harpsipop

I always tell people that it's the piano 1.0 It's basically the ancestor of the modern piano and was used in tons of music in the 17th and 18th centuries. Whereas the piano uses hammers to strike the strings, the harpsichord uses quills to pluck them, and you end up with more of a guitar-y, lute-y kind of sound. Also, unlike a piano, you cannot play louder or softer on a harpsichord and have to find other means of expression.

More general info: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harpsichord

Don't know if you're a Beach Boys fan like myself, but there are many songs on "Pet Sounds" with harpsichord, and many from the subsequent "Smile" album. First song to come to mind:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RSTJJKffsPI

More recently, Kanye West's "Diamonds From Sierra Leone" has harpsichord in the beat, which is kind of cool.

https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=diamonds+from+sierra+leone

It doesn't fall into "early music" really, but Debussy is my single favorite. I also love Ravel, Brahms, Mozart...

From the "early" camp, I really like 16th-century English music, like William Byrd and Orlando Gibbons.

Anyway, I was once a pianist, but I became increasingly discouraged and disillusioned with the classical piano world. I took some harpsichord lessons and had a great time, and thought it would be something different to get into.

I've played classical piano since I was little, although I haven't practiced it much in the past couple of years. I can strum some chords on guitar,

Honestly, I'm surrounded by so much early/classical music on a daily basis, that I mostly listen to pop music to unwind. I love The Beach Boys, Stevie Wonder, Prince...my favorite recent artists are Frank Ocean and Fleet Foxes.

Whenever people mock my love of pop music, I explain that I love champagne, but I don't want it at every meal. Sometimes you just want a Coke.