Early beginnings : 60,000 BCE-500 CE. Man, the music maker ; Music's cradle ; A philosophical view ; Myth and tragedy ; Sound the trumpet

Music in the Middle Ages : 500-1400. Sacred chant ; Minstrels and troubadours ; Writing melody ; Zither and lyre, sackbut and shawm ; Islamic music ; Music in ancient China ; Many voices

Renaissance and Reformation : 1400-1600. Songs of love ; Music goes to print ; The rise of instrumental music ; Church reform ; The lute's golden age ; The madrigal ; An Iberian flowering ; Venetian glories

The Baroque spirit : 1600-1750. The Baroque style ; The birth of opera ; Oratorios and cantatas ; Patrons and composers ; The English revival ; Counterpoint and fugue ; Sonatas, suites, and overtures ; Keyboard maestros ; Japanese theater

The Classical age : 1750-1820. A new clarity ; The orchestra ; The sonata ; The symphony ; Playing music among friends ; Age of reason ; Opera comes alive ; Choral music ; The concerto ; Bohemian rhapsody

Nationalism and romance : 1820-1910. Beethoven's later works ; Age of song ; Literary links ; Expressive piano ; The virtuosos ; Sacred choruses ; Romantic opera ; Women composers and performers ; Music in the home ; The Viennese waltz ; National stirrings ; Flamenco ; Russia's big five ; Northern lights ; Ballet music ; New tones and timbers ; Symphonic supremacy ; A lighter touch ; Italian opera gets real ; Chinese traditional opera ; Marching to the beat ; Impressionism

Music in the Modern Age : 1910-1945. The shock of the new ; National flavors ; Spanish classical music ; Music of Mexico ; The last romantics ; Ragtime ; Country's roots ; Tin Pan Alley ; Beginnings of jazz ; Birth of the blues ; Let's swing ; Jazz goes bebop ; Latin beats ; Let's tango ; Come to the cabaret ; Golden age of radio

Global music : 1945-present. Experimental music ; Modern chanson ; The German revival ; Romany music ; Brazilian beats ; Jazz goes Latin ; Operatic rebirth ; Early musical theater ; Smooth operators ; Music for screen ; Hollywood musicals ; One voice ; The music of Indonesia ; Island music ; Celtic music ; Longing for Fado ; Bright lights, big city blues ; Rhythm and blues ; Plugged-in for sound ; Rock 'n' roll models ; Leaders of the pack ; The sounds of soul ; Protest music ; Beatlemania ; Blues rock ; Heavy rock ; Jazz fusion ; Electronic rock ; Ragas and talas ; Music festivals ; The Nashville sound ; Reggae ; Music goes pop ; Chart toppers ; Disco inferno ; Punk explosion ; Alternative rock ; Musical revival ; Japanese popular music ; African music ; Hip-hop ; Club culture ; The Korean wave ; New voices in classical ; Digital revolution.