List of styles of music: N–R
N
Na
- Nagauta – Japanese music that accompanies kabuki theater
- Nakasi – Japanese and Taiwanese folk music
- Nangma – Tibetan EDM
- Nanguan music – Chinese classical music that is heavily influenced by Western styles
- Narcocorrido – Mexican polka-influenced folk music with lyrics focusing on illegal activity
- Nardcore – hardcore and skate punk subgenre based in Oxnard, California
- Narodna muzika – Bosnian, Bulgarian, Macedonian, and Serbian folk music
- Nasheed – Islamic vocal music, usually sung a capella, or accompanied by a daff
- Nashville sound – a slick, pop-informed 'radio friendly' form of American country music that began in Nashville, Tennessee
- National Socialist black metal - Black Metal espousing National Socialism
- Nazi punk
- Nederpop – Dutch pop music
- Neoclassical – orchestral music of the early 20th century
- Neoclassical dark wave – fusion of neoclassical and dark wave music
- Neo-classical metal – fusion of neoclassical and heavy metal music
- Neoclassical new age – fusion of neoclassical and new age music
- Neo kyma – style of classical Greek music from the 1960s with French influences
- Neofolk – fusion of folk rock and post-industrial music
- Neo-Medieval – music that attempts to imitate Medieval and earlier periods of classical music
- Neo-progressive rock – highly theatrical, emotional, and clean subgenre of progressive rock
- Neo-psychedelia – a loose term for music (usually either alternative rock or new wave music) inspired by earlier psychedelic music.
- Neo soul – a modern form of soul music that differs from standard contemporary R&B by having a less conventional sound that focuses on more soulful and emotive vocals and lyrics.
- Neotraditional country – alternative country music that attempts to imitate pre-Nashville 'traditional' country
- Nerdcore – hip hop with lyrics concerning typically 'nerdy' subjects
- Neue Deutsche Härte – a German fusion style of Neue Deutsche Welle and industrial music that mainly takes elements of alternative and groove metal.
- Neue Deutsche Welle – new wave music performed by Germans.
- Neue Deutsche Todeskunst – German dark wave and Gothic rock
- Neurofunk – more advanced form of techstep
- New-age music – a form of ambient music intended for use during meditation; strongly linked to the new age movement.
- New Beat – Belgian downtempo and acid house
- New jack swing (or swingbeat) – slickly produced fusion of soul, pop, dance, and hip hop music
- New Mexico music – a blend of Pueblo and Hispano folk music with Mexican, Latin, and American folk/pop genres.
- New Orleans blues – a Dixieland-influenced form of blues developed in New Orleans.
- New Orleans rhythm and blues – rhythm and blues originating from New Orleans that heavily uses the piano and horns.
- New prog – more ambitious and alternative rock-inspired form of progressive rock
- New rave – a fusion of indie rock and dance-punk.
- New school hip hop – hip hop music made after the mid-80s
- New Taiwanese Song – Taiwanese pop music
- New wave music – a style of rock music that developed alongside punk rock and is known for heavy usage of electronic instruments and distinctive music videos.
- New wave of new wave – an alternative rock-led revival of new wave music that occurred in 1990s Britain.
- New Weird America – term for the, often psychedelic-informed, indie folk music of the 2000s
- New York blues – a jazz-influenced style of blues from New York, New York
Ni
- Nintendocore – fusion of chiptune and metalcore
- Nisiotika – Greek folk music from the Aegean Islands
- No wave – avant-garde punk subgenre created as a reaction to the commercial new wave
- Noh – long, highly dramatic Japanese opera
- Noise – trend in orchestral, rock, and electronic music where harsh, non-melodic, and often random sounds are used alongside or in place of conventional sounds
- Noise pop – a style of alternative rock in which noises and feedback are used, but made into a melodic, often relaxing sound usually found in pop music.
- Noise rock – loud, atonal, dissonant, and unconventional rock music that was developed out of punk rock.
- Nordic folk – folk music of the Nordic people
- Nordic folk dance – upbeat style of Nordic folk
- Nortec – Mexican EDM
- Norteño – a form of Mexican folk music developed in Northern Mexico characterized by its polka tempo and its socially relevant lyrics.
- Northern soul – soul music made by northern English
- Nu-disco – a French house-led revival of disco that occurred in the 21st-century.
- Nu-funk
- Nu gaze – a new form of shoegazing.
- Nu jazz – modern jazz music that borrows from funk and EDM
- Nu metal – a subgenre of alternative metal that borrows elements from other genres (especially hip hop music) and is known for its usage of down-tuned seven-string guitars, angst-filled lyrics that are delivered via screaming and/or rapping, and occasionally featuring a DJ to provide instrumentation such as sampling and turntable scratching.
- Nu skool breaks – a more abstract and technical style of breakbeat.
- Nuevo tango
O
- Obscuro
- Obikhod – a collection of liturgical chants used by the Russian Orthodox Church; tends to be polyphonic.
- Oi! – 1980s style of British punk rock
- Old-school hip hop – a term for hip hop music recorded before approximately 1984; this style tended to have simpler rapping techniques with lyrics that generally focuses on party-related subject matter, resulting in songs that are much longer than those created by later hip hop artists.
- Old Roman chant – plainsong used during the Roman rite.
- Old-time music – archaic term for many different styles that were an outgrowth of Appalachian folk music and fed into country music.
- Oldies – Popular music from the 50's and 60's.
- Olonkho – Yakut epic songs
- Old Time Radio – Old Time Radio Shows from the 30's – 60's
- Ondo
- Opera – theatrical performances in which all or most dialogue is sung with musical accompaniment
- Operatic pop – subgenre of pop music that is performed in a classical operatic style (also referred to as "Popera")
- Oratorio – similar to opera but without scenery, costumes or acting
- Orchestra – a large ensemble, especially one used to play classical music
- Orchestral pop – pop music performed or back by an orchestra; considered a form of easy listening.
- Organ trio – a style of jazz from the 1960s that blended blues and jazz (and later "soul jazz") and which was based around the sound of the Hammond organ
- Organic ambient – often acoustic ambient music which uses instruments and styles borrowed from world music
- Organum – Middle Ages polyphonic music
- Oriental metal – a subgenre of folk metal that incorporates elements of traditional Middle Eastern music.
- Ottava rima – Italian rhyming stanzas
- Ottoman military band – the oldest variety of military marching band in the world.
- Outlaw country – late 1960s and 70s form of country music with a hard-edged sound and rebellious lyrics
- Outsider music – generic term for music performed by outsiders
- Operetta
P
- P-Funk – 1970s fusion of funk, heavy metal and psychedelic rock, most closely associated with the bands Funkadelic and Parliament, who shared many members collectively known as P-Funk
- PBR&B
Pa
- Pachanga - a mixture of son montuno and merengue
- Pagan metal
- Pagan rock - rock music (usually alternative rock) with pagan themes.
- Pagode – Brazilian style of music which originated in the Rio de Janeiro region
- Paisley Underground – 1980s style of alternative rock that drew heavily on psychedelic music and jangle pop.
- Palm wine – fusion of numerous West African, Latin American and European genres, popular throughout coastal West Africa in the 20th century
- Panambih – tembang sunda that uses metered poetry
- Panchai baja – Nepalese wedding music
- Panchavadyam – Temple music from Kerala, India
- Pansori – Korean folk music played by a singer and a drummer
- Paraguayan polka
- Paranda – Garifuna form of music
- Parranda – Afro-Venezuelan form of music
- Parody – humorous renditions of existing songs or styles
- Patriotic
- Pambiche (Merengue estilo yanqui)
- Paranda – Garifuna music of Belize
- Parang – Trinidadian Christmas carols
- Partido alto
- Pasacalle
- Pasillo
- Pasodoble
- Payada
- Peace Punk
- Pelimanni music – Finnish folk dance music
- Persian traditional music
- Peruvian cumbia – also known as chicha music.
- Petenera
- Peyote Song – a mixture of gospel and traditional Native American music
- Philadelphia soul – soft 1970s soul that came out of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Ph
Phonk - Hip-hop derived from lo-fi Memphis type culture)
Pi
- Piano blues – any style of blues that is structured around the piano as the primary musical instrument.
- Pimba – Origin: Portugal.
- Piedmont blues – a form of blues that originated on the East Coast of the United States. Characterized by syncopated fingerpicked guitar playing and ragtime-based rhythms.
- Pinoy rock – rock and roll sung in Tagalog from the Philippines
- Pinpeat orchestra
- Piphat – ancient form of Thai classical ensemble
- Pirate metal – mix of heavy metal and pirate music
- Piyyutim
- Plainsong – chants used in the liturgies of the Western Church.
- Plena
- Pleng phua cheewit – Thai protest rock
- Pleng Thai sakorn – a Thai interpretation of Western classical music
Po
- Political hip hop – hip hop music with political (usually left-wing and/or black nationalist)-themed lyrics; the direct successor to conscious hip hop.
- Polka – Czech-originated genre of folk dance music popular in many European countries.
- Polo – Venezuelan folk music
- Polonaise
- Pols – Danish fiddle and accordion dance music
- Polska
- Pong lang
- Pop folk
- Pop music – a genre of popular music that is specifically designed to have wide appeal, usually by having catchy hooks, simple beats and melodies, and lyrics that center on love and romantic relationships.
- Pop punk – a fusion of punk rock and pop music, using a less raw and more melodic sound and lyrics other than politics or anti-establishment sentiments.
- Pop rap
- Pop rock – rock music that puts greater emphasis on professional songwriting and recording craft and less emphasis on attitude, usually by combining it with pop music.
- Pop sunda – Sundanese mixture of gamelan degung and pop music structures
- Popular music - any music with wide appeal that is typically distributed to large audiences through the music industry.
- Pornocore
- Pornogrind – grindcore that focuses on pornographic topics
- Porro – Colombian big band music
- Post-bop – jazz that combines hard bop, modal jazz, avant-garde jazz and free jazz.
- Post-Britpop – British alternative rock made after 1997 following the Britpop backlash.
- Post-dubstep
- Post-disco – a style of dance music that contains clear elements of disco but was made after Disco Demolition Night.
- Post-grunge – a grunge-inspired style that strips away the genre's mainstream-unfriendly elements (i.e. its introspective lyrics and abrasive tone) and replaces them with a cleaner production and lyrics about relationships.
- Post-hardcore – a hardcore punk-inspired style that explores approaches beyond the genre's conventions.
- Post-industrial - umbrella term for genres inspired by and that features industrial music elements
- Post-metal – a heavy metal style that explores approaches beyond the genre's conventions.
- Post-minimalism
- Postmodern music – can refer to any music made in the postmodern era, although its usage is often limited to music (usually classical music, although the term has been applied to some popular musicians) inspired by postmodernism.
- Post-punk – a punk-inspired style that explores approaches beyond the genre's conventions.
- Post-punk revival – An alternative rock-led revival of post-punk that occurred between late 1990s to early 2000s; considered a form of electronic rock.
- Post-rock – a form of experimental rock that strips away every characteristic that defines the sound of rock music; considered a form of electronic rock.
- Post-romanticism
- Powada- Marathi Folk
- Power duo
- Power electronics
- Power metal – A style of heavy metal with melodic vocals, symphonic context and with fantastic or mythical lyrics
- Power noise (or rhythmic noise)
- Power pop – a form of pop rock that combines the melodic hooks of the Beatles with the energetic performance of the Who.
- Power trio
- Powerviolence
- Pow-wow – Native American dance music
- Ppongtchak – Korean pop music developed during the Japanese occupation
Pr
- Praise song
- Program symphony
- Progressive electronic music
- Progressive folk music
- Progressive house
- Progressive metal – A subgenre of heavy metal and progressive rock.
- Progressive music – music that attempts to expand existing stylistic boundaries associated with specific genres of music.
- Progressive pop – pop music that attempts to break with the genre's standard formula.
- Progressive rock – A subgenre of rock music that abandoned standard rock traditions in favor of instrumentation and compositional techniques more frequently associated with jazz, folk music, and/or classical music.
- Progressive trance
- Prostopinije – a type of monodic church chant used by churches tied to the Rusyn people.
- Proto-punk – any style of garage rock that seems to contain elements of punk rock but was made before its actual existence.
- Psychedelic music – music that attempts to replicate the effects of and enhance the mind-altering experiences of hallucinogenic drugs.
- Psychedelic folk – a style of folk music that incorporates elements of psychedelic music into it; usually maintains the acoustic instrumentation of folk.
- Psychedelic soul – a fusion of funk and psychedelic rock.
- Psychedelic pop – a style of pop music that incorporates elements of psychedelic music into it.
- Psychedelic rock – a style of rock music that incorporates elements of psychedelic music into it.
- Psychedelic soul – a fusion of soul music and psychedelic rock; being influenced by the civil rights movement, psychedelic soul is probably the most political of the psychedelic music styles.
- Psychedelic trance (Psy-trance)
- Psychobilly
- Pub rock – back-to-basics rock music, see Pub rock (Australia) and Pub rock (United Kingdom).
- Pungmul – a Korean folk music tradition that includes drumming, dancing, and singing.
- Punk blues – an American music genre developed in the 1980s which mixes elements of blues with the aggressive sound of punk rock.
- Punk Cabaret – a fusion of musical theater and cabaret style music with the aggressive, raw nature of punk rock.
- Punk jazz
- Punk rock – A subgenre of rock music known for its raw and distorted sound, usually fast and short songs, and lyrics of angst or anti-establishment.
- Punta
- Punta rock – 1970s Belizean music
- Puya – traditional music style from Colombia
Q
- Quan ho – Vietnamese vocal music which originated in the Red River Delta
- Qasidah – Epic religious poetry accompanied by percussion and chanting
- Qasidah modern – Qasidah updated for mainstream audiences
- Qawwali – Sufi religious music updated for mainstream audiences, was originated in India
- Quadrille
- Queercore
- Quiet Storm
R
- Raga rock – a fusion of rock music and Indian music; related to Indian rock, the term is usually only applied to Western rock musicians (including those of Indian descent) incorporating Indian elements into their sound.
- Raga
- Raggamuffin (Ragga)
- Ragga Jungle
- Ragtime – a form of African-American music known for its syncopated or "ragged" rhythm that later developed into jazz.
- Rai – Algerian folk music now developed into a popular style
- Raicore
- Raï'n'B
- Rake-and-scrape – Bahamanian instrumental music
- Ramkbach
- Ramvong
- Ranchera – pop mariachi from 1950s film soundtracks
- Rapping – a musical form of vocal delivery where the lyrics are spoken (usually in time with the music) rather than sung.
- Rapso - A poetic "rap" form of Trinbagonian music—the next evolutionary step of Calypso and Soca.
- Rap metal – a subgenre of rap rock and alternative metal which combines hip hop music (largely its usage of rapping) with heavy metal music.
- Rap rock – a fusion of hip hop music and rock music; usually refers to rock bands having a rapping main vocalist, although the term have been applied to hip hop musicians who predominately use rock samples in their songs.
- Rara
- Rare groove - Gujarati music and dance
- Rasguido doble
- Rasiya
- Ravanahatha- Ravana music
- Rave music
- Rebetiko
- Red Dirt (music)
- reel
- Refalosa – Sudamerican music style of dance
- Reggae – a Jamaican music genre that is known for its offbeat rhythm (particularly the one drop rhythm and ska stroke) and Rastafarian-influenced lyrics.
- Reggae dancehall (see Dancehall)
- Reggae fusion
- Reggae highlife
- Reggaeton – a fusion genre developed in Puerto Rico that combines reggae and hip hop music.
- Rekilaulu – Finnish rhyming sleigh songs
- Religious music – music performed or composed for religious use or through religious influence.
- Rembetiko
- Renaissance music
- Retro
- Requiem
- Rhapsody
- Rhumba
- Rhyming spiritual – Bahamanian hymns
- Rhythm and blues – 1. a synonymous term for African-American popular music; 2. an offshoot of jump blues that was a immediate predecessor of rock and roll.
- Ricercar
- Rímur – Icelandic heroic epic songs
- Ringbang – a Caribbean fusion of music genres, a philosophy, and an aesthetic propounded by Eddy Grant in 1994
- Riot grrrl – a hardcore punk movement led by women that is heavily associated with third-wave feminism.
- Rock music – a broad offshoot of rock and roll that is typically characterized by a basic drum-beat, generally 4/4 riffs, and is musically centered on the (usually electric) guitar, bass guitar, drums and vocals, although there are numerous subgenres within rock where this characterization does not apply.
- Rock opera – a collection of rock music songs with lyrics that relate to a common story.
- Rock and roll – a popular music genre that combines blues (via rhythm and blues) and country music and is known for strong backbeat, its complete dominance within 1950s youth culture, and being the predecessor of rock music.
- Rock en español
- Rockabilly – a style of rock and roll that tends to have a stronger country influence than usual.
- Rocksteady
- Rococo
- Rōkyoku
- Romani music
- Romantic period in music
- Ronggeng – a folk music from Malacca, Malaysia
- Roots reggae
- Roots rock – rock music that looks back to rock's origins in folk music, blues and country music, usually by combining all three with modern rock.
- Roots rock reggae
- Rumba