Trio (music)

In the trio sonata, a popular genre of the 17th and early 18th century, two melodic instruments are accompanied by a basso continuo, making three parts in all.

But because the basso continuo is usually played by two instruments (typically a cello or bass viol and a keyboard instrument such as the harpsichord), performances of trio sonatas typically involve four musicians.

In vocal music with or without accompaniment, the term terzet is sometimes preferred to "trio".

Derived from the compositions, trio often denotes a group of three solo instruments or voices.

[2] The most common types of such compositions are the piano trio of typically piano, violin and cello, and the string trio of commonly violin, viola and cello.