Common practice period

In music the Common Practice Period is a long period in western musical history spanning from before the classical era proper to today, dated, on the outside, as 1600-1900. Common practice music shares many traits and is tonal as opposed to modal or atonal and includes classical and possibly popular music. Despite the emergence of many new styles and techniques common practice music may still be the most common European influenced music.

Walter Piston, among others, uses the term in his book Harmony (ISBN 0393954803) to refer to the bulk of the material contained within it.