The Educated Listener allows readers to engage deeply with classical music from the Middle Ages right up to the present day. Readers will become conversant with music terminology, enabling them to talk intelligently about music with colleagues, family members, and friends.

Section One of the text serves as a prelude, educating readers about music vocabulary, the instruments and ensembles of classical music, and the concert-going experience. Subsequent sections discuss the history of music from the Middle Ages to the present.

Each time period features one chapter on forms, styles, and performance and compositional techniques, one chapter on various musical genres, and one chapter on composers of that time period.