Different Types of Music Genres

Music means very different things for different people, and this is highlighted by the large number of different types of music genres that circulate in mainstream and underground circles. Most genres have evolved over the years due to several cultural influences, and this is why every region has its own specific brand of music. Right from the Latino music that exists in Mexico, to the Goan trance circle in Southern India.

For a person who has just started exploring the vast reaches of music, it can get very confusing at times, since each genre has several sub-genres as well. To accurately depict the thousands of genres that exist all around the world is a fairly impossible task, so we have learned to divide music into smaller generalizations.

Each genre has its own favored instruments, a certain style of vocals, and a definite pattern behind the beats and the scales in songs. An experienced music lover will be able to ascertain different music genres simply by listening to a song, but from time to time, something new will always surface.

Different Types of Music Genres

Rock and Alternative Rock
Rock music started hitting the streets in the 1960s, and it evolved as a subset of rock and roll, rhythm and blues, classical music and folk music that had been around since the 1940s. The primary focus in rock music is on the electric guitar, and the many solos that can be created with it. The bass guitar and drums are also highly in focus here, and for some time, even synthesizers were the rage. Today, we relate any music that is slightly 'heavy' with rock music, and this has also led to the combination of rock music with various other genres.

This has led to the birth of folk rock, classical rock, punk rock, blues rock, jazz rock, soft rock, heavy metal, hard rock, grunge rock, progressive rock and most recently, alternative music. Rock music is something that is omnipresent in all cultural references today, and it is no secret that we associate rock musicians with a rebellious lifestyle, incessant substance abuse, tremendous fan bases all around the world, and an ever present attribute of self destruction.

Country Music and Folk Music
Out of the different types of music genres that exist, country music is certainly one of the oldest. It originated in the 1920s in Southern parts of the United States, and it has slowly spread to all parts of the world. Country music, also known as Western music, was the genre of choice of Elvis Presley and this was the genre of music he specialized in, though he slowly embraced the more popular rock and roll genre as well. The defining characteristic of country music is an acoustic guitar, with just the vocals of the singer to accompany it.

Folk music, on the other hand, has always been known as the music of the lower classes. This has lost significance today, but in the 19th century this had more relevance, due to the large disparity in the standard of living of various classes. Folk music also revolves around simple acoustic guitar rhythms, and it is characterized by its socially evoking lyrics.

Trance
To define trance in a short space is virtually impossible, and it should suffice to say that it is a form of electronic dance music. One associates trance with fast beats, repetitive loops of mesmerizing sound, and a blatantly obvious dropping and speeding up of the tempo of the song. This genre evolved mostly in the 1990s, and today there are several sub-genres of it as well.

You have your house trance, psychedelic trance, ambient trance, German trance, Goan trance, dream trance, acid trance, progressive trance and neo trance amongst many others. The association of trance music is generally made with underground rave parties, though most of this music is now also spreading to mainstream culture.

Hip Hop Music and Rap Music
A relatively new entry into the different types of music genres is hip hop music. The primary focus here is on beatboxing and DJ scratching. Rap music is another subset of this genre, and it revolves around the artist rapping to a fixed beat. Though this genre evolved in the ghettos of the United States, today it has spread to mainstream culture all around the world, and has become a multi million dollar industry. This genre of hip hop songs started involving more and more people during the 1970s.

Pop Music
Though popular music is not to everyone's taste, the fact is that it is perhaps the largest selling genre today. It signifies any music that is commercially produced, with the sole intention of selling more records and reaching as many people as it can. It is also widely assumed that pop music is targeted at teenagers and the youth in particular. Though many people associate pop music with the genre of rock, this is an inaccurate assessment. The use of various electronic devices is also widespread in this genre, but this is a very different genre, vis-a-vis trance, which also heavily utilizes electronic sounds.

Jazz
This is a genre that evolved in the early 20th century. The early artists were all African Americans. It has also led to the birth of many different types of music genres in its time, but jazz music is primarily associated with the use of blues music notes, the saxophone and the massive double bass guitar instrument. The boundaries and the scope of jazz is something that has led to various debates in the music community, and the fact is that no one has yet settled for an accurate description of this genre.

Apart from these popularly heard genres, here are some more types of music genres that you will come across from time to time.

• Latin music
• Classical music
• Instrumental music
• Opera music
• Reggae music
• Religious music
• Sufi music

As mentioned before, it is not possible to list out all the existing different types of music genres that exist in the world today. Each genre inadvertently leads to the birth of many more sub-genres, and these affect people and culture in many different ways. A study of the timeline of the history of music will require years of research, and you will soon find that the economic and social circumstances of a particular era, heavily affect the nature of music that is popular at the time.