Music Genre Definitions

Alternative - A less intense version of rock and a more intense version of pop. Typically strays from the generic lyrics of pop. Lots of sub-categories, but the main two are alternative rock and alternative pop. Pretty much anything that doesn't fall into the distinct categories like rock, pop, jazz, classical, etc.

Americana - contemporary music that incorporates elements of various American roots music styles, including country, roots-rock, folk, bluegrass, R&B, and blues, resulting in a distinctive roots-oriented sound that lives in a world apart from the pure forms of the genres upon which it may draw. While acoustic instruments are often present and vital, Americana also often uses a full electric band.

Big Band - Big Band is a type of musical ensemble of jazz music that usually consists of ten or more musicians with four sections: saxophones, trumpets, trombones, and a rhythm section. Big bands originated during the early 1910s and dominated jazz in the early 1940s when swing was most popular.

Blues - Among the formal, identifying musical traits of the blues are the familiar “blue notes,” a three-line AAB verse form, and characteristic use of the familiar blues chord progression.

Children’s Music - Children's music is designed to educate and/or entertain children, hopefully at the same time. Most children's records are made for children that have yet to attend a school or are in pre-school. They are either filled with catchy, simple songs that are easy to sing along with. At its best, children's music is witty, engaging, and memorable, and it never condescends to children. Categories include Lullabies, Nursery Rhymes, Sing-Along, & Stories.

Classical Music - known for its highly sophisticated instrumental music, like the concerto, sonata, fugue, and symphony. Since the thirteenth century, however, classical music has had a standardized system of notation to increase the accuracy of its performance. It is characterized by its orchestration, harmony, rhythm, texture, form, phrasing, and development complexity. It features intricate solo instrumentals, as well as symphonic ensembles. Classical music comprises these distinct historical periods. The Early period includes the Medieval era (550-1400) and the Renaissance era (1400-1600). The Common Practice period contains the Baroque era (1600-1750), the Classical era (1750-1820), the Romantic era (1810-1910), and the Modern/Contemporary classical period contains the twentieth century from 1901-Present.

Comedy - Comedy music is music that is comic or humorous in nature, encompassing a wide variety of music genres. Popular types of comedy music include parody music, novelty songs, musical comedy, comedy rock, and comedy hip hop. It can include recordings of stand-up in addition to more traditional joke-telling methods. 

Country - a style and genre of largely string-accompanied American popular music having roots in the folk music of the Southeast and cowboy music of the West, usually vocalized, generally simple in form and harmony, and typified by romantic or melancholy ballads accompanied by acoustic or electric guitar, banjo, violin, and harmonica.

Dance Electronic - (Electronic Dance Music), also known as dance music, club music, or simply dance, is a broad range of percussive electronic music genres made largely for nightclubs, raves, and festivals.

Folk - a type of traditional and generally rural music that originally was passed down through families and other small social groups. Typically, folk music, like folk literature, lives in oral tradition; it is learned through hearing rather than reading.

Gospel - A kind of Christian music based on American folk music, typically marked by strong rhythms and elaborated refrains and incorporating elements of spirituals, blues, and jazz.

Heavy Metal - rock music that includes a group of related styles that are intense, virtuosic, and powerful. Driven by the aggressive sounds of the distorted electric guitar, heavy metal is arguably the most commercially successful genre of rock music.

Hip Hop/Rap:

HipHop - stylized rhythmic music originally created by DJs isolating the percussion breaks of popular songs, sometimes with two turntables to extend the breaks. ... Hip-Hop music commonly accompanies rapping, a rhythmic and rhyming speech that is chanted.

Rap - developed as part of hip hop culture, a subculture defined by four key stylistic elements: MCing/rapping, DJing/scratching with turntables, break dancing, and graffiti writing. Other elements include sampling beats or bass lines from records (or synthesized beats and sounds), and rhythmic beatboxing.

Holiday - Holiday Music is primarily confined to the Christmas season.  However, in the strictest sense, it is music typically heard in celebration of a given holiday event, and generally not heard again until that event.

Instrumental - Definitions of instrumental music. music produced by playing a musical instrument. type of: music. musical activity (singing or whistling etc.) music intended to be performed by a musical instrument or group of instruments.

Jazz - a broad style of music characterized by complex harmony, syncopated rhythms, and a heavy emphasis on improvisation. Black musicians in New Orleans, Louisiana developed the jazz style in the early twentieth century.

New Age - typically abstract and soothing, often incorporating natural sounds like wind, birds, or the sound of crashing ocean waves. Frequently, New Age music is intended to accompany meditation, massage therapy, or yoga. The atmosphere is generally emphasized over form or traditional notions of musicality.

Pop - Pop music is the genre of popular music that produces the most hits. ... Songs that become hits almost always share certain features that are sometimes called the pop-music formula. They have a good rhythm, a catchy melody, and are easy to remember and sing along to.

R&B/Soul:

R&B - Rhythm & Blues, is music that is rhythmic and has the soulful achings of the blues. In the '90s it was easier to distinguish if a piece of music was or wasn't R&B. However, defining the genre today has become somewhat of a challenge and it often is included with Soul.

Soul - Soul music is a popular music genre that originated in the African American community throughout the United States in the 1950s and early 1960s. It combines elements of African-American gospel music, rhythm & blues, and jazz.

Reggae - is based on ska, an earlier form of Jamaican popular music, and employs a heavy four-beat rhythm driven by drums, bass guitar, electric guitar, and the “scraper,” a corrugated stick that is rubbed by a plain stick.

Rock - Rock 'n' roll is a popular music genre that combines elements of rhythm and blues (R&B), jazz, and country music with the addition of electric instruments. Originally associated with youth revolt and transgression, the genre is known for energetic performances, catchy melodies, and often insightful lyrics.

Singer/Songwriter - a musician who writes, composes, and performs their own musical material, including lyrics and melodies. In the United States, the category is built on the folk-acoustic tradition, although this role has transmuted through different eras of popular music.

Ska - is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1950s and precursor to rocksteady and reggae. It combines elements of Caribbean mento and calypso with American jazz and rhythm and blues. Ska is characterized by a walking bass line accented with rhythms on the offbeat.

Spoken Word - Spoken word can encompass or contain elements of rap, hip-hop, storytelling, theater, and jazz, rock, blues, and folk music. Characterized by rhyme, repetition, improvisation, and wordplay, spoken word poems frequently refer to issues of social justice, politics, race, and community. Related to slam poetry, the spoken word may draw on music, sound, dance, or other kinds of performance to connect with audiences.

Vocal - Vocal music, any of the genres for solo voice and voices in combination, with or without instrumental accompaniment. It includes monophonic music (having a single line of melody) and polyphonic music (consisting of more than one simultaneous melody).

World - music that combines Western popular music styles with one of many genres of non-Western music that are also described as folk music or ethnic music.