Music Genres

This is a question that is frequently asked not only by people who are unfamiliar with hip hop or rap, but also by hip hop practitioners and fans of rap music. While many people, including...

You may not be what they call a "jazz aficionado," a "jazz snob" or a jazz nut... at least not yet. But, you may be curious as to what all those dark shades-sporting, goateed...

Born in Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada in 1975, Michael Buble developed his love of music from his grandfather, who introduced him to the tunes of the Swing era. Buble is now one of the most...

New Age music is a familiar genre that is notoriously difficult to define. Popularized in the 1980s and '90s, by some accounts the New Age form traces its roots back as far as the 1960s....

A merengue is a fast-paced type of music that originated in the Dominican Republic. A typical band set up for playing merengue is a diatonic accordion (playing all notes in the music scale), a...

Hard rock is a sub-genre of rock music. Its history begins at around the mid to late 1960s, and it is still very much alive today.

Emerging out of the folk music traditions of the British Isles, early American folk music ushered in social change and set the groundwork for many dominant musical styles that endure to the present.

Schranz is a sub-genre of techno with European roots, and has become very popular in some parts of the United States. However, sometimes Schranz is mistaken for the very similar sub-genre of...

We live in a world where older pleasures are ignored and forgotten. Few people of my own generation would ever consider going to a symphony, a ballet, or (God forbid) an opera! These things are to...

Southern gospel music has a storied tradition; as one of a handful of original American music styles, including jazz and ragtime, Southern gospel originated in the 19th century. The history of...

Ragtime piano music, derived from the phrase ragged time, which indicates the style in which the music is played, was originally an American musical genre very popular in the late 1800s and early...

The Rhythm & Blues, or R&B for short, genre is a result of a great deal of musical evolution, and has a fascinating origin. R&B is an American musical form that continues to influence...

Irish music is fascinating for many people, whether or not they are of Irish heritage. Its toe-tapping lilt, dance-inspiring rhythm and enchanting melodies catch your ear and stick in your head....

The R&B genre is a result of a great deal of musical evolution, and thus has a fascinating origin. Discussing R&B's musical roots involves a discussion of its cultural and aesthetic origins.

Rap in popular culture today has become one of the most influential genres of music, causing the music's content to be under constant scrutiny by the media. Its affect on society, thus, has both...

The history of blues guitar in American music is one that stretches back more than 100 years. From acoustic rhythm masters to blistering amplified leads, blues guitar has been a constant source of...

Heavy metal developed throughout the late 1960s and 1970s and became widely popular throughout the world in the 1980s. Its main concepts are distortion, guitar solos and loudness. Although the...

Although there is no individual musician who can be directly linked to having created jazz music, a number of performers throughout the 1800s and early 1900s contributed to its ultimate creation....

Blues music originated in the United States. There is very little documentation about the exact beginnings of blues, although anecdotal evidence places its beginnings in the late nineteenth to...

Beach music is a style that was created during the '40s, '50s and '60s from various musical genres, including big band swing, R&B, jazz and blues. It was particularly popular in the North and...

Christmas carols, traditional favorites, and contemporary holiday pieces frequently play a substantial role in bringing the "Christmas spirit" to parties and various other holiday celebrations....

The history of big band music covers a very brief period in Jazz history of approximately 15 to 20 years in which large orchestrations of swing music became popular as a result of the swing dance...

Salas is a Latin style of music that incorporates many musical genres, including funk and rhythm and blues. Salsa incorporates a variety of instrumentation, but is primarily percussion-based, with...

A combination of reggae and Latin American musical styles with an additional influence by hip hop, reggaeton is a popular form of music with Spanish-speaking individuals. Originating in Panama and...

Reggaeton music is a combination of Jamaican reggae and various forms of Latin American music. It originated in Panama in the 1970s and expanded throughout the Spanish-speaking world during the...

While Cuba is a small country, it has been influenced by so many different cultures that Cuban music is like no other. As a mashup of various other musical styles, Cuban music has its own unique...

This article is a discussion of the common characteristics of jazz and how defining these common characteristics have become increasingly more difficult as the genre evolves.

There are two schools of thought when it comes to teaching and learning how to play piano. Most piano teachers typically teach piano from a classical standpoint, with as much focus on playing...

The difference between rap and hip hop is not rigidly defined. Most people agree that hip hop is a cultural phenomenon while rap is a style of music. Hip hop includes fashion and trends, while rap...

Ragtime is a musical style in which a syncopated or "ragged" melody is played against the standard meter of a bass line. The first published music in America, the popularity of the ragtime style...

Jazz is a distinctly American form of music that originated in New Orleans around 1900. West African rhythms formed the basis of the first jazz music, drawing upon the rich African American...

Soul music first gained popularity in the 1950s, although it developed out of styles dating much earlier. Although other genres may fuse as well, soul is a fusion of gospel with rhythm and blues.

Trance music is a style of electronic dance music that was developed in the 1990s and is still popular today. It usually is played at clubs or parties and mixed by DJs.

Reggae is a musical style heavily associated with the island of Jamaica. Its style is very focused, however, it features a number of different artists influenced by a wide spectrum of music....

Classical music, considered by some people to be a tough nut to crack, can become an overwhelming passion. It has great diversity: orchestral music, opera, choral music and oratorio, ballet music,...

Disco music sprung up in African American and Hispanic communities in the early 1960s, but disco's popularity largely thrived in the 1970s. Disco music was largely created to be upbeat and fun...

Johann Sebastian Bach lived and composed during what is known as the Baroque Period (see link below). His music actually pre-dates that of Mozart, so Bach actually composed before...

School’s out and some parent’s are as happy as the kids are about it. The daily tasks required to keep school time organized and effective can be a little grueling and a break is always nice....

Jazz music is the sophisticated cousin to the blues. Jazz encompasses many elements of the blues while adding more complex chord structures and time signatures to the mix, making it a more...

Western music refers to all music born in the Western world, including Europe. Records of this music exist that date back well over 1,000 years. Although genres, styles and language have changed...

To me music is the beat and pulse of my soul. It's who i am. It's amazing how music blends with the inner workings of this world. Most of the time we don't notice it, but it's usually in the...

Ska music was founded in Jamaica in the late 1950's. Today it has been popularized by bands such as The Mighty Mighty Bosstones, Reel Big Fish and The Aquabats. There are many different versions...

Gregorian chant notation was developed by none other than a Benedictine monk by the name of Guido d'Arezzo, who lived from 990 to 1050 A.D. The notation served as a memory aid and to indicate...

Piano is one of the most versatile instruments in music. A piano plays in both the treble and bass clefs and has been used in every musical genre imaginable. Blues is one of the oldest forms of...

R&B, or rhythm and blues, music originated during a time of great change in the black community. As blacks migrated to urban areas and their social and economic status began to change, so did...

Metal rock, more commonly known as heavy metal, is a genre of hard rock music with a history and cultural significance all its own.

From James Brown and his band dropping it "on the one" to hip-hoppers breaking it down with the gangsta funk, the funk music genre has cut a wide swath through the American music landscape....

Trance music has kept the clubs moving for over two decades, and it's not showing any signs of letting up. It's also managed to captivate mainstream music audiences, with artists like Paul...

Musical genres begot other musical genres that in turn have other musical offspring. Sometimes it's confusing if you're a musician trying to figure out the best way to approach a new and...

Glam rock is a form of rock music that was developed in Britain in the early 1970s. After the hippie era, the fashions of the times changed, and so did music. Glitter outfits, pop culture...