Musical Genres and Styles

Exercise One

• You are in charge of a CD department in a music store. You must decide whether the following selections go in--

•the Classical section•The Popular section•the International section

Official Music Industry Genres and Categories

• * African• * Blues• * Caribbean • * Children's • * Classical• * Country• * Electronic• * Folk/Traditional • * Jazz

• * Latin• * March• * Middle Eastern• * Military• * Musicals• * New Age • * Novelty• * R&B and Soul• * Rap and Hip-Hop• * Reggae• * Religious/Devotional

• * Rock/Pop• * Theme Music• * World Fusion

Pop Categories

• * Country

• * Alternative• * Christian• * Classic Rock• * Disco• * Doo Wop• * Gothic• * Indie • * Industrial

• * Lounge• * Metal• * New Wave/Synthpop• * Oldies• * Progressive• * Punk and Hardcore• * Rockabilly• * Ska • * Surf Rock

How do we decide which category to use?

•Intention or Use

1. “Entertainment” (read “money making”)•All categories of Pop music

•Musicals

•Movie sound tracks

2. Listening/Performing•Classical

•Jazz

•Fusion

•Opera

•Musicals

3. Inspiration/Therapy/Motivation•Religious•Marches/Disco•New Age

4. Storytelling•Folk music•Children’s songs

5. Artistic expression•Any music that mainly serves that

purpose

–Composed music

–Outsider music

–Fringe music

How do we decide…?

•Instrumentation– Orchestra/Band/Choir

– Combos

– Folk Instruments

– Electronic

How do we decide…?

•Rhythm/ Style– 2 beat, 4 beat

– 3 beat

– Swing vs. straight

– Volume

– Harmony-- simple vs. complex

How do we decide…?

•How music was created

Oral Tradition

•Written “by ear”

•Passed on “by ear”

•No rules except custom

“Paper” Tradition

•Written down as composed

•Passed on through written music

•Written according to rules but often experimental

A few examples

• Oral Tradition– Folk music, Rock, Blues, Rap (some),

Country, Alternative, “Pop” (some), Children’s songs, Gospel (some), New Age

• Written Tradition– Classical, Jazz, Movie scores, Opera,

Video Games, Musicals, Muzak, some Rock, Pop, Rap, and Gospel.

International Music

• Most International Music is Oral

• But there are many exceptions

• And, often IM uses many of the same conventions as Western music

• Intention is usually the most important aspect of IM--e.g., work songs; music for rituals, celebration, and storytelling; a very small percentage is for “entertainment.”

A Final Word

• These categories are not hard and fast. Some music falls into several categories and some can even change categories over time.

• There are two other categories that we also need to think about-- professional and amateur. But more on that later.