What are the characteristics of Baroque music?
Baroque carries a sense of extravagance, highly ornamental and theatrical
Music and the arts, even including clothing, became fancier and more dramatic in the *Baroque era.
Like the fancy decorations of Baroque architecture, melodies were often played with grace notes or quick nearby tones added to decorate them.
The harpsichord became the most popular keyboard instrument, with players often improvising or making up their parts using the composer's chords and bass line.
*Emotions
During the Baroque period, music became more dramatic and emotional. It expressed not just human beauty, but the inner emotional world of a person. 
Music and the arts, even including clothing, became fancier and more dramatic in the Baroque era
*Contrasts
Contrast as a dramatic element
The differences between loud and soft, solo and ensemble (as in the concerto), different instruments and timbres all play an important role in many Baroque compositions.
*Rhythm
Rhythms became more complex with time signatures, bar lines, and faster-moving melodic lines.
*Musical Language
During this period, homophony and polyphony flourished. Homophony involves highlighting the main voice.Polyphonic music has two or more melodic lines. Homophonic music has one main melody supported by additional musical lines (the harmony).
During this period, a clear distinction between major and minor keys was established.
*Instruments
The development of instrumental music is another achievement of the Baroque period.
Keyboard instruments became the foundation of compositions by composers of that time.

 *Genres of the baroque Period
   Many musical forms were born in that era, like the concerto and sinfonia. Forms such as the sonata, cantata and oratorio flourished. Also, opera was born, the first public opera house was opened in Vienna. Henry Purcell, Antonio Vivaldi, George Friedrich Handel, and Johann Sebastian Bach were all working and composing.