Classical 101

Our Basics will give you a quick fly-by of the last, oh, 12 centuries of music. Not an easy feat for 25 tracks, trying to take you from the cloistered world of eighth-century Gregorian monks to the elegant and expansive 20th-century "Fanfare for the Common Man." On your journey, you're certain to encounter melodies you know (Wagner's "Die Walküre: The Ride of the Valkyries" will either remind you of the smell of napalm in the morning or the phrase "Kill Da Wabbit!") as well as some new potential faves.

You know you're getting to be a real classical buff when you can listen to Bach's "Toccata and Fugue in D Minor, BWV 565: I. Toccata" and [i]not[/i] think either of Dracula or [i]SCTV[/i]'s Count Floyd ("[i]Ah-oooohhh! Extra-scary, kids![/i]"). Or if you imagine the placid drift of an Austrian river — as opposed to, say, Bugs Bunny or Daffy Duck — when you hear Johann Strauss' "On the Beautiful Blue Danube." And if you can restrain yourself from marching around to Bizet's "Carmen: Overture," you're just [i]way[/i] out of touch with your inner four-year-old.

Talk about your digital music! In Paganini's "24 Caprices, Op. 1, No. 24, for Solo Violin, in A Minor," Ithzak Perlman's fingers glide up and down the fingerboard of his Stradivarius as though they were made of Teflon®, and Julian Bream's hands dance across the strings in Johann Sebastian Bach's "Partita in E Major, BWV 1006A, I Prelude." In Bartok's "Sonata for Solo Violin: IV: Presto," Yehudi Menhuin's digits flutter at the pace of a hummingbird's heart, rarely resting on a note. And the beauty part is that owning this music won't take large digits out of your budget.

Chances are, you know more about classical music than you think; it's all around us, in movies, cartoons, on your cell phone's ring tones. The most important thing to remember is [i]don't be intimidated[/i]. Mozart, Beethoven, Bach — all just guys. Very [i]talented guys[/i], to be sure. Think of them as the Jimi Hendrix and Chuck Berry and Eric Clapton of their day. At first, their compositions may seem a little time-consuming, but actually, very few are longer than "Free Bird" or "Layla." And they're at [i]least[/i] as life-altering. With more than 1,200 years of works to choose from, we can confidently promise you there's something here you'll groove on, so long as you keep your ears and mind open.