Research Task

Musicians and Composers have always taken risks.


Research Task:

Choose one or two musicians or composers.

Explain the risks these musicians or composers took to either do something new or to evolve music.

Historically, music has been categorised into the following musical periods, each period had it’s own special risks.

Consider: What would have happened to musicians in the Medieval period (500-1400) if they performed badly for a king? What about if they were in a tavern or street stage?


Musical Periods


Medieval (500–1400)

Renaissance (1400–1600)

Baroque (1600–1760)

Classical (1750–1830)

Romantic (1815–1910)

20th century (1900–2000)

Contemporary (1975–present)

21st century (2000–present)

Amadeus, where Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart takes a risk by developing another composer’s composition in front of the royal court.

Consider and research the following:

          1. What risks was Mozart taking?
          2. How did his audience perceive his risk?
          3. What was the outcome?
          4. Was it worth it?

Research Activity

Getting started

Use Focus on Sound to Research 5-6 composers and the risks they took in the table below. Consider the Musical period that they lived, the response, and the impact of their risk.

  • What is the name of the musician or composer?
  • What Musical Period did they come from?
  • What Risks did they take?
  • What was the response at the time?
  • What was the long term impact?
  • Find a recording and a website or two that your class mates can visit to find more information.


Research Example:

Ludwig Van Beethoven and the development of the Romantic Period

  • Beethoven expanded music from the Classical period by taking risks using previously unused chords and innovative chord progressions.
  • He also wrote longer pieces of music for larger orchestras than those used in the Classical period.
  • The Romantic period explored the use of large orchestral ensembles, emotion and expression, and at times wild orchestration, and is widely known for ‘breaking the rules’ of the Classical period.
  • The music of the Romantic period is often described as music that tells a story or expresses an idea.
  • It also saw the use of various new instruments including wind instruments.
  • Romantic period composers also developed opportunities for more freedom in form and their music became a more personal expression of emotion, where an audience’s imagination played an important part in the overall effect of each composition.
  • Beethoven conducted his symphony number 9 after he had gone deaf and people walked out of the performance. Newspapers said the music was terrible.
  • Beethoven’s Symphony No. 1 which was published in the early 19th century marked the beginning of a new wave of music that continued for a century.

Then take your research one step further:

Use Focus on Sound to look up some of the composers that Beethoven influenced and inspired in the following generations, such as:

      • Franz Schubert
      • Hector Berlioz
      • Felix Mendelssohn
      • Anton Bruckner
      • Franz Liszt
      • Richard Wagner.

When you conclude your presentation:

Ask your audience a question or two to end your project:

Question: Do you think Beethoven took a valuable risk by breaking the rules of the Classical Tradition?

Do you think Beethoven took a valuable risk by attempting to conduct after he had gone deaf?



Risky Time

Dave Brubeck is a jazz pianist and composer born on 6 December 1920. He is known for taking risks by experimenting with time signatures. He led the Dave Brubeck Quartet and he composed many famous pieces of jazz music including Blue Rondo à la Turk written in 9/8 and swing 4/4 and Unsquare Dance written in 7/8.

Dave Brubeck is one of the most famous experimenters of time signatures, but despite the controversy and criticism that his unconventional style seemed to draw, Brubeck never wavered from following his own path.

“What’s more important is to play the way you want to play or play the way they want you to play? Every individual should be expressing themselves, whether a politician or a minister or a policeman. For me it was more important to play the way I wanted to play. Often it got me fired.”

– Dave Brubeck, from Talking with Dave Brubeck Source: PBS website Rediscovering Dave Brubeck

Brubeck’s unique rhythms and style resonated with audiences. Brubeck not only won the hearts and loyalties of millions of jazz fans, he also created a sound that had crossover appeal, introducing jazz to new listeners.

For other jazz musicians and aficionados, these techniques – polyrhythm, polytonality and odd time signatures – became trademarks of Brubeck’s jazz style. Brubeck himself understood that they often made his style hard for other musicians to copy.

Examples of musicians who were influenced by the risks that Dave Brubeck took include:

      • Fred Walker, saxophonist
      • John Barry, composer
      • Bedhead, a Texas indie rock band active in the 1990s

Activity: This activity focuses on developing your ability to notate rhythms in unfamiliar time signatures. It may be appropriate to review previous knowledge of rhythm and basic music theory skills before beginning this activity.

Listen: Blue Rondo à la Turk (1959) by the Dave Brubeck Quartet, from the album Time Out, as shown in the following YouTube video clip:

    • You are going to hear examples of 9/8 played as 2 + 2 + 2 + 3 and 3 + 3 + 3 and you are also going to hear alternating sections of 12/8.
    • Review the strong beats (pulse) with your students to ensure that they are able to determine where the strong beat falls when listening to an extract.
    • Listen carefully to see if they can pick out the pulse Ask for suggestions of a time signature after listening to this extract.

Brubeck used 9/8 with alternating sections of 12/8:

    • Listen again: Can you find the pulse this time?

9/8 time could not be conducted as nine quaver beats, but instead the quavers are grouped as either 2 + 2 + 2 + 3 or 3 + 3 + 3 depending on the rhythm the composer is using.

When 2 + 2 + 2 + 3 is used, it can be counted as 1-2, 1-2, 1-2, 1-2-3.

Do you think using alternative time signatures was a big risk?