Music genre

A music genre is a conventional category that identifies some pieces of music as belonging to a shared tradition or set of conventions.^[1] It is to be distinguished from musical form and musical style, although in practice these terms are sometimes used interchangeably.^[2]^{[failed verification]}

Music can be divided into different genres in many different ways. The artistic nature of music means that these classifications are often subjective and controversial, and some genres may overlap. Academic definitions of the term genre itself vary. In his book Form in Tonal Music, Douglass M. Green distinguishes between genre and form. He lists madrigal, motet, canzona, ricercar, and dance as examples of genres from the Renaissance period. To further clarify the meaning of genre, Green writes, "Beethoven's Op. 61 and Mendelssohn's Op. 64 are identical in genre—both are violin concertos—but different in form. However, Mozart's Rondo for Piano, K. 511, and the Agnus Dei from his Mass, K. 317, are quite different in genre but happen to be similar in form."^[3] Some, like Peter van der Merwe, treat the terms genre and style as the same, saying that genre should be defined as pieces of music that share a certain style or "basic musical language."^[4] Others, such as Allan F. Moore, state that genre and style are two separate terms, and that secondary characteristics such as subject matter can also differentiate between genres.^[5] A music genre or subgenre may also be defined by the musical techniques, the cultural context, and the content and spirit of the themes. Geographical origin is sometimes used to identify a music genre, though a single geographical category will often include a wide variety of subgenres. Timothy Laurie argues that, since the early 1980s, "genre has graduated from being a subset of popular music studies to being an almost ubiquitous framework for constituting and evaluating musical research objects".^[6]

Musicologists have sometimes classified music according to a trichotomous distinction such as Philip Tagg's "axiomatic triangle consisting of 'folk', 'art' and 'popular' music".^[7] He explains that each of these three is distinguishable from the others according to certain criteria.^[7]

Alternatively, music can be assessed on the three dimensions of "arousal", "valence", and "depth".^[8] Arousal reflects physiological processes such as stimulation and relaxation (intense, forceful, abrasive, thrilling vs. gentle, calming, mellow), valence reflects emotion and mood processes (fun, happy, lively, enthusiastic, joyful vs. depressing, sad), and depth reflects cognitive processes (intelligent, sophisticated, inspiring, complex, poetic, deep, emotional, thoughtful vs. party music, danceable).^[8] These help explain why many people like similar songs from different traditionally segregated genres.^[8]

Art music

Art music is a general term often used to describe thoughtfully cultivated music, particularly in Western societies, and as in contrast to pop and folk music. Art music is a term that encompasses music traditions that apply advanced structural and theoretical considerations with a written musical tradition. In Western countries, classical music is the main tradition. Art music has two extensions, being either serious music or light music. From as early as antiquity, the art music genre existed alongside other music and developed through the periods from medieval to contemporary times. There are no outstanding characteristics of the style as time has brought significant changes and differences to each generation. that form of music in a culture, as European classical music, having an established theoretical basis handed down by rote or through notation, a traditional repertoire, and a high standard of performance, usually by professional musicians.

Popular music

Popular music is any musical style accessible to the general public and disseminated by the mass media. Musicologist and popular music specialist Philip Tagg defined the notion in the light of sociocultural and economical aspects:

Popular music, unlike art music, is (1) conceived for mass distribution to large and often socioculturally heterogeneous groups of listeners, (2) stored and distributed in non-written form, (3) only possible in an industrial monetary economy where it becomes a commodity and (4) in capitalist societies, subject to the laws of 'free' enterprise ... it should ideally sell as much as possible.^[7]

Popular music is found on most commercial and public service radio stations, in most commercial music retailers and department stores, and movie and television soundtracks. It is noted on the Billboard charts and, in addition to singer-songwriters and composers, it involves music producers more than other genres do.

The distinction between classical and popular music has sometimes been blurred in marginal areas^[9] such as minimalist music and light classics. Background music for films/movies often draws on both traditions. In this respect, music is like fiction, which likewise draws a distinction between literary fiction and popular fiction that is not always precise.

Rock music

Rock music is a broad genre of popular music that originated as "rock and roll" in the United States in the early 1950s, and developed into a range of different styles in the 1960s and later, particularly in the United Kingdom and in the United States.

Electronic music

Electronic music saw further rise in 21st-century pop culture due to DJs like Avicii, Calvin Harris, Daft Punk, David Guetta, Deadmau5, Marshmello, Martin Garrix, Skrillex and more.^{[citation needed]}

Soul music/R&B

Soul music became a musical genre that came to include a wide variety of R&B-based music styles from the pop R&B acts at Motown Records in Detroit, such as The Temptations, Marvin Gaye and Four Tops, to "deep soul" singers such as Percy Sledge and James Carr.^[10]

Funk

In 1964 James Brown created original funk music.^{[citation needed]}

Country music

Country music, also known as country and western (or simply country) and hillbilly music, is a genre of popular music that originated in the southern United States in the early 1920s.^{[citation needed]}

Latin Music

Reggae

Hip hop music

Hip Hop music, also referred to as hip hop or rap music, is a genre of music that was started in the United States, specifically the South Bronx in the New York City by African-American youth from the inner cities during the 1970s. It can be broadly defined as a stylized rhythmic music that commonly accompanies rapping,^[11] a rhythmic and rhyming speech that is chanted.^[12] Hip hop music derives from the hip hop culture itself, including four key elements: emceeing (MCing)/rapping, Disc jockeying (DJing) with turntablism, breakdancing and graffiti art.

Polka

The polka is originally a Czech dance and genre of dance music familiar throughout Europe and the Americas.^{[citation needed]}

Religious music

Religious music (also sacred music) is music performed or composed for religious use or through religious influence. Gospel, spiritual, and Christian music are religious music.

Traditional and folk music

A picture of a red and black button accordion — Button accordion: German instrument used in several different cultures

Traditional and folk music are very similar categories. Although the traditional music is a very broad category and can include several different genres, it is widely accepted that traditional music encompasses folk music.^[13] According to the ICTM (International Council for Traditional Music), traditional music are songs and tunes that have been performed over a long period of time (usually several generations). ^[14]

The folk music genre is classified as the music that is orally passed from one generation to another. Usually the artist is unknown, and there are several different versions of the same song.^[15] The genre is transmitted by singing, listening and dancing to popular songs. This type of communication allows culture to transmit the styles (pitches and cadences) as well as the context it was developed.^[16]

Culturally transmitting folk songs maintain rich evidence about the period of history when they were created and the social class in which they developed.^[17] Some examples of the Folk Genre can be seen in the folk music of England and Turkish folk music. English folk music has developed since the medieval period and has been transmitted from that time until today. Similarly, Turkish folk music relates to all the civilizations that once passed thorough Turkey, thereby being a world reference since the East-West tensions during the Early Modern Period.

Traditional folk music usually refers to songs composed in the twentieth century, which tend to be written as universal truths and big issues of the time they were composed.^[18] Artists including Bob Dylan; Peter, Paul and Mary; James Taylor; and Leonard Cohen transformed folk music to what it is known today.^{[citation needed]} Newer composers such as Ed Sheeran (pop folk) and The Lumineers (American folk) are examples of contemporary folk music, which has been recorded and adapted to the new way of listening to music (online)—unlike the traditional way of orally transmitting music.^[19]

Each country in the world, in some cases each region, district and community, has its own folk music style. The different sub-divisions of folk genre are developed by each place, cultural identity and history.^[20] Because the music is developed in different places, a lot of the instruments are characteristic to location and population—but some are used everywhere: button or piano accordion, different types of flutes or trumpets, banjo, and ukulele. Both French and Scottish folk music use related instruments such as the fiddle, the harp and variations of bagpipes.^[21]^[22]

Automatic categorization

Automatic methods of musical similarity detection, based on data mining and co-occurrence analysis, have been developed to classify music titles for electronic music distribution.^[23]

genres of music and their definitions

These definitions were compiled to aid Music Library volunteers when writing their reviews and categorizing/labelling music. Of course, there are many more out there, including sub-genres of sub-genres, but there's no need to get that specific. Just choose the category in which your artist/group fits best. If the artist/group seems to cross over into several categories, pick the one most prevalent -- for example, a CD might include 3 blues songs, 2 folk songs, and 5 rock songs -- that artist would probably go in the "rock" category (although you may want to check the Music Library first and see if there are other CDs by that artist/group already there -- in that case, try to keep all the CDs in the same section).

The review you write can get as specific as you like, and the terms and definitions below may be useful. However, when labelling your CD (or record) for its inclusion in the Music Library, try to stick to the main genres listed on the Label Chart. There are only a limited number of coloured stickers, so the categories had to be fairly broad. And hundreds of very specific letter-codes would only get confusing for programmers trying to locate music, so please confine yourself to the ones listed on the chart.

Acid House House music featuring squelching loops from Roland TB-303 synthesizers.

Acid Jazz Contrary to its name, this style has little in common with Acid House. Acid Jazz consists of various blends of Jazz, Funk, House and Hip-Hop.

Acoustic Created without the use of electricity.

Alternative Coined in the early 1980s, the term "alternative rock" or "alternative music" was used to describe music that didn't fit into mainstream genres of the time. Alternative styles include indie, post-punk, hardcore punk, gothic rock, college rock and new wave bands.

Ambient Atmospheric electronic music combined with jazz, New Age and other influences. Usually quieter than other styles, ambient music describes three-dimensional atmospheres with sound, often without a beat.

Bluegrass A form of American roots music with its roots in the English, Irish and Scottish traditional music of immigrants from the British Isles (particularly the Scots-Irish immigrants of Appalachia), as well as the music of rural African-Americans, jazz, and blues. Like jazz, bluegrass is played with each melody instrument switching off, playing the melody in turn while the others revert to backing; this is in contrast to old-time music, in which all instruments play the melody together or one instrument carried the lead throughout while the others provide accompaniment.

Blues A vocal and instrumental form of music based on a pentatonic scale and a characteristic twelve-bar chord progression, blues evolved from African American spirituals, shouts, work songs and chants that found its earliest stylistic roots in West Africa. Blues has been a major influence on later American and Western popular music, finding expression in ragtime, jazz, big band, rhythm & blues, rock & roll, country music, conventional pop songs and even modern classical music.

Cajun Louisiana music tends to sound more like early country, with the use of steel guitar and acoustic guitar along with the older traditional instruments -- fiddle, triangle and accordion. Cajun music is typically a waltz or two-step.

Caribbean The music of the Caribbean is a diverse grouping of musical genres. They are each synthesis of African, European, Indian and native influences. Some of the styles to gain wide popularity outside of the Caribbean include reggae, zouk, salsa and calypso. Areas include: The Bahamas, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Haiti, Jamaica, Martinique, Puerto Rico, Trinidad

Celtic Celtic music is a broad grouping of musical genres that evolved out of the folk musical traditions of the Celtic peoples of Western Europe. Most typically, the term Celtic music is applied to the music of Ireland and Scotland, because both places have produced well-known distinctive styles which have genuine commonality and clear mutual influences. The music of Wales, Cornwall, Isle of Man, Brittany, Northumbria and Galicia are also frequently considered a part of Celtic music, the Celtic tradition being particularly strong in Brittany, where Celtic festivals large and small take place throughout the year. Finally, the music of ethnically Celtic peoples abroad is also considered, especially in Canada and the United States.

Christian Christian music refers to music created by Christian artists or adapted to deliver general Christian religion themes.

Classical Classical music is generally a classification covering music composed and performed by professionally trained artists. Classical music is a written tradition. It is composed and written using music notation, and as a rule, is performed faithfully to the score. In common usage, "classical music" often refers to orchestral music in general, regardless of when it was composed or for what purpose (film scores and orchestral arrangements on pop music recordings, for example).

Club / Dance Music composed, played, or both, specifically to accompany social dancing, though from the late 1970s, the term "dance music" has come to refer (in the context of nightclubs) more specifically to electronic music such as disco, house, techno and trance. Generally, the difference between a disco, or any dance song, and a rock or general popular song is that in dance music the bass hits "four to the floor" at least once a beat (which is 4/4 time is 4 beats per measure), while in rock the bass hits on one and three and lets the snare take the lead on two and four.

Comedy/Spoken Word The comedy/spoken word is known as comedians and stands up stories.

Conjunto (Also known as Norteño) A traditional style of Mexican music that originated in rural northern Mexico in the early 20th century, a form of music based largely on corridos and polka. The accordion and the bajo sexto is the music's most characteristic instruments. Norteño is extremely popular among first-generation Mexicans in both the inner city barrios and the rural countrysides of the United States and Mexico.

Country Once known as Country & Western music, this music form is developed mostly in the southern United States of America, with roots in traditional folk music, spirituals and blues.

Dixieland (Jazz) Dixieland developed in New Orleans, Louisiana at the start of the 20th century, and spread to Chicago, Illinois and New York City, New York by New Orleans bands in the 1910s, and was, for a period, quite popular among the general public. It is often considered the first true type of jazz and was the first music referred to by the term jazz (before 1917 often spelled jass).

Drone Drone music is a minimalist musical style that emphasizes the use of sustained or repeated sounds, notes, or tone clusters – called Drones.

East Coast (Hip Hop) (Sometimes also referred to as New York hip hop) A style of hip hop music that originated in New York City during the late-1970s. East Coast hip hop emerged as a definitive subgenre after artists from other regions of the United States (chiefly the West Coast) emerged with different styles of hip-hop. It has since grown into a major subgenre of hip hop and has played an instrumental role in hip hop history. East Coast hip hop has developed several creative epicentres and local scenes within the Northeastern United States, most of which are primarily located within African-American and Hispanic urban centers.

Easy Listening Easy Listening is a term used to describe a certain style of popular music that emphasizes simple, catchy melodies and cool, laid-back harmonics and rhythms, suitable for dancing. Easy listening emerged in the mid 20th century. Other terms used by fans of this style today include Lounge and Lounge Core, connecting it to the cocktail lounge culture of the 1960s and 1970s.

Electronica Electronica is a rather vague term that covers a wide range of electronic or electronic-influenced music. The term has been defined by some to mean modern electronic music that is not necessarily designed for the dance-floor, but rather for home listening. In the mid-1990s, the term became popular as a means of referring to the then-novel mainstream success of post-Rave global electronic dance music. Before the adoption of "electronica" as a blanket term for more experimental dance music, terms such as "electronic listening music," "braindance" and "intelligent dance music" (IDM) were common.

Emo Emo is a subgenre of hardcore punk music. In its original incarnation, the term emo was used to describe the music of the mid-1980s DC scene and its associated brands. In later years, the term emocore, short for "emotional hardcore", was also used to describe the DC scene and some of the regional scenes that spawned from it. The term emo was derived from the fact that, on occasion, members of a band would become spontaneously and emotional during performances.

Experimental A general term surrounding electronic music without predefined genres.

Flamenco Flamenco is a song, music and dance style that is strongly influenced by the Gitanos (Spanish Gypsies), but which has its deeper roots in Moorish and Jewish musical traditions. Originally, flamenco consisted of unaccompanied singing (cante). Later the songs were accompanied by flamenco guitar (toque), rhythmic hand clapping ( palmas), rhythmic feet stomping (zapateado) and dance (baile). The toque and baile are also often found without the cante, although the song remains at the heart of the flamenco tradition.

Folk Music by and of the common people, folks is a down-to-earth style focusing on universal truths, often with traditional acoustic instrumentation and a simple melody. Folk music arose in societies not yet affected by mass communication and the commercialization of culture. It was originally shared and performed by an entire community -- not by a special class of expert performers -- and was transmitted by word of mouth.

Funk Funk is a distinct style of music originated by African-Americans, e.g., James Brown and his band members (especially Maceo and Melvin Parker), and groups like The Meters. Funk best can be recognized by its syncopated three against four rhythms; thick bass line (often based on an "on the one" beat); razor-sharp rhythm guitars; chanted or hollered vocals (as that of Marva Whitney or the Bar-Kays); strong, rhythm-oriented horn sections; prominent percussion; an upbeat attitude; African tones; danceability; and strong jazz influences (e.g., as in the music of Miles Davis, Herbie Hancock, George Duke, Eddie Harris, and others).

Fusion At the time of its origin, Fusion was a blend of Jazz with the aggressive qualities of Rock. Today it can represent a blending of any two or more styles.

Garage (Rock) A simple, raw form of rock and roll that emerged in the mid-1960s, largely in the United States. The term "garage rock" comes from the perception that many such performers were young and amateurish, and often rehearsed in a family garage (this stereotype also evokes a suburban, middle-class setting). Largely inspired by British Invasion bands like The Beatles, The Kinks, The Who and The Rolling Stones, these groups mostly played a homespun variation on British Invasion rock -- although other influences were also apparent, especially the surf music style that immediately preceded the garage era. "Garage rock" was often musically crude, but conveyed great passion and energy. Most of the bands used simple chord progressions, pounding drums, and short, repetitive lyrics.

Gospel Gospel music may refer either to the religious music that first came out of African-American churches in the 1930s or, more loosely, to both black gospel music and the religious music composed and sung by white southern Christian artists. While the separation between the two styles was never absolute -- both drew from the Methodist hymnal and artists in one tradition sometimes sang songs belonging to the other -- the sharp division between black and white America, particularly black and white churches, kept the two apart. While those divisions have lessened slightly in the past fifty years, the two traditions are still distinct. It tends to be characterized by dominant vocals (often with strong use of harmony) referencing lyrics of a religious nature.

Goth Gothic rock evolved out of post-punk during the late 1970s. Originally considered just a label for a small handful of punk rock/post-punk bands, goth only began to be defined as a separate movement in 1981. While most punk bands focused on aggressive, outward rock, the early gothic bands were more introverted and personal, with elements that can be traced to much older literary movements such as gothic horror, Romanticism, existential philosophy, and the philosophical construct of nihilism. The earliest gothic bands were Bauhaus, Gloria Mundi (credited as the first goth band by Mick Mercer), and UK Decay.

Grunge (Sometimes also referred to as the Seattle Sound) A genre of alternative rock inspired by hardcore punk, heavy metal, and indie rock. It became commercially successful in the late 1980s and early 1990s, peaking in mainstream popularity between 1991 and 1994. Bands from cities in the Pacific Northwest of the United States, such as Seattle, Washington, Olympia, Washington, and Portland, Oregon, created grunge and later made it popular with mainstream audiences. The genre is closely associated with Generation X in the US since it was popularized in tandem with the rise in popularity of the generation's name. The popularity of grunge was one of the earliest phenomena that distinguished the popular music of the 1990s from that of the 1980s. Grunge music is generally characterized by "dirty" guitar, strong riffs, and heavy drumming.

Heavy Metal (Also referred to as simply metal) A form of music characterized by aggressive, driving rhythms and highly amplified distorted guitars. Its origins lie in the hard rock bands who, between 1967 and 1974, took blues and rock and created a hybrid with a heavy, guitar-and-drums-centred sound. From the late 1970s on, many bands would fuse this sound with a revival of European classical music. Heavy metal had its peak popularity in the 1980s, during which many of the now existing subgenres first evolved.

Hip Hop Music composed of four main elements: rapping (also known as emceeing), disk jockeying, breakdancing and graffiti. A cultural movement, hip hop began among African Americans in New York City in the 1970s. Most typically, hip hop music consists of one or more rappers who chant semi-autobiographic tales, often relating to a fictionalized counterpart, in an intensely rhythmic lyrical form, making abundant use of techniques like assonance, alliteration, and rhyme. The rapper is accompanied by an instrumental track, usually referred to as a "beat" because of the emphasis on rhythm, performed by a DJ, a record producer, or one or more instrumentalists. This beat is often created using a sample of the percussion break of another song, usually a funk, rock, or soul recording. In addition to the beat, other sounds are often sampled, synthesized, or performed. Sometimes, a track can be made up of just the beat by itself, as a showcase of the skills of the DJ or producer.

Honky Tonk The first genre of music to be commonly known as honky-tonk music was a style of piano playing related to ragtime, but emphasizing rhythm more than melody or harmony, since the style evolved in response to an environment where the pianos were often poorly cared for, tending to be out of tune and having some nonfunctioning keys.

House Named after its birthplace, the Warehouse, a club in Chicago, House is in many ways an electronic extension of Disco. House features a steady 4/4 beat, with accented percussion and basslines.

Indie A genre of alternative rock that primarily exists in the indie underground music scene. The term is sometimes used interchangeably with indie music as a whole, though more specifically implies that the music meets the criteria of being rock, as opposed to indie pop or other possible matchups. These criteria vary from an emphasis on rock instrumentation (electric guitars, bass guitar, live drums, and vocals) to more abstract (and debatable) rockist constructions of authenticity.

Industrial Industrial music is a loose term for several different styles of electronic and experimental music. The first wave of this music appeared in 1977 with Throbbing Gristle and NON and often featured tape editing, stark percussion, and loops distorted to the point where they had degraded to harsh noise. Vocals were sporadic and were as likely to be bubblegum pop as they were to be abrasive polemics. Bands like Cabaret Voltaire, Clock DVA, Factrix, DAF, Nocturnal Emissions, Esplendor Geometrico and SPK soon followed. Blending electronic synthesizers, guitars and early samplers, these bands created an aggressive and abrasive music fusing elements of rock with experimental electronic music.

Jazz Jazz music has been called the first original art form to develop within the US. It grew out of a cross-fertilization of folk-blues, ragtime, and European band music. Although there have been many renowned jazz vocalists, and many of the most well-known jazz tunes have lyrics, it is primarily an instrumental form of music. The instrument most closely associated with jazz is the saxophone, followed by the trumpet. The trombone, piano, double bass, guitar and drums are also primary jazz instruments. It is characterized by blue notes, syncopation, swing, call and response, and polyrhythm, yet the single most distinguishing characteristic of jazz is improvisation. Jazz also tends to utilize complex chord structures and an advanced sense of harmony and requires a high degree of technical skill and musical knowledge from the performers.

Jungle / Drum 'n' Bass Both styles display very fast tempos around 160-200 BPM, with double-speed breakbeats along with strong basslines. According to leading DJs, Jungle conveys a party atmosphere with Reggae inspired bass, while Drum 'n' Bass is considered to be more intelligent listening to music.

Kids A category that includes songs for babies, toddlers, and young teens; often designed to educate and uplift children as well as entertain.

Klezmer Klezmer is a musical tradition that parallels Hasidic and Ashkenazic Judaism. Around the 15th century, a tradition of secular (non-liturgical) Jewish music was developed by musicians called klezmorim or klezmorim. They drew on devotional traditions extending back into Biblical times, and their musical legacy of klezmer continues to evolve today. The repertoire is largely dance songs for weddings and other celebrations. Due to the Ashkenazi lineage of this music, the lyrics, terminology and song titles are typically in Yiddish.

Latin Latin-American music is sometimes called Latin music, and it is more of an umbrella-style than a genre. It often features acoustic instruments and horns with many layers of percussion, and includes the music of many countries and comes in a wide variety of choices: from the down-home conjunto music of Northern Mexico to the sophisticated habanera of Cuba, from the symphonies of Heitor Villa-Lobos to the simple and moving Andean flute.

Lounge Lounge music refers to music played in the lounges and bars of hotels and casinos, or at standalone piano bars. Generally, the performers include a singer and one or two other musicians. The performers play or cover songs composed by others, especially pop standards, many deriving from the days of Tin Pan Alley. Notionally, much lounge music consists of sentimental favourites enjoyed by a lone drinker over a martini, though in practice there is much more variety. The term can also refer to laid-back electronic music, also named downtempo, because of the reputation of lounge music as low-key background music.

Mariachi Mariachi is a type of musical group, originally from Mexico, consisting of at least two violins, two trumpets, one Spanish guitar, one vihuela (a high-pitched, five-string guitar) and one guitarrón (a small-scaled acoustic bass), but sometimes featuring more than twenty musicians. The mariachi sound, known as son, is a mixture of Spanish, native and African traditions and differs from region to region.

Memphis (Blues) Memphis blues is a type of blues music that was pioneering in the early part of the 20th century by musicians like Sleepy John Estes and Willie Nix, associated with vaudeville and medicine shows. It was in the Memphis blues that groups of musicians first assigned one guitarist to play rhythm, and one to play lead and solos -- this has become standard in rock and roll and much of popular music. Also, the jug band arose from the Memphis blues, mixing the sound with jazz and using homemade, simple instruments.

Metal (Also referred to as heavy metal) A form of music characterized by aggressive, driving rhythms and highly amplified distorted guitars. Its origins lie in the hard rock bands who, between 1967 and 1974, took blues and rock and created a hybrid with a heavy, guitar-and-drums-centred sound. From the late 1970s on, many bands would fuse this sound with a revival of European classical music. Heavy metal had its peak popularity in the 1980s, during which many of the now existing subgenres first evolved.

Motown A style of soul music with distinctive characteristics, including the use of tambourine along with drums, bass instrumentation, a distinctive melodic and chord structure, and a call and response singing style originating in gospel music.

New Age New Age music is a vaguely defined style of music that is generally quite melodic and often primarily instrumental, frequently relying on sustained pads or long sequencer-based runs. Very long songs, up to 20 minutes and more, are not uncommon. Vocal arrangements and usage of acoustic instruments are less common (in many cases, high-quality samples are used instead of the latter). Recordings of naturally occurring sounds are sometimes used as an introduction to a track or throughout the piece.

Nordic Traditional Nordic dance music is a type of traditional music or folk music that once was common in all five Nordic countries ( Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden). The most typical instrument is the fiddle. In most cases, normal violins are used, but there are exceptions such as the hardingfele, used in parts of Norway, that in addition to the normal four strings has a set of sympathetic strings. Other instruments that traditionally often were used are simple clarinets, mainly home-made, and later accordion.

Norteño Norteño (literally meaning "northern" in Spanish, and also known as conjunto) is a traditional style of Mexican music that originated in rural northern Mexico in the early 20th century, a form of music based largely on corridos and polka. The accordion and the bajo sexto is the music's most characteristic instruments. Norteño is extremely popular among first-generation Mexicans in both the inner city barrios and the rural countrysides of the United States and Mexico.

Progressive Styles that have characteristics from being created by the latest of technology and technique in audio production.

Pop Pop music is a subgenre of popular music. Pop music may be distinguished from classical or art music and folk music, but since the term spans many rocks, hip hop, rhythm and blues (R&B), country, dance and operatic pop act, it is reasonable to say that "pop music" is a loosely defined category.

Psychedelic / Trippy Genres relating to hallucinations, distortions of perception, or altered states of awareness.

Punk Punk Rock is an anti-establishment music movement that began about 1976 (although precursors can be found several years earlier), exemplified by The Ramones, the Sex Pistols, The Clash and The Damned. The term is also used to describe subsequent music scenes that share key characteristics with those first-generation "punks". The term is sometimes also applied to the fashions or the irreverent "DIY" ("do it yourself") attitude associated with this musical movement.

R&B Rhythm and blues (or R&B) were coined as a musical marketing term in the late 1940s by Jerry Wexler at Billboard magazine, used to designate upbeat popular music performed by African American artists that combined jazz and blues. It was initially used to identify the style of music that later developed into rock and roll. By the 1970s, rhythm and blues were being used as a blanket term to describe soul and funk as well. Today, the acronym "R&B" is almost always used instead of "rhythm and blues", and defines the modern version of the soul and funk-influenced African-American pop music that originated with the demise of disco in 1980.

Ragtime An American musical genre, enjoying its peak popularity around the years 1900–1918. Ragtime is a dance form written in 2/4 or 4/4 time, and utilizing a walking bass, that is, the bass note played legato on the 1-3 beats with a staccato chord played on the 2-4 beats. Much Ragtime is written in Sonata form, with four distinct themes and a modified first theme appearing in the work. Ragtime music is syncopated, with the melodic notes landing largely on the off-beats

Rap A form of rhyming lyrics spoken rhythmically over musical instruments that typically uses a musical backdrop of sampling, scratching and mixing by disk jockeys (DJs). Rapping is one of the elements of hip hop music and was originally called emceeing.

Reggae Music founded upon a rhythm style, which is characterized by regular chops on the backbeat, played by a rhythm guitarist. Reggae is an African-Caribbean style of music developed on the island of Jamaica and closely linked to the religion of Rastafarianism (though not universally popular among its members).

Retro Music directly imitating styles of the past.

Rock (Rock & Roll) Also called rock 'n' roll, is a form of popular music, usually featuring vocals (often with vocal harmony), a strong backbeat, electric guitars, and a catchy melody backed by three or four chords.

Rockabilly Rockabilly is the earliest form of rock and roll as a distinct style of music. It is a fusion of blues, hillbilly boogie, bluegrass music and country music, and its origins lie in the American South.

Roots A term often applied to music closely related to the birth of a genre.

Salsa Salsa is essentially Cuban in stylistic origin, though it is also a hybrid of various Latin styles mixed with pop, jazz, rock and R&B. Most specifically, however, salsa refers to a particular style developed by the 1960s and '70s New York City-area Cuban and Puerto Rican immigrants to the United States.

Soundtrack Music used in the sound mix for a motion picture.

Soul Soul music is a combination of rhythm and blues and gospel. Rhythm and blues (a term coined by music writer and record producer Jerry Wexler) is itself a combination of blues and jazz, and arose in the 1940s as small groups, often playing saxophones, built upon the blues tradition. Soul music is differentiated by its use of gospel-music devices, its greater emphasis on vocalists, and its merging of religious and secular themes.

Swamp Pop Another one of Southwest Louisiana's main musical genres, swamp pop is more of a combination of many influences, and the bridge between Zydeco, New Orleans second line, and rock and roll. The song structure is pure rock and roll, the rhythms are distinctly New Orleans based, the chord changes, vocals and inflections are R&B influenced, and the lyrics are sometimes French.

Swing Swing music, also known as swing jazz, is a form of jazz music that developed during the 1920s and solidified as a distinctive style during the 1930s in the United States. Swing is distinguished primarily by a strong rhythm section, usually including double bass and drums, medium to fast tempo, and the distinctive swing time rhythm that is common to many forms of jazz.

Techno This term has come to have two popular interpretations, the first being a description of all electronic music. The second interpretation is a style that developed from House music, which completely abandoned the influences of Disco; Techno is more mechanical and less organic.

Tejano Tejano (Spanish for "Texan") or Tex-Mex music is the various forms of folk and popular music originating among the Mexican-descended Tejanos of Central and South Texas. In recent years artists such as Selena Quintanilla, Emilio Navaira, and Selena's brother A.B. Quintanilla's band, Los Kumbia Kings have transformed Tejano music from primarily a local, ethnic form of music to a genre with wide appeal in North America, Latin America, Europe, and beyond. Usually, Tex-Mex refers to more traditional styles such as its most popular sub-genre by far, norteño music. Tejano is usually more modern and is heavily influenced by rock, cumbia, and blues.

Trance Trance music is electronic dance music (EDM) that developed in the 1990s. Trance could be described as a melodic, more-or-less freeform style of music characterized by a steady beat between 130 and 158 bpm and repeating melodic patterns. The genre is arguably derived from a combination of largely techno and house. Trance got its name from repeating and morphing beats and melodies which would presumably put the listener into a trance.

Trip Hop Trip-hop is downtempo electronic music that grew out of England's hip hop and house scenes. Sometimes characterized by a reliance on breakbeats and a sample-heavy sound pioneered by Coldcut's remix of Eric B. & Rakim's "Paid in Full", trip-hop gained notice via popular artists such as Portishead, Massive Attack, Thievery Corporation, Tricky, and rock-influenced sound groups such as Ruby, California's DJ Shadow, and the UK's Howie B.

Urban A term given to R&B and Soul produced in the 80s and 90s.

West Coast (Hip Hop) West Coast hip-hop, also known as California hip-hop or West Coast rap, is a style of hip-hop that originated in California in the 1980s. It has since grown into a subgenre of hip-hop and has developed several creative epicentres, most of which are in California.

World World music is, most generally, all the music in the world. More specifically, the term is currently used to classify and market recordings of the many genres of non-western music which were previously described as "folk music" or "ethnic music". Succinctly, it can be described as "local music from out there." The term is used primarily as a marketing/classification device, sometimes referring to any kind of foreign music, especially in a foreign language.

Worldbeat In popular music, worldbeat refers to any style of music which fuses folk music from non-traditional sources (essentially, outside the Appalachian folk and Celtic traditions) with Western rock or other pop influences. Worldbeat is usually said to have begun in the mid-1980s when artists like David Byrne, Peter Gabriel and Paul Simon began incorporating influences from around the world, especially Africa. Within the next few years, the worldbeat became a thriving subgenre of popular music that influenced many more mainstream musicians. Some of the most commonly incorporated types of folk music include rai, samba, flamenco, tango, qawwali, highlife and raga.

Zydeco One of Southwest Louisiana's main musical genres, Zydeco sounds more like gospel or R&B, with artists adopting a James Brown kind of persona, and instrumentation involving accordion and rubboard washboard along with with with with electrical instruments (guitar and bass), keyboards, drumkit and horns, and are well suited to the jitterbug.

Emergence of new genres and sub-genres

New genres can arise through the development of new forms and styles of music and also simply by creating a new categorization. Although it is conceivable to create a musical style with no relation to existing genres, new styles usually appear under the influence of pre-existing genres. The genealogy of musical genres expresses, often in the form of a written chart, how new genres have developed under the influence of older ones. If two or more existing genres influence the emergence of a new one, a fusion between them can be said to have taken place. The proliferation of popular music in the 20th century has led to over 1,200 definable sub-genres of music.^[24]

Commercial sales

According to the top 100 biggest selling singles of the year worldwide, the percentage of sales in eleven broad commercial genres is broken down as follows.^[25]

Genre	%
Classical crossover	1
Country	1
Dance	18
Folk	5
Hip hop	6
House	13
Pop	26
R&B	5
Rock	18
Samba	2
Soul	5

Psychology of music preference

Social influences on music selection

Since music has become more easily accessible (Spotify, iTunes, YouTube, etc.), more people have begun listening to a broader and wider range of music styles.^[26] In addition, social identity also plays a large role in music preference. Personality is a key contributor for music selection. Someone who considers themselves to be a "rebel" will tend to choose heavier music styles like Heavy Metal or Hard Rock, while someone who considers themselves to be more "relaxed" or "laid back" will tend to choose lighter music styles like Jazz or Classical music.^[26] There are five main factors that exist that underlie music preferences that are genre-free,^{[contradictory]} and reflect emotional/affective responses.^[27] These five factors are:

A Mellow factor consisting of smooth and relaxing styles (Jazz, Classical, etc.).
An Urban factor defined largely by rhythmic and percussive music (Rap, Hip-Hop, Funk, etc.).
A Sophisticated factor (Operatic, World, etc.)
An Intensity factor that is defined by forceful, loud, and energetic music (Rock, Metal, etc.).
A campestral factor, which refers to singer-songwriter genres and country.^[27]

Individual and situational influences

Gender

Studies have shown that while women prefer more treble oriented music, men prefer to listen to bass heavy music. This is sometimes paired with borderline and antisocial personalities.^[28]

Age

Age is another strong factor that contributes to musical preference. Evidence is available that shows that music preference can change as one gets older.^[29] A Canadian study showed that adolescents show greater interest in pop music artists while adults and the elderly population prefer classic genres such as Rock, Opera, and Jazz.^[30]

References

^ Samson, Jim. "Genre". In Grove Music Online. Oxford Music Online. Accessed March 4, 2012.
^ Janice Wong (2011). "Visualising Music: The Problems with Genre Classification".
^ Green, Douglass M. (1965). Form in Tonal Music. Holt, Rinehart, and Winston, Inc. p. 1. ISBN 978-0-03-020286-5.
^ van der Merwe, Peter (1989). Origins of the Popular Style: The Antecedents of Twentieth-Century Popular Music. Oxford: Clarendon Press. p. 3. ISBN 978-0-19-316121-4.
^ Moore, Allan F. "Categorical Conventions in Music Discourse: Style and Genre". Music & Letters, Vol. 82, No. 3 (Aug. 2001), pp. 432–442.
^ Laurie, Timothy (2014). "Music Genre As Method". Cultural Studies Review. 20 (2), pp. 283-292.
^ ^a ^b ^c Tagg, Philip. "Analysing Popular Music: Theory, Method and Practice". Popular Music 2 (1982): 41.
^ ^a ^b ^c "Musical genres are out of date – but this new system explains why you might like both jazz and hip hop". Econotimes. August 3, 2016. Retrieved August 8, 2016.
^ Arnold, Denis (1983): "Art Music, Art Song", in The New Oxford Companion to Music, Volume 1: A-J, Oxford University Press, p. 111, ISBN 0-19-311316-3.
^ "Motown: The Sound that Changed America". Motown Museum. Retrieved October 27, 2016.
^ "Definition of HIP HOP". www.merriam-webster.com. Retrieved March 13, 2019.
^ "Rap | music". Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved March 13, 2019.
^ "What is Traditional Music? - a broad definition". www.traditionalmusic.org. Retrieved March 29, 2019.
^ "Home | International Council for Traditional Music". ictmusic.org. Retrieved March 29, 2019.
^ "EarMaster - Music Theory & Ear Training on PC, Mac and iPad". www.earmaster.com. Retrieved March 29, 2019.
^ Albrecht, Joshua; Shanahan, Daniel (February 1, 2019). "Examining the Effect of Oral Transmission on Folksongs". Music Perception: An Interdisciplinary Journal. 36 (3): 273–288. doi:10.1525/mp.2019.36.3.273. ISSN 0730-7829.
^ "Folk music". Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved March 29, 2019.
^ "Traditional Folk Music Songs". AllMusic. Retrieved March 29, 2019.
^ "Is folk music dying out? | Naz & Ella | Indie-Folk Duo | London". Naz & Ella | Indie-Folk Duo | London. Retrieved April 2, 2019.
^ "THE GENERAL CHARACTER OF EUROPEAN FOLK MUSIC". www.cabrillo.edu. Retrieved April 1, 2019.
^ "What instruments are used in typical French folk music". Scribd. Retrieved April 4, 2019.
^ "Traditional Scottish Music". English Club TV On-the-Go. October 29, 2015. Retrieved April 4, 2019.
^ François Pachet, Geert Westermann, Damien Laigre. "Musical Data Mining for Electronic Music Distribution". Proceedings of the 1st WedelMusic Conference sou, pp. 101-106, Firenze, Italy, 2001.
^ Fitzpatrick, Rob (September 4, 2014). "From Charred Death to Deep Filthstep: The 1,264 Genres That Make Modern Music". The Guardian. Guardian Media Group.
^ http://chartsaroundtheworld.com/2014/12/31/world-chart-show-year-end-chart-2014/
^ ^a ^b Chamorro-Premuzic, Tomas (January 14, 2011). "The Psychology of Musical Preferences". Psychology Today. Retrieved March 27, 2019.
^ ^a ^b Rentfrow, Peter J.; Goldberg, Lewis R.; Levitin, Daniel J. (2011). "The structure of musical preferences: A five-factor model". Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. 100 (6): 1139–1157. doi:10.1037/a0022406. ISSN 1939-1315. PMC 3138530. PMID 21299309.
^ McCown, William; Keiser, Ross; Mulhearn, Shea; Williamson, David (October 1997). "The role of personality and gender in preference for exaggerated bass in music". Personality and Individual Differences. 23 (4): 543–547. doi:10.1016/s0191-8869(97)00085-8.
^ Bonneville-Roussy, Arielle; Rentfrow, Peter J.; Xu, Man K.; Potter, Jeff (2013). "Music through the ages: Trends in musical engagement and preferences from adolescence through middle adulthood". Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. 105 (4): 703–717. doi:10.1037/a0033770. PMID 23895269.
^ Schwartz, Kelly; Fouts; Gregory (2003). "Music preferences, personality style, and developmental issues of adolescents". Journal of Youth and Adolescence. 32 (3): 205–213. doi:10.1023/a:1022547520656.

v t e Lists of music genres and styles
General lists	Music genres and styles A–F G–M N–R S–Z Microgenres Uses accordion
Genres	Classical and art music traditions Electronic Ambient Breakbeat EDM Hardstyle House Industrial Techno Trance Jazz Popular Country Hip hop Reggae Rock Heavy metal Punk rock Hardcore punk
Themes and movements	Historically informed performance Martial Progressive Psychedelic
Cultural and regional genres	Caribbean Folk traditions American Central North South Asian Caribbean European Middle Eastern and North African Oceanic and Australian Sub-Saharan African Gamelan