It is said that 1.4% music sales in the U.S. are classical music. It’s not very popular. However, I think it is worth studying classical music from the Bach (1685 ~ 1750) era.

There is a collection of terms that appear in Bach’s collection of piano pieces.

It is my study of classical music.

The term

Minuet

A minuet is a social dance of French origin for two people, usually in 3/4 times. The word was adapted from Italian minuetto and French menuet, possibly from the French menu meaning slender, small, referring to the very small steps, or from the early 17th-century popular group dances called branle à mener or amener.

The term also describes the musical form that accompanies the dance, which subsequently developed more fully, often with a longer musical form called the minuet and trio, and was much used as a movement in the early classical symphony.

Gavotte

The gavotte is a French dance, taking its name from a folk dance of the Gavot, the people of the Pays de Gap region of Dauphiné in the southeast of France, where the dance originated, according to one source.

According to another reference, however, the word “gavotte” is a generic term for a variety of French folk dances, and most likely originated in Lower Brittany in the west, or possibly Provence in the southeast or the French Basque Country in the southwest of France.

It is notated in 4/4 or 2/2 times and is usually of moderate tempo, though the folk dances also use meters such as 9/8 and 5/8.

Musette

Musette (Bal-musette) is a style of French instrumental music and dance that first became popular in Paris in the 1880s.

Although it began with bagpipes as the main instrument, this instrument was replaced with accordion, on which a variety of waltzes, polkas, and other dance styles were played for dances.

March

A march, as a musical genre, is a piece of music with a strong regular rhythm which in origin was expressly written for marching to and most frequently performed by a military band. 

Prelude 

A prelude is a short piece of music, the form of which may vary from piece to piece. The prelude may be thought of as a preface. While, during the Baroque era, for example, it may have served as an introduction to succeeding movements of a work that were usually longer and more complex, it may also have been a stand-alone piece of work during the Romantic era.

It generally features a small number of rhythmic and melodic motifs that recur through the piece. Stylistically, the prelude is improvisatory. The prelude also may refer to an overture, particularly to those seen in an opera or an oratorio.

Reference

Bach Kleine Klavierstücke (Small Piano Pieces)