List of musical genres, directions and styles. What genres of music are there? Folk music and classical

24.06.2019

Truly talented and brilliant musicians They never adhere to a certain framework or style. Moreover, thanks to the rapid development of modern mass music styles, these frameworks do not have clearly defined boundaries.

But still, people involved in music professionally, and simply music lovers, need to understand the variety of musical styles, especially if they are dealing with modern music industry.

So, before answering the question, what styles are there in modern music, you need to decide what it is musical style. I would immediately like to warn against confusion between the concepts of style and genre. Genre (from the French word genre - genus) in music has a broad concept that defines any type of work. Style is associated with the language itself, with the way the musician expresses himself. We will consider the most basic and widely used styles of modern music below.

folk music

The term for this type of music (folk music in English) became widely known at the end of the last century, to define folk music in different cultures peace. Naturally, the form itself originated much earlier and is one of the first in music. In turn, three main genres can be traced in it: instrumental, song and dance.

Blues

As a musical style, it originated in the 19th century, and became widespread at the beginning of the next. It is a mixture of several directions of music of African-American culture such as “work song”, “spirituals” and “cholera”. The blues had a great influence on the emergence of other musical styles, in particular pop music, jazz, rock'n'roll, rhythm'n'blues and a number of others.

Jazz

Jazz, based on the blues, is characterized by great intensity and improvisation. The main feature of this style is polyrhythm based on syncopated rhythm. Jazz is an elite music that developed thanks to the mastery of new models of rhythm and harmony by musicians. Some genres of jazz can be classified as a professional-academic direction. For example, cool jazz, bebop.

Rock'n'roll

In the middle of the 20th century, rock'n'roll appeared in the USA. This style combines an incredible mixture of a huge, and as it seems at first glance, incompatible number of genres. Distinctive feature rock'n'roll - clear rhythm and frankly uninhibited performance. The boundaries of rock'n'roll expanded significantly, as a result of which rock music appeared - an absolutely independent, new style.

Rock music

Rock translated from English means to rock, which can be attributed to the characteristic of this style. Rock music has great amount directions, ranging from pop rock, Brit rock, which can be classified as lighter options. And ending with heavy and aggressive: death metal, thrash metal, hardcore and many others. Also, certain genres of rock music are inherently associated with subcultural phenomena: hippies, punks, goths, metalheads and others.

Electonic music

This type of music combines works created with the help of electronic technologies and instruments, mainly specialized computer programs and synthesizers. It established itself in the second half of the 20th century and combines a wide range of different genres, subgenres and styles. The music of composers using modern computer technologies belongs to academic electronics.

Hip-hop

In 1979, in the United States, a new style of music emerged among African-Americans - hip-hop. Two elements: rap (a clearly rhymed rhythmic recitative) and the rhythm set by the DJ (mainly bass lines and ) are the basis of the genre. Hip-hop, like many of the styles listed above, also has a huge number of genres and subgenres.

All these styles of modern mass music are very popular. We may not have named any individual subspecies, but we mainly answered the question of what styles there are in modern music. All of the above is the basis, the core and exactly what one starts from modern composers and musicians when creating their works. Thanks to this basis and the mixing of existing musical styles, completely new directions appear, but still, it is quite possible to trace their origins.

And lastly, watch this wonderful video of B.B. King, the King of the Blues, plays Blues Boys Tune on guitar:

Musical work in broadly understood can be called a play, which is the result of the composer’s activity. It is characterized by internal completeness, individuality of content and form, fixation musical notation for further execution. And the concept of “musical genres” is used to characterize various works.

List of main musical genres and their brief descriptions

  1. An art song is a genre in which the performer is both the author of the music and the words.
  2. Blatnaya song - glorifies the morals and life of the criminal environment.
  3. Blues is a genre that originated among African slaves on US cotton plantations.
  4. Jazz – musical genre, synthesized from African and European cultures.
  5. European music – general concept for music from European countries.
  6. Indian music is considered an ancient genre, the music of the peoples of India.
  7. Country - the so-called rural music, is a type of North American music.
  8. Latin American music - a name that summarizes genres Latin America.
  9. Pop music, divided into disco, pop and light music. Disco is dance music, pop is popular music of the masses, light music contains mainly simple catchy melodies.
  10. Rock music is a general name for several types of this rhythmic music. These include the following genres: musical art like country rock, southern rock, heartland rock, garage rock, surf rock, instrumental rock, folk rock, blues rock, rock and roll, psychedelic rock, Merseybeat, progressive rock, experimental rock, glam rock, hardcore, pub rock. There are also hard rock, punk rock, skiffle, bard rock, Japanese rock, metal, post-punk, stoner rock, alternative rock, post-rock, and also new wave and no wave.
  11. Romance is a short poem sung to music with lyrical content.
  12. Ska is a style with a 2 by 4 rhythm, even-numbered drum beats are emphasized by the guitar, and odd-numbered drum beats are emphasized by double bass or bass guitar.
  13. Hip-hop is a working class style from New York in 1974.
  14. Chanson - basically has French roots with performance in cabaret style.
  15. Electronic music - created using electronic musical instruments.

According to the method of performance, musical genres are divided into vocal, solo and vocal-instrumental.

Genres of music

Musical works also have their own genres. Like musical genres, they have a fairly long list.

  1. Arioso is a small aria.
  2. Aria is an episode performed by a singer in an opera or other similar work with orchestral accompaniment.
  3. Ballad - instrumental compositions; solo vocal compositions with texts of poetic works.
  4. Ballet – performing arts, in which the narrative is told through dance.
  5. Blues is a jazz song with sad content.
  6. Bylina is a song story in Russian folk style.
  7. Vaudeville is a theatrical play with cheerful and humorous content.
  8. An anthem is a song performed in a ceremonial setting.
  9. Jazz is dance music with improvisational moments.
  10. Disco is a rhythmic, simplified musical style.
  11. Invention – musical piece with an original finding of melodic development.
  12. An interlude is a short musical piece.
  13. An intermezzo is a free-form play or an independent episode in an operetta and other works of music.
  14. Kant is a type of polyphonic song.
  15. A cantata is a solemnly performed vocal and instrumental work.
  16. March – musical composition with rhythmic moments.
  17. Musical – musical composition with elements of operetta, opera, ballet and pop music.
  18. Ode is a dedication in a musical style.
  19. Opera is a musical production.
  20. Operetta is a comedy musical production.
  21. Oratorio – intended for choral performance.
  22. Song - musical form poems.
  23. A play is a small piece of music with a beginning and an end.
  24. Requiem – choral work mourning character.
  25. Romance is a work of lyrical performance.
  26. Serenade is a song in honor of a beloved.
  27. A symphony is an orchestral piece of music.
  28. Touche is a small musical greeting.
  29. A fugue is a work with multiple repetitions of a theme.
  30. Elegy is a sad piece of music.
  31. An etude is a work with virtuoso passages.

Musical genres are constantly updated and developed. They are affected by changing living conditions.

The purpose of this article is to introduce readers to various modern musical genres and themes. musical means, which composers use when creating works within a certain style. The ability to navigate musical genres and subgenres is one of the first signs of professionalism, so this article will be of interest to all those who have already embarked on the path of improvement in the musical field.

Most critics divide modern musical genres into three main directions: pop, rock and rap, which in turn are rooted in earlier styles and gave rise to a large number of own branches.

Pop is modern popular music. This is a very broad term that covers many genres such as disco, trance, house, techno, funk, new wave and others. Let's stop and look at the features of each of them.

  • Disco. Not long ago he was the most popular genre dance pop music. It is characterized by an abundance of effects, the leading role of the rhythm section of drums and bass, as well as the secondary, background sound of strings and wind instruments.
  • Trance. It belongs to one of the genres of electronic music and is notable for its high emotional impact on the listener. This effect is achieved through the use of sad, “cosmic” melodies.
  • House. This is the name of dance, completely electronic music. The main and only instrument is the synthesizer. A distinctive feature of this genre is the presence of looped musical phrases and solo melodies. Effects are widely used.
  • Techno. In one phrase you can say this: futuristic music big city. Techno features include fantastic melodies, dark metallic sound, and “cold” vocals devoid of emotion.
  • Funk. One of the dance genres, which is characterized by clearly defined drummers dominating all other instruments, low melody, and “sloppy” rhythm.
  • New wave. A genre of popular music that evolved from punk rock and uses the same musical means.

Rock as an independent genre, its roots are in the “black” American blues, which appeared in the 20s and 30s. Traditional blues consists of 12 bars, that is, sections of a composition consisting of several notes, the first of which has a stress or accent. To the main toolkit blues includes a counter bass or bass that sets the rhythm, a lead guitar, drums, often keyboards and wind instruments. To be completely precise, rock emerged from a branch of this genre - guitar blues, which already had much less keyboards and brass instruments.

Appearance rock And rock and roll, concepts that are often identified with musicians such as Elvis Presley and the Beatles. The former can be called the popularizer of this genre, while the Beatles were the ones who turned rock into art.

Musically, rock remained almost the same blues, but semantic content they are different: rock is music of protest against society, government or something else.

Rock has many subgenres, the main ones being soft rock, hard rock, pop rock, folk rock, punk rock, psychedelic rock, heavy metal and thrash.

  • Hard rock. Literally this translates as “heavy, hard.” This style has such a name for a reason, because its sound corresponds to what it is called. Heaviness in hard rock is achieved through the dominant sound of a loud and powerful rhythm section over the rest of the instruments. In most cases, the drums, bass or rhythm guitar are “heavier”. Overdrive and distortion effects are often used in hard rock.
  • Pop rock. Popular rock. This style is distinguished by good balance, the use of all kinds of effects and popular arrangements. Pop rock includes any rock music that is intended for a wide audience of listeners.
  • Folk rock. This is rock music with elements of folk music.
  • Punk rock. This genre includes rude, often unprofessional, but expressive music, which is characterized by simple, unpretentious, but shocking melodies.
  • Psychedelic rock. Complex, unconventional music, full of various effects. This music is different high level emotional impact on the listener.
  • Heavy metal is called harsh metal music, which is often inharmonious. She is far from the usual standards.
  • Thrash. This is a very tough genre, which is characterized by complexity and continuity of melodies, as well as improvisation.

Rap how the genre evolved from dance music. Characteristics: uneven rhythm, complex experiments with drummers, the presence of looped musical fragments. One of the main features of rap is the absence of vocals, which are replaced by recitative. Rap is read like poetry, not sung. The main instruments are drums and a complex bass, which often plays solo. Rap musicians often use the scratch effect - the creaking of vinyl records.

Most likely rap originated from reggae - dance style, which originated in Jamaica. These two styles have a lot in common: the same uneven, ragged rhythm, the presence of looped musical fragments, and a complex drummer.

In addition to regular collections, and, we are also interested in more niche subgenres, which we willingly talk about with the help of thematic collections. For example, you can familiarize yourself with popular compositions or immerse yourself in the atmosphere or.

Electronic fans can get acquainted with the new products of the scene, selected by studying the main charts of the planet. The collections contain fashionable bass music, popular club hits and after hectic nightlife events.

Further, we have grouped genre music according to more situational criteria - for example, you can download current music or for a relaxing evening in the company of connoisseurs of a similar style. For fans, the section contains ready-to-download playlists like classical compositions from the 90s, as well as more specific folk for fans of this genre.

Download collections or listen online?

For those who prefer modern style life, each collection works in a convenient online player mode that automatically switches compositions one after another. You can always return to listening to your favorite selection - all you need is a stable Internet connection. On the other hand, with just one button you can easily download an mp3 collection in one archive to your computer, transfer it to any media and always have access to the desired collection.
Music (from ancient Greek μουσική - the art of muses) - the art of intonation; musical composition. Artistic activity in music is aimed at sound material (musical sound) - individual sounds or sound complexes (harmonic sequences, rhythmic figures, melodic intervals, modes, keys, sonorous effects, etc.), organized in pitch, time, timbre, volume, etc. . relationships in order to embody a special figurative thought that associates states and processes of the external world, inner experiences a person with auditory impressions ( artistic image).
For our lives, music often provides a kind of complement to ourselves! We choose our styles of music and find a song that we like! There are many styles of music such as
: rock, rap, pop, chanson, metal, folk music, sacred music, jazz, Indian classical music, Arabic classical music, European classical music, Latin American music, blues, country, electronic music, ska; rocksteady; reggae.
1. Rock music (English)
Rock music ) is a general name for a number of trends in popular music. Word " rock " - swing - in this case indicates the rhythmic sensations characteristic of these directions associated with a certain form of movement, by analogy with " roll", "twist", "swing", "shake" ", etc. Such signs of rock music as the use of electric musical instruments, creative self-sufficiency (rock musicians are characterized by the performance of compositions own composition) are secondary and often misleading. For this reason, the identity of some styles of music as rock is disputed. Also, rock is a special subcultural phenomenon; subcultures such as mods, hippies, punks, metalheads, goths, emo are inextricably linked with certain genres of rock music.

styles:
- original styles(punk rock, metal, rock and roll);
- mixed style (jazz rock, rap rock, dark rock);
- cross style (acoustic rock, alternative rock, christian rock);
2. Rap
rap, rapping ) is a rhythmic recitative, usually read to music with a heavy beat. A rap artist is called a rapper (not to be confused with rapper), or a more general term M.C. .Rap is one of the main elements of the hip-hop music style; often used as a synonym for hip-hop. However, rap is used not only in hip-hop music, but also in other genres. Many drum and bass artists use rap. In rock music, it is found in such genres as rapcore, nu metal, alternative rock, alternative rap and some others, for example, new directions of hardcore[ambiguous link] music. Pop musicians and contemporary performers RnB They also often use rap in their compositions.

Styles:
- Old School Rap;
- Southern Rap;
- Underground Rap;
- Pop-Rap;
- Political Rap;
- Party Rap;
- Jazz-Rap;
- Hardcore rap;
- Gangsta Rap;
- Foreign Rap;
- Dirty Rap;
- British Rap;
- Hip-Hop;
- Break Beat;
- Hip-Hop/Urban;
- Alternative Rap;
- Comedy Rap;
- DownBeats;
- East Coast Rap;
- Ragga.
3. Pop music (English) Pop - music from Popular music ) - a direction of modern music, a type of modern popular culture.
The term "pop music" has a double meaning. IN broad meaning, this is any mass music(including rock, electronics, jazz, blues). In a narrow sense - separate genre popular music, directly pop music with certain characteristics.
The main features of pop music as a genre are simplicity, melody, reliance on vocals and rhythm with less attention to instrumental parts. The main and practically the only form of composition in pop music is the song. Pop music lyrics usually deal with personal feelings.

Styles:

- Pop pop;
- disco;
- light music;
- electro-pop;
- dance-pop;
- eurodance.
4. Chanson (fr.
chanson - "song") - genre vocal music; the word is used in two meanings:

2) French pop song in cabaret style (leans in Russian).

Styles:

- author's song;
- romance;
- thieves song;
- Russian chanson.
5. Metal, or metal (from English.
metal ) is a genre of rock music that emerged from hard rock in the early and mid-1970s. Metal - arose as a continuation Rock , is notable for its use of more difficult sound effects.

Styles:
- Heavy Metal;
- Trash (thrash) metal;
- Death Metal;
- Black Metal;
- Power Metal;
- Folk Metal;
- Viking Metal;
- Gore Metal;
- Doom Metal;
- Progressive Metal;
- Gothic Metal;
- Industrial Metal;
- Nu Metal;
- Grindcore;
- Glam Metal.
6. folk music(or folklore, English) folklore ) - musical and poetic creativity of the people. It is an integral part of folklore and at the same time included in historical process formation and development of religious and secular, professional and mass musical culture. At the conference of the International Council of Folk Music (early 1950s), folk music was defined as a product of musical tradition, formed in the process of oral transmission by three factors - continuity (continuity), variation (variability) and selectivity (selection of the environment).

Styles: no.

7. Spiritual music - music of a religious nature, intended for performance during prayers, services and in everyday life. Sacred music is usually written based on or influenced by religious texts (eg the Bible).

Styles:
- Jewish;
- Christian;
- Islamic.
8. Jazz (English: Jazz) is a form of musical art that arose in late XIX- the beginning of the 20th century in the USA as a result of the synthesis of African and European cultures and subsequently became widespread. Characteristics musical language Jazz initially began with improvisation, polyrhythm based on syncopated rhythms, and a unique set of techniques for performing rhythmic texture - swing. The further development of jazz occurred due to the development jazz musicians and composers of new rhythmic and harmonic models.

Styles:
- World Jazz;
- Jazz-Rap;
- Jazz-rock;
- Latin Jazz;
- Electro-jazz;
- Electro-jazz;
- Jazz;
- Cool Jazz.
9. Indian classical music is one of the oldest comprehensive musical traditions in the world. Its origins are traditionally associated with the Vedas, primarily with the Sama Veda (2 thousand BC), which dwells on music in more detail than other Vedas (explaining how to perform the hymns of the Rig Veda) and firmly connects the origins of music with the religious and magical practice of Hinduism.

Styles:
- Hindustani music;
- Dhrupad (XIV-XVI centuries);
- Khaiyal (XVII-XVIII centuries);
- Dadra;
- Tappa;
- Ghazal;
- Tarana;
- Karnataka.
10. Arabic classical music is also one of the oldest complex musical traditions in the world. Its origins are traditionally associated with the Koran.

Styles:
- Nuba;
- Kaul;
- Ghazal;
- Tarana;
- Furudasht;
- Mustazad.
11. European classical music is music of the past that has stood the test of time and has an audience in modern society. Already today, not only the peaks of high musical art are perceived as classical, but also best samples entertainment genres of the past: for example, the peaks of French, Viennese and Hungarian operetta of the 19th - early 20th centuries, waltzes of Johann Strauss, etc. Music second half of the XVIII centuries - early XIX century. (this period is traditionally correlated with classicism). The concept of classicism is not very broadly applicable to music, so in the persistent characterization of Haydn, Mozart and Beethoven as Viennese classics There is also a considerable amount of qualitative assessment of their work as a foundation for the further development of musical composition.

Styles:
- Middle Ages;
- Revival;
- Baroque;
- Romanticism;
- Classicism;
- Modern;
- Electronic European classical music.
12. Incendiary Latin, or Latin American music. Traditionally, this definition refers to a musical style that, before becoming world famous, was a mixture of Spanish, African and Indian motifs. This musical tradition, of course, comes from Latin America. It was the settlers from this part of the continent who made this musical movement world famous.

Styles:
- Rumba;
- Merengue;
- Samba;
- Tango;
- Dream;
- Mambo;
- Cha-cha-cha;
- Pachanga;
- Bossa Nova;
- Salsa;
- Zouk;
- Bachata;
- Lambada.
13. Blues (English blues from blue devils) is a genre of music that became widespread in the 20s of the 20th century. It is one of the achievements of African-American culture. Made up of such ethnic musical styles African-American society as “work song”, “spirituals” and cholera.

Styles:
- Country blues;
- Harp blues;
- Texas blues;
- Electro blues;
- West Side Blues;
- West Coast blues;
- Delta blues;
- Chicago blues;
- British blues;
- Rhythm and blues.
14. Country (eng. Country from country music - rural music) is the most widespread type of North American folk music, in popularity in the United States it is not inferior to pop music.

Styles:
- Western swing;
- Bluegrass;
- Hillbilly;
- Country-n-western;
- Cajun;
- Tejana;
- Honky-tonk;
- Alt-country.
15. Electronic music (from the English Electronic music, colloquially also “electronics”) is a broad musical genre that refers to music created using electronic musical instruments. Although the first electronic instruments appeared at the beginning of the 20th century, electronic music as a genre developed in the second half of the 20th century and beginning of XXI century includes dozens of varieties.

Styles:
- House;
- Techno;
- Jungle.
16. Ska (English: Ska) is a musical style that appeared in Jamaica in the late 1950s. The emergence of the style is connected [source not specified 75 days] with the advent of sound systems, which made it possible to dance right on the street.

Styles:
- Ska-jazz;
- Ska-punk;
- Ska-kor;
- Mento;
-Calypso;
- Reggae;
- Rocksteady;
- 2 Tone.
So, for many people, music is quite important! We often listen to music to add or change emotions. Or just for fun) For me, it’s like an amplifier of my emotions, because I don’t seem to really feel without music. But it often happens that music changes us... for example, hard rock or metal makes us more cruel if we listen to it very often! Or other jazz or similar light music, if you listen to it very often, you can become lazy or indifferent to many things. Naturally, there are also positive aspects that influence our worldview and character itself. For example, with rock you begin to understand more the cruelty of this world, and with blues or jazz you can relax and simply relax from everything. Every lover of his own style will, of course, defend his style and say that it is the best, etc. Nowadays there is a lot of controversy over such things!... For example, I adore rock and metal, but I don’t condemn other genres of music at all, because they also deserve coexistence and are also good in their own way. It is clear that we are all different and we have different tastes!... But when we begin to openly and brazenly show our dissatisfaction with other genres and disgrace them, this is already madness... Everyone has their own favorite groups, for example, some of my favorite groups are Aria and Lumen... I like Aria because of its kind of style, because of the wonderful slow songs and excellent music, like every group there are songs that I would not like. And what I liked about Lumen was their openness, the fact that they so openly fight injustice, both in the state and in everyone’s personal life!... They have great music, and almost all the songs have a great meaning... They have there are many songs that everyone should think about!!!... That's why I love the music I listen to so much... And often I noticed that people like to listen to foreign groups, although I don't know the translation at all!!! And they start singing along to them all the time, without even realizing that perhaps they are saying a prayer to Satan or some kind of curse, there are quite a lot of groups like this! so try to find out at least what your favorite band sings about and be careful with your choice) Love your music and don’t insult others, even if you sincerely don’t like it!...