Music Genre

Now an extremely broad musical category, this genre evolved out of a cultural explosion in the United States. Featuring vinyl records mixed on turntables and incorporating the rap genre along with heavy bass-lines and samples, it has now become extremely significant in terms of music’s cultural influence in modern times.

• country

• metal

• hip hop

• jazz

Historically started in New Orleans in the early 1900s, this genre of music typifies musical flexibility not seen by many other genres. Featuring a mix of rhythms and tempos as well as a focus on soloing, it also has a huge range of potential instrumental structures and setups. It’s very common for there to be a drummer and a bass instrument as well as any number of lead instruments ranging from woodwind to stringed instruments.

• house

• jazz

• rap

• blues

This genre of music is an ever-evolving genre that encompasses any music that is designed for the masses. Anything played on mainstream radio can be categorized as .... Over the years, it has enveloped almost every genre from Motown to metal, hip-hop to drum and bass.

• rock

• pop

• jazz

• hip hop

Originating in Jamaica in the 1960s and taking the world by storm through the work of Bob Marley, this genre is a fusion of traditional Jamaican folk music with jazz and R&B.

Offbeat rhythms and staccato chords are common musical themes, and it is closely linked to Rastafarianism and Afrocentric religion.

• pop

• reggae

• folk

• rock

Arising from the evolution of the electric guitar and distorted amplification, this music genre is now home to hundreds of sub-genres. Popularized in both the UK and the United States by bands playing a 4/4 rhythm and singing verse-chorus songs, it has become part of music history. It is characterized by guitars and a heavy snare and kick drum rhythm.

• pop

• rock

• reggae

• jazz

Another genre that came from African American roots, this music genre is an evolution from original rhythm and blues, gospel and jazz. Featuring hand claps, call and response singing, heavy focus on lead singers, it became so popular it eventually began to splinter into other genres, like Motown.

• soul

• jazz

• rap

• blues

It developed in the 19th century and was originally played by a single performer singing with a guitar or banjo. By the 1960s, it had evolved significantly along with the instruments used (now electric guitars, bass and drums) and made its way across the Atlantic to the UK and beyond.

• rock

• blues

• pop

• jazz

Encompassing a huge range of sub-genres, this genre of music refers broadly to most orchestral styles between 1750 and 1820. To many people, anything pre-jazz sounds classical and may be referred to as such. Once you get inside this genre, however, you will find whole world music and a stunning range of styles and categories.

• country

• jazz

• classical

• blues

_______ is a genre characterized by improvisation, syncopation, and swing, with artists like Miles Davis and Louis Armstrong.

_______ music is known for its orchestras and symphonies, often featuring composers like Beethoven and Mozart.