familiar [[chord progressions]] with which musicians analyse and compose tonal music.

Various popular idioms of the twentieth century differ from the standardized [[chord progression]]s of the common-practice period. While these later styles incorporate many elements of the tonal vocabulary (such as major and minor chords), the function of these elements is not identical to classical models of counterpoint and harmonic function.  For example, in common-practice harmony, a [[Major chord|major triad]] built on the fifth [[degree (music)|degree]] of the scale (V) is unlikely to progress directly to a [[root (chord)|root]] position triad built on the fourth degree of the scale (IV), but the reverse of this progression (IV–V) is quite common.  By contrast, the V–IV progression is readily acceptable by many other standards; for example, this transition is essential to the [[Blues|"shuffle" blues]] progression's last line (V–IV–I–I), which has become the orthodox ending for [[Twelve-bar blues|blues progressions]] at the expense of the original last line (V–V–I–I).<ref>{{harv|Tanner & Gerow|1984|loc=37}}</ref>

===Rhythm===
Coordination of the various parts of a piece of music through an externalized metre is a deeply rooted aspect of common-practice music. [[Rhythm]]ically, common practice [[metric structure]]s generally include:<ref>{{harv|Winold|1975|loc=chapter 3}}</ref>

# Clearly enunciated or implied [[pulse (music)|pulse]] at all levels, with the fastest levels rarely being extreme
# [[Metre (music)|Metre]]s, or [[pulse group]]s, in two-pulse or three-pulse groups, most often two
# Metre and pulse groups that, once established, rarely change throughout a [[section (music)|section]] or [[musical composition|composition]]
# [[Synchronization|Synchronous]] pulse groups on all levels: all pulses on slower levels coincide with strong pulses on faster levels
# Consistent [[tempo]] throughout a composition or section
# Tempo, beat length, and measure length chosen to allow one [[time signature]] throughout the piece or section

===Duration===
[[Duration (music)|Durational pattern]]s typically include:<ref>{{harv|Winold|1975|loc=chapter 3}}</ref>

# Small or moderate duration complement and range, with one duration (or [[pulse (music)|pulse]]) predominating in the duration hierarchy, are heard as the basic unit throughout a composition. Exceptions are most frequently extremely long, such as [[pedal point|pedal tones]]; or, if they are short, they generally occur as the rapidly alternating or transient components of [[trill (music)|trill]]s, [[tremolo]]s, or other [[ornament (music)|ornaments]].
# [[Rhythmic unit]]s are based on [[Metre (music)|metric]] or [[intrametric]] patterns, though specific [[contrametric]] or [[extrametric]] patterns are signatures of certain styles or composers. [[Tercet|Triplet]]s and other extrametric patterns are usually heard on levels higher than the basic durational unit or pulse.
# [[Rhythmic gesture]]s of a limited number of rhythmic units, sometimes based on a single or alternating pair.
# Thetic (i.e., stressed), [[anacrusis|anacrustic]] (i.e., unstressed), and initial rest rhythmic gestures are used, with anacrustic beginnings and strong endings possibly most frequent and upbeat endings most rare.
# Rhythmic gestures are repeated exactly or in [[variation (music)|variation]] after contrasting gestures. There may be one rhythmic gesture almost exclusively throughout an entire composition, but complete avoidance of repetition is rare.
# [[Composite rhythm]]s confirm the metre, often in metric or even note patterns identical to the pulse on specific metric level.

Patterns of [[pitch (music)|pitch]] and [[duration (music)|duration]] are of primary importance in common practice [[melody]], while [[tone quality]] is of secondary importance. Durations recur and are often periodic; pitches are generally diatonic.<ref>{{harv|Kliewer|1975|loc=chapter 4}}</ref>

==Notes==
{{reflist}}

==References==
* {{cite journal |doi=10.1080/07494469200640141 |title=Symmetries and the 'New Tonality' |year=1992 |last1=Harbison |first1=John |journal=Contemporary Music Review |volume=6 |issue=2 |pages=71–79}}
* {{wikicite|ref={{harvid|Kliewer|1975}}|reference=Kliewer, Vernon (1975). "Melody: Linear Aspects of Twentieth-Century Music". In ''Aspects of Twentieth-Century Music'', edited by Gary Wittlich, pp. 270–301. Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey: Prentice-Hall. {{ISBN|0-13-049346-5}}.}}
* {{cite journal |first=Vladimir J. |last=Konečni |title=Mode and Tempo in Western Classical Music of the Common-Practice Era |year=2009 |doi=10.18061/1811/36604 |hdl=1811/36604 |url=https://kb.osu.edu/dspace/bitstream/handle/1811/36604/1/EMR000064b_Konecni.pdf |journal=Empirical Musicology Review |access-date=17 February 2015 |archive-date=5 March 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160305010832/https://kb.osu.edu/dspace/bitstream/handle/1811/36604/1/EMR000064b_Konecni.pdf |url-status=dead }}
* {{wikicite|ref={{harvid|London|2001}}|reference=London, Justin (2001). "Rhythm, §II: Historical Studies of Rhythm". ''The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians'', second edition, edited by [[Stanley Sadie]] and [[John Tyrrell (musicologist)|John Tyrrell]]. London: Macmillan Publishers.}}
* {{citation|last=Perle|first=George|year=1990|title=The Listening Composer|location=Berkeley and Los Angeles|author-link=George Perle|publisher=University of California Press|isbn=0-520-06991-9|mode=cs1}}
* {{wikicite|ref={{harvid|Tanner & Gerow|1984}}|reference=Tanner, Paul, and Maurice Gerow (1984). ''A Study of Jazz''. Dubuque, Iowa: William C. Brown Publishers. Cited in Robert M. Baker, "[https://web.archive.org/web/20090629213200/http://thebluehighway.com/history.html A Brief History of the Blues]". ''TheBlueHighway.com''.}}
* {{wikicite|ref={{harvid|Winold|1975}}|reference=Winold, Allen (1975). "Rhythm in Twentieth-Century Music". In ''Aspects of Twentieth-Century Music'', edited by Richard Peter Delone and Gary Wittlich, Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey: Prentice-Hall. {{ISBN|978-0-13-049346-0}}. pp. 208-269.}}

==External links==
* Benjamin Piekut, [https://newmusicusa.org/nmbx/no-common-practice-the-new-common-practice-and-its-historical-antecedents/2/ "No Common Practice: The New Common Practice and its Historical Antecedents"] (February 1, 2004).

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{{Use British English Oxford spelling|date=June 2018}}

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[[Category:Common practice period| ]]