There are a great variety of musical genres and trends. If you start listing the genres of music, the list will simply be endless, since dozens of new musical movements appear on the borders of different styles from year to year. This is due to the development of music technologies, new developments in the field of sound production, sound production, but first of all - with people’s need for a unique sound, with a thirst for new emotions and sensations. Be that as it may, there are four broad musical movements that, in one way or another, gave rise to all other styles. There are also no clear boundaries between them, and yet the production of a musical product, the content of songs and the structure of arrangements are noticeably different. So what are the different genres of vocal music, at least the main ones?
Pop
Pop music is not only a movement, but also an entire mass culture. The song is the only form that is acceptable in the pop genre.
The key points in creating a pop composition are the presence of the most simple and memorable melody, construction according to the verse-chorus principle, and the rhythm and human voice are brought to the fore in the sound. The purpose for which pop music is created is purely entertainment. A pop performer cannot do without show ballet, stage performances and, of course, expensive video clips.
Pop music is a commercial product, so it constantly changes in sound depending on the style at the peak of popularity. For example, when jazz was in favor in the United States, performers like Frank Sinatra became popular. And in France, chanson has always been honored, so Mireille Mathieu and Patricia Kaas are unique French pop icons. When there was a wave of popularity of rock music, pop artists widely used guitar riffs in their compositions (Michael Jackson), then there was an era of mixing pop and disco (Madonna, Abba), pop and hip-hop (Beastie Boys), etc.
Modern world stars (Madonna, Britney Spears, Beyonce, Lady Gaga) have picked up the wave of rhythm and blues and are developing it in their work.
Rock
The lead in rock music is given to the electric guitar, and the highlight of the song is usually the expressive solo of the guitarist. The rhythm section is heavy, and the musical pattern is often complicated. Not only powerful vocals are welcome, but also mastery of the technique of splitting, screaming, growling and all kinds of roars.
Rock is a sphere of experimentation, expression of one's own thoughts, and sometimes revolutionary judgments. The subject matter of the texts is quite broad: the social, political and religious structure of society, personal problems and experiences. It is difficult to imagine a rock performer without his own band, since performances are only performed live.
The most common rock music genres - list and examples:
- rock and roll (Elvis Presley, The Beatles);
- instrumental rock (Joe Satriani, Frank Zappa);
- hard rock (Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple);
- glam rock (Aerosmith, Queen);
- punk rock (Sex Pistols, Green Day);
- metal (Iron Maiden, Korn, Deftones);
- (Nirvana, Red Hot Chili Peppers, 3 Doors Down), etc.
Jazz
When describing modern genres of music, the list would be worth starting with jazz, since it had a huge influence on the development of other genres, including pop and rock. Jazz is a music based on African motifs brought to the United States from West Africa by black slaves. Over the century of its existence, the direction has significantly transformed, but what remains unchanged is the passion for improvisation, free rhythm and widespread use. Jazz legends include: Ella Fitzgerald, Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington, etc.
Electronic
The 21st century is the era of electronics, and the electronic direction in music today occupies one of the leading positions. Here the bets are placed not on live instruments, but on electronic synthesizers and computer sound emulators.
Here are the most popular and in-demand electronic music genres, a list of which will give you a general idea:
- house (David Guetta, Benny Benassi);
- techno (Adam Beyer, Juan Atkins);
- dubstep (Skrillex, Skream);
- trance (Paul van Dyk, Armin van Buuren), etc.
Musicians are not interested in adhering to the boundaries of style, so the relationship between performers and styles is always quite arbitrary. Music genres, the list of which is not limited to the above-mentioned areas, have recently tended to lose their characteristic features: performers mix musical genres, in music there is always a place for amazing discoveries and unique finds, and the listener is interested in getting acquainted with the latest musical novelties every time.
Music has always existed since the advent of man. With the advent of all kinds of human tools.
Music accompanies us everywhere, everywhere in reality and even in our dreams. Music is born in everything that surrounds us. Even your own breathing can, when heard, be considered as melodies.
It is impossible to imagine any event without music. Music relaxes, lifts your spirits, and distracts you from sadness and boredom. Music gives new life, she cures diseases. Listening to music often turns into an art. Music unites and connects together.
Music is entertainment that is always at hand. You can listen to it everywhere, in the car, on the bus, on the train, on the street, at home, on TV, on the radio, even in the store, buying toys for children. You can just sit in one place and listen to the music playing in your ears. Modern technologies make it possible to listen to music while walking down the street or taking public transport to class, work or a meeting.
Music for some it is a way of life, life in general. They live and breathe music, go to bed and wake up with it. People of music, musicians are so different from ordinary people that you can immediately point your finger at such people and unmistakably say: “this is a musician.” Musicians are distinguished by their originality in appearance, behavior and views on everything. It is very interesting to communicate with them, but at the same time it is quite difficult to communicate, because they are not of this world. Like anyone creative person, the musician is very vulnerable, he cannot forgive the fact that someone does not think the same way as him.
A musician sees the world and others from different angles than an ordinary person. Musicians of different styles of music have very different views on the world around them. For example, a rocker sees the world in dark colors, and a pop singer sees the world in pink. It is common for hip-hop to see everything and everyone around in poor colors. And so on.
Music is so diverse that sometimes it is very difficult to give the right direction to a particular composition.
All people of all ages listen to and love music, but not all of it. Some people only listen to pop music and can’t stand all other genres. And people who listen to rock or rap cannot stand pop and chanson. And there are people who do not understand modern musical trends, and therefore listen to retro, folk songs or classical music.
So many people, so many musical preferences.
Only in the case when different people listen to different styles of music will they never be able to understand each other. It is impossible for a rocker to explain the meaning of pop songs and pop culture statements. Conversely, it is very difficult to explain to a fan of club music or pop music the screams and yells used in rock music, especially if it is hard rock. Here we are talking about different cultures. Like religion, different musical cultures have their own rules, regulations and norms that are not similar to each other. Representatives of different musical movements, and therefore cultures, cannot understand representatives of other movements, just like representatives of other religions.
So what directions (styles) of music exist? And what are their features?
There are quite a lot of types of music. They unite in large groups.
1. Direction: classical music.
Music from the past is world-famous works of musical art from talented authors from God. The cultural heritage of the world, the soothing sounds of which are recognized as masterpieces of the world and are alive even after tens and hundreds of years. The most prominent representatives: Bach, Schubert, Tchaikovsky, Schmidt and many others, whose names, when mentioned, everyone recognizes and respects for their musical talent. This direction does not need to be deciphered; everyone correctly knows and represents classical music. Therefore, we will not dwell on this direction for long.
2.Direction: pop music.
Popular music, music for everyone, a wide range of people.
Pop music has a dual meaning. In general, pop music is, in general, all modern music performed and listened to modern people. It includes all directions except folk and classical music. The second meaning is pop music as a separate musical direction, which is characterized by rhythmicity, melody and dance sound. The emphasis is on voice and lyrics, and then on instrumental performance. The verse+hi+verse principle is the basis of pop music songs. The meaning of the songs of this direction: love, love experiences, sadness, melancholy and cheerful mood. There is no deep meaning in these songs. The words and music are chosen so that you can dance until you drop. Dance and not think about anything. This music is very light, relaxed and charged with positive energy. Performers of this trend are bright, slightly depraved people, always in the spotlight, most often because of scandals, with the help of which they deserve wide attention. Pop music has many fans, largely due to the fact that it is heard everywhere: on the radio, on television and on the Internet. You can easily hear it on the bus, in the subway and anywhere there is a player. Pop music is played in discos. Although this type of music is filled with some positive emotions, it still does not carry a deep meaning. It is empty in content, just a bunch of words, especially in the modern world.
But it can be used for entertainment.
3. Direction: hip-hop music.
This direction includes several musical styles, the most famous of which are rap and R’n’B. As a subculture, it also includes breakdancing and graffiti.
If we look at the history of the emergence of the hip-hop movement, we can note that this movement was born from African Americans who, with their creativity, fought injustice against their race, and also talked about their way of life. That is, this is the direction of music from the slums and disadvantaged, poor African-American areas of America.
Over time, hip-hop improved and gradually began to acquire a wider audience, its dances, called breakdancing, with all sorts of unimaginable body movements, clearly revealing the meaning of “hip-hop” - progressive movements, mental leaps, growing movements. Plus, an art called “graffiti,” painting with aerosol cans on walls or other places, the meaning of such images is similar to the meaning of the hip-hop movement - the fight against injustice in the own treatment of the poor.
In general, hip-hop is associated with rap and rap representatives. These are young people (usually dark-skinned) in sportswear or wide trousers/jeans, in large sneakers, with short dreadlocks on their heads or in baseball caps with a straight visor, as well as with massive jewelry on their necks and fingers, rapping with deep lyrics of protest, ridiculing rich, and also talking about the injustices of their lives.
Having evolved, this direction acquired even more improvements, adding a young and more entertaining direction like R’n’B. A hip-hop dance style that also tells about the life of poor areas, but not in a sad way.
In general, a musical direction such as hip-hop, being just a musical direction, has already become an entire culture, a very profitable, commercially successful industry and even a way of life.
4. Direction: rock music.
Perhaps the most extensive and diverse direction of music. From light to very heavy. Sometimes from the impossible sounding to the melodic.
This direction of music got its appearance from such a direction of music as the blues. If we turn to the history of rock, we can clearly trace its development from the lightest melodic directions that are not at all characteristic of the modern understanding of rock music. The first performers of rock music are very different from modern rockers. It would be difficult to call them rockers at all if they were rock performers now. Rock music appeared as a movement in the 60s of the 20th century, then there were no heavy drums, heavy riffs and screams, there was no twitching on stage and long hair among musicians. There was no destruction of instruments during performances. This began to appear later. The songs contained the meaning of love between two people, and later love for everything. Also, the meaning of the songs of that rock could have abstract themes. In general, rock music as a direction of music did not stand out particularly, as it does now. After all, now rock music and its participants are representatives of a separate subculture. Cultures of confrontation against everything familiar, imposing standard thinking and attitudes towards the world and its individual parts. Subgroups such as hippies, goths, emo and others are representatives of this direction of music, only of its individual subdirections. After all, rock music has an endless number of directions. Starting from the lightest, such as pop rock or blues rock, and ending, for example, with hard rock, metal and gothic rock music.
Representatives of rock music have their own peculiarity that distinguishes it from all other directions. Namely. Mandatory presence of an ensemble (group of musicians) led by a soloist (vocalist, frontman), one, two or three (but more often two) guitarists, a drummer, plus a keyboard player, but not required. Performing songs written with one’s own hand and nothing more. Mandatory live performances in public, most often in the form of noisy, emotional and vibrant ones. Guitar riffs, the roar of the crowd, the hoarse voice of the vocalist - this is the description of a classic rock ensemble. The main emphasis in rock music is on the performance of instruments, namely guitars and drums, and then the sound of the voice.
The meaning of rock music songs very often ranges from mournful, sometimes tragic to philosophical, with deep meaning, from hooligan, meaningless to morally difficult, with reflections on life and death (usually the latter).
A rock musician always wears loose clothes, from hooligan clothes: sneakers, jeans, T-shirt, baseball cap, to completely black, with metal decorations, decorations of skulls, crosses and the like. It also happens that musicians are fully or partially dressed in leather. It all depends on the direction of rock in which the musician works. Musicians of this genre are almost always tattooed or pierced.
It’s not for nothing that rock music is a whole culture, because it is rock music that has the largest audience, young people and some older people. It is here that a person can disconnect from all the usual stereotypes, from the boring rules of life. He simply resists all this and lives his life of complete freedom. And no one will say anything against him, they will only praise him.
However, this trend also has its worst enemies, who hate everything connected with the rock image. This is the so-called “pop”. For many years, pop music and rock music have been at odds with each other and can't stand each other.
Every year there are more and more types of rock music. Every new direction can be difficult to attribute to one person, which is why there is a colossally huge number of musicians on the rock scene, and it is not going to decrease.
Anyone who has an ear for music, knows how to play the guitar and thinks differently, and can also write poetry and set it to music can become a rock musician. This is what attracts more and more young people to rock music and life in the rock style.
There is one more feature of this direction. Rock music can be ideally combined with any other direction, and then in combination it will still belong to the rock direction of music.
Hence the great diversity of this unique and very popular musical direction.
5. Direction: electronic music.
This music is a synthesis of sounds and melodies made on a synthesizer, computer and other electronic instruments, including an electronic guitar. Compositions created in this direction are born from the electronic world, often present only a separate melody, and if there is a verbal sound, then it is also made artificially. This type of music is aimed at the dance component of its listeners; more often than other types of music it is used at discos and various parties. A common expression for compositions in this direction are all kinds of remixes of famous songs. Electronic music is entirely created with the help of musical equipment and does not carry the live sound of any musical instruments familiar to everyone, nor the voices of performers.
This music is made for dancing and parties. As a rule, electronic music does not hold concerts, but music shows are a mandatory attribute and are very crowded and vibrant. In this form, as we are all accustomed to seeing, this direction of music has existed for a relatively short time. But the origins lie from the beginning of the 19th to the end of the 20th centuries. It was during these centuries that the phonautograph, disk phonograph, audion, and so on were invented. These inventions became the first electronic music devices. Of course, they can't compare with all of today's improvements in musical world, but it was these inventions that laid the foundation for a whole direction of music, without which the modern world cannot do.
6. Directions: Jazz and Blues.
The origins of these two directions have the same source - the emotional coloring of the African-American people, their customs and way of life. Both types of music are the result of labor chants and songs of African-American slaves working on plantations and engaged in heavy labor. The difference lies in the performance, the instruments used and the presence or absence of improvisation.
Jazz - its classical sound and existence is the presence of a jazz band (a musical group playing various musical instruments), exclusively focused on the sound of wind instruments, such as saxophone, trumpet, and so on, as well as piano, drums and guitars. The main distinguishing feature of this direction is improvisation. If you hear a light, even comic playing with the sound of a saxophone, you can immediately talk about jazz.
Blues is a direction of music very similar to the blues, but still has its own distinctive characteristics. This direction of music can boast that almost all types of music originated from it. First of all, this applies to jazz. It was the blues that became the parent of jazz, and it is for this reason that these two directions have similar features and sometimes quite difficult to distinguish compositions. The music of this direction can be described as a dialogue between instruments in a “question-answer” structure. The basis is the main one instrument, and all the others already play on it, turning into a single live sound, having an improvisational character. In general, if we look at the history of the emergence of this movement, we can say with confidence that the direction of this music represents the embodiment of the painful issue of African-American slaves and workers.
So,
6 directions were briefly covered modern music. Each of them has its own characteristics and stands out for its distinctive features. Each of them is similar in some ways, but it is precisely through their distinctive features that they are included in their definition.
In general, music in general is something that you can’t do without anywhere. Be it a party, wedding, birthday, anniversary, funeral or other events, music is a tool that not only brings people together, but also gives them strength, energy and life. That is why music, whatever it may be, is one of the unique inventions of mankind.
Music is constantly present in a person's life. Not a single special event is complete without it; with its help, people relax after working day. However, not everyone knows what kind of music there is - we just like it.
Not everyone knows about what types of music there are. Musical motifs can be varied - from melodic to hard, with a high pitch. The music we choose brings peace and lifts our spirits. Listening to tunes is like art. It unites and connects together.
When it comes to what types of music there are, it’s hard to even imagine how diverse it is. Therefore, every person on Earth can choose the melody that best characterizes him human soul and character. So, today we will consider in as much detail as possible what types of music there are.
Style classification
There are many areas that allow you to individually select your listening and performance repertoire. The styles of music are as follows.
Classical
Motifs from the last century, originating from talented composers: Bach, Schubert, Tchaikovsky, Schmidt. Classical are compositions that are based on deep meaning and content with perfection of form. Classics in the present period may refer to a work created in the distant past, but it can be present in modern compositions.
Pop style
The music is popular among young people, as it has a cheerful motive and a simple plot. Designed for special occasions where dancing is required.
Pop music is characterized by a moving rhythm; voice and text are emphasized in the overall composition. Often pop music is created on experiences of a love nature. Pop singers have many fans, thanks to whom they remain in demand on the stage for a long time.
Hip-hop
The style consists of different musical styles, it is based on rap and R’n’B. Most suitable for performing dance routines such as breakdancing and graffiti. This type of music is popular among teenagers who want to stand out among the crowd of their peers.
Rap was created by dark-skinned guys who preferred wide, low-waisted jeans and chunky sneakers. Such clothes allow you to move freely and create new dance improvisations. Rap is characterized by lyrics that reflect the life situation in the fight against injustice.
Rock music
This kind of style is characterized by high notes with complex lyrics. The main difference from other types of music is the clothing of the performers: sneakers, jeans, a T-shirt, a baseball cap (often black) with massive decorations in the form of a skull and crosses.
Rock musicians almost always have tattoos or piercings. To perform rock, the group must have a vocal vocalist and people who can play electronic instruments. The emphasis of the rock direction is on sound reproduction and the performer's voice. The meaning of the songs can be the most primitive or philosophically deep.
Electronic
The compositions are played on a special amplification instrument - a synthesizer. Electronic guitars are included as an addition. Music of this type conveys a synthesis of sounds that have different tones.
The style is intended for use at discos and parties. Electronic music is played using equipment; there is no live performance in it. Today, this direction serves to create remixes from famous compositions of past years.
Jazz
Performed on saxophone, trumpet and rarely on piano, drums, guitar. Jazz is designed for a narrow audience of fans.
Blues
The playback is based on one instrument, to which others are adjusted in order to generally produce a single sound of an improvisational nature.
Country
A musical direction that was taken from the North American people. This direction includes American folklore and cowboy epics of the Wild West. Playing country music is possible on guitar, banjo, violin.
Alternative
This musical type of performance is based on subcultures of different countries. Style includes hip-hop, hardcore.
Vocals
Performance by one soloist or a whole choir without musical accompaniment. It is also possible to sing with different types of instruments, from violin to guitar. Vocals mean chamber, opera, and choir performances.
Metal
Music played on percussion instruments that produce high-pitched sounds. It is often difficult to listen to.
Performers of this style wear characteristic clothes and have a special appearance that emphasizes the individuality of the chosen genre. Intended for a specific audience.
New age
The style combines electronic and ethnic music. Such melodies have a relaxing effect, they lift your spirits and charge you with positivity. In New Age performers turn to the theme of wildlife, national culture, and self-knowledge. However, this music cannot be called religious - it has nothing to do with religion.
Punk
The musical direction was founded in the early 70s, and had a name - social-musical protest. The punk direction is the basis for the formation of such styles as hardcore, thrash and grunge.
Romance
Melodic sounding compositions with an intricate plot. Performed to piano accompaniment or violin. Romance is classified by such genres as ballads, elegies, and barcarolles.
Russian bard song
The style consists of a combination of chamber works, including romance and chanson. The bard direction often has a single theme of criminal meaning.
Reggae
Afro-Caribbean style, sung by a deep baritone. The compositions are based on religious and philosophical teachings.
Folk
Combines folk poetic folklore with dance rhythms. Performed in a choir group. The meaning of this direction is to transfer the traditions of ancestors to modern people.
Chanson
In the modern world, it combines bard and thieves' songs.
Vanguard
A style of individual meaning that often involves experimenting with musical styles.
Author's song
A musical style in which the performer plays along with himself on the guitar. The compositions are also performed by original and amateur ones. This song does not require prior vocal training.
Instrumental
Compositions are created using musical instruments without a solo performance.
Trance
Music that produces a range of sound vibrations, ranging from soft sounds to more amplified tones. The goal of the trance music genre is to convey sound at the “150 bpm” mark.
Having considered what types of music formats there are, we can note that they are all somewhat similar, but according to their distinctive features they have different definitions.
This music is performed by a generation of musicians raised on jazz, funk and hip-hop, and uses elements of all three movements. Such features of Acid Jazz as heavy percussion, as well as predominantly live performance, place this style closer to jazz and Afro-Cuban music than to others. dance styles. On the other hand, the emphasized groove brings Acid Jazz closer to funk and hip-hop. The term itself first appeared in 1988, both as the name of an American record label and an English series of collections on which jazz and funk music of the 70s was re-released and which the British had previously called rare groove. In the late 80s and early 90s, many Acid Jazz performers appeared, who were both “live” teams - Stereo MC's, James Taylor Quartet, the Brand New Heavies, Groove Collective, Galliano, Jamiroquai, and studio projects - PALm Skin Productions, Mondo GroSSO, Outside, and United Future Organization.
For the most part, the Alternative genre is characterized by the same features that have always been characteristic of Heavy Metal (powerful, loud guitars and hammering riffs), but at the same time the alternative direction has enriched the genre with a punk concept. Instead of sticking strictly to the traditionally frivolous themes that dominated mainstream Heavy Metal, Alternative Metal bands tried to tackle deeper issues in their work, much like Metallica did, but without their recklessly fast tempo. intricate guitar solos and hoarse, roaring vocals.
Actually, in music, alternative metalists initially adhered to more atonal (inharmonious) melodies than traditional metal bands. However, after Nirvana's Great Breakthrough in the early '90s, when Grunge came to dominate hard rock, character traits Alternative Metal became more blurred: the genre began to stretch from the hammering, dissonant Helmet to the important, majestic riffs of Stone Temple Pilots... Soon, most of the new metal bands were perceived exclusively as alternative, although apart from concert performances and the characteristic fuzzy distortion sound, there was little that distinguished them from the traditional ones metalheads.
Ambient was created on the basis of experiments with the synthesis of electronic music, such musicians as Brian Eno and Kraftwerk and dance trance techno in the 80s of the 20th century. Ambient uses electronic reverberation and spatial sound technology, where the texture of the sound itself plays an important role, and not the writing of lyrics and music. The music changes slowly and has a repetitive nature, so it may seem the same to an inexperienced listener. Although the content and timbre of the compositions of ambient performers differ greatly from each other. The ambient style became popular, cult music in the early 90s, thanks to the ambient-techno musicians the Orb and Aphex Twin. Ambient literally means surrounding, enveloping, immersing. There is a legend about the origin of this style, according to which Ambient was invented by one of the greatest sound producers of the late 20th century, Brian Eno. Once in the hospital and lying bedridden for a long time, Eno began to listen to the sounds coming from the window of his room, looking for their inner melody in them. He then began recording environmental noises and composing entire tracks from them. Then he released all this in several discs under the general name Ambient. Of course, now we need to distinguish between original and electronic Ambient. Electronic ambient is soft, drawn-out music that does not have a pronounced beat. This is calm music, in which noise loops are used as the background, and the main melody plays unobtrusively and, as a rule, is very long. Ambient often uses fragments of phrases, pieces of sound from old films, high-tech sounds and, most importantly, a lot of reverberation and echo. Nowadays you can find very little ambient music in its pure form. Ambient elements are now present in almost all styles from house to hip-hop, so this style has flowed into all others and is not going to go back into oblivion, from which Eno pulled it out. The most famous Ambient musicians are Pete Namlook, Aphex Twin, Seefeel, The Future Sound of London, The Orb, Delerium.
Originating from the prolific dance scene in Miami (Freestyle) and Detroit (Electro) in the mid-'80s, Bass Music has brought the Funky-Breaks out of the 70's aesthetic into the digital age with high-frequency drum machines capable of driving such frantic, bass-heavy beats. , which most car or club acoustics of those times could not stand. The early Miami pioneers were 2 Live Crew and DJ Magic Mike - they pushed the style into a distinctive and obsessive crowd, while the Detroit pioneers were DJ Assault, DJ Godfather and DJ Bone who mixed all of the above with Techno to create an extremely fast, tempo, music. Bass Music even entered many dance charts in the early 90s. Teams like 95 South's and 69 Boyz's songs "Whoot (There It Is)" and "Tootsee Roll" not only hit the charts, but were certified multi-platinum.
Blues (English blues from blue devils - melancholy, despondency) is a single blues composition or genre of music that became widespread in the 20s of the 20th century. It is one of the achievements of African-American culture. It was formed from such ethnic musical movements of the black African-American society as “work song”, “spirituals” and cholera. In many ways he influenced modern popular music, especially such genres as “Pop” (English Popular music), “Jazz” (English Jazz), “Rock’n’roll” (English Rock’n’roll). The predominant form of blues is ¾, where the first 4 measures are often played on the tonic harmony, 2 each on the subdominant and tonic, and 2 each on the dominant and tonic. Characteristic feature blues are “blue notes”. Often music is built on a “question-answer” structure, expressed both in the lyrical content of the composition and in the musical content, often built on a dialogue between instruments. Blues is an improvisational form of the musical genre, where compositions often use only the main supporting “framework”, which is played by solo instruments. The original blues theme is built on the sensual social component of the life of the African-American population, its difficulties and obstacles that arise on the path of every black person.
Breaks Despite its “black” roots, by the early nineties House music had become very rhythmically simplified and lost the original energy of the black ghetto. It was then that Breaks appeared, which used the sound of hip-hop, reggae, and, less often, raga.
Breakbeat is a (“broken” beat) style, or to be more precise, a whole direction, formed in the early 90s, stylistically finally formed in 1994. The place of his birth is considered to be Great Britain, and the main cities where this style initially became most widespread are London and Bristol. The name of the style fully reflects its essence: no directness or tenderness. Often the term “breakbeat” refers to very specific aggressive music at a tempo of about 130-140 bpm, with a dense guitar sound, with clear drum accents on the 2nd and 4th beats and fussing around the 3rd. The main criterion for defining “breakbeat” is clean, practically unprocessed drums and percussion (except perhaps compression) and a standard 4/4 rhythm. The purposefulness of the sound is emphasized by tangible bass lines, using analog devices such as “Roland TB-303”. Sometimes, for final pathos, brass instruments or a symphony orchestra are used.
Chillout (from the English Chillout, Chill out music) is a style of electronic music, the name of which comes from an English slang word meaning “relaxation”.
Originating in the early 1990s, the chill-out movement of the time was relatively subdued and slow-paced. Several seminal albums with "Chill Out" in the title were released during this time. These albums were also closely associated with the styles of downtempo, trip-hop, slow versions of house music, nu-jazz, psybient and lounge. This musical style is also influenced by trance, ambient and creative dance music (IDM) styles. The term "chill-out" is primarily used to describe music that is tonal, "relaxing", or at least not as intense as its predecessors. It is incorrect to classify various kinds of hypnotic rhythms as a chill-out. Sometimes the name “soft techno” is used instead of chill-out.
Recently, chill-out has become popular among progressive trance and progressive house musicians, making their work more diverse. Therefore, sometimes this genre is called Ibiza Trance/Balearic House - after the island of Ibiza, just like Goa-trance after the name of Goa, India. This music reflects the atmosphere of the island of Ibiza, and as fans of the genre say, listening to this euphoric and spiritually uplifting music can vividly imagine a Mediterranean sunset. This effect is achieved through the use of synthesized sounds of string instruments, wave sounds, mandolins and guitars, as well as “whispered” vocals.
Chill-out is also called a separate dance floor at fairly large concerts (parties) in the style of Goa-trance and its derivatives, or generally a recreation area in dance clubs. The chill-out usually plays relaxing music of the above-mentioned styles; those dancing on the main dance floor come there to relax. The largest psy-events are also equipped with a special “dark” dance floor, where dark psytrance is played - a kind of opposite to chill-out.
Music (from ancient Greek μουσική - 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 and other relationships with the aim of embodying a special figurative thought that associates the states and processes of the external world, the internal experiences of a person with auditory impressions (artistic image).
Rock music is a general name for many types of music that have existed since the mid-1950s. The word “rock” - to 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 rock music, such as the use of electric musical instruments, creative self-sufficiency (rock musicians typically perform their own compositions) 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 are inextricably linked with certain genres of rock music.
Rock music has a large number of directions: from light genres such as dance rock and roll, pop rock, Britpop to brutal and aggressive genres - death metal and grind. The content of the songs varies from light and casual to dark, deep and philosophical. Rock music is often contrasted with pop music and so-called. “pop”, although there is no clear boundary between the concepts of “rock” and “pop”, and many musical phenomena balance on the line between them.
The origins of rock music lie in the blues, from which the first rock genres emerged - rock and roll and rockabilly. The first subgenres of rock music arose in close connection with folk and pop music of that time - primarily folk, country, skiffle, music hall. During its existence, there have been attempts to combine rock music with almost all possible types of music - with academic music (art rock, appears in the late 60s), jazz (jazz rock, appears in the late 60s - early 70s ), Latin music (Latin rock, appears in the late 60s), Indian music (raga rock, appears in the mid 60s). In the 60-70s, almost all the largest subgenres of rock music appeared, the largest of which, in addition to those listed, are hard rock, punk rock, and avant-garde rock. In the late 70s and early 80s, such genres of rock music as post-punk, new wave, alternative rock, wheat rock (although early representatives of this direction appeared in the late 60s), hardcore (a large subgenre punk rock), as well as brutal subgenres of metal - death metal, black metal. In the 90s, the genres of grunge (appeared in the mid-80s), Britpop (appeared in the mid-60s), and alternative metal (appeared in the late 80s) were widely developed.
The main centers of development of rock music are the USA and Western Europe (especially Great Britain). Most of the lyrics are in English. However, although, as a rule, with some delay, national rock music appeared in almost all countries. Russian-language rock music (so-called Russian rock) appeared in the USSR already in the 1960-1970s. and reached its peak in the 1980s, continuing to develop in the 1990s.
Club/Dance music includes many other styles from Disco to Hip-Hop. In history there are many different dances that are performed to various dance music, including Club/Dance. Club/Dance music became an independent style in the mid-70s, when Soul changed into Disco and entire clubs were dedicated to dancing. In 75-77, dance clubs played only Disco, but by the end of the decade, it changed and moved into other style forms. All these forms were collected under one term “Club/Dance”; Dance-Pop, Hip-Hop, House and Techno and many other styles fell under this comb. All together, these styles were and are connected by only one thing - rhythm - in every dance style, rhythm remains the most important condition.
Club House, this offshoot, came into being in the early 90s, when a wave of commercial music swept Europe. Just as in the 80s disco was called typical club music, in the 90s a movement was formed whose sole purpose was to make people dance. To put it simply, the basis remained house, but all dissonant melodic combinations were removed, the vocals became more “sweet,” and syncopations that were “difficult” for the average listener to perceive were also discarded. The result is simple and accessible music with a simple rhythm and simple arrangement. Some varieties of such music are also called handbag (the name comes from a kind of dance that little girls perform on the dance floor). The most interesting form of club house can be considered Mellow House, which uses pure relaxation beats and corresponding sounds.
Hip-Hop/Trip-Hop
In Rap music terminology, Hip-Hop is usually referred to as the culture - painting on the walls of houses, breakdancing and spinning vinyl in addition to rap rhymes - surrounding the music. As a musical style, however, Hip-Hop refers to the type of music that is created by taking all of these attributes into account. Since the direction has been spinning on the music scene for a long time to have a history of its development, Hip-Hop teams began to look back at the work of such old-school masters as MCs Kurtis Blow and Whodini, as well as DJs Grandmaster Flash and Afrika Bambaataa. In fact, the last surge in popularity (Zulu Nation) occurred in the late 80s around two of the most famous Hip-Hop artists - De La Soul and A Tribe Called Quest. In the 90s, when there was a real breakthrough in Rap music, dozens of Hip-Hop musicians began to return to the roots of the old school (“old school”), including such underground rappers as Mos Def and Pharoahe Monch.
At its core, Hip-Hop is a rhythmic accompaniment to rap lyrics, performed in a rather leisurely manner. It takes a minimalist approach to the use of samples, loops and typical turntable playing. The main load falls on the bass and the dense sound of the drums. Groups such as Public Enemy and others used Hip-Hop rhythms, adding rap lyrics of a social nature to them.
Another representative in a long line of trends that stuck to UK dance culture at the post-acid house stage and quickly changed the constantly experimenting underground. Trip-Hop was created by British music publications to characterize a new style, consisting of downtempo, jazz-, funk- and experimental breakbeat music, which began to appear in 1993. with the participation of such record labels as Mo'Wax, Ninja Tune, Cup of Tea and Wall of Sound. Similar (though mostly without vocals) to American hip-hop in its use of sampled drum breaks, the style was more experimental, inspired by more ambient elements and a psychotropic atmosphere. Thus, the term “trip” quickly took root and was used to describe everything from Portishead and Tricky to DJ Shadow and U.N.K.L.E., Coldcut, Wagon Christ and Depth Charge, much to the chagrin of many of these musicians, who saw their music as pushing the boundaries of conventional hip- hop, not its new offshoot used to create hype. One of the first commercially significant dance music hybrids, full-length trip-hop albums became regular toppers of the alternative charts in the UK, and are credited with the likes of Shadow, Tricky, Morcheeba, the Sneaker Pimps and Massive Attack. the style ensured the penetration of much of the music of the first wave of “electronica” into America.
D`n`B Intelligence
DRUM’N’BASS is one of the embodiments of the “breakbeat” concept. It was formed by the early 90s as a style that combines a bass line at a tempo of 80 bpm and an abundance of various drums at a tempo of 160 bpm. Nothing else. Due to the temperament of the drums, this style can be perceived as dance music, due to the slower (often with a reggae character) bass line it can be perceived as relaxing music. Gradually, beautiful, sometimes melancholic melodies began to be added to this style. In short, by the mid-90s, “Drum’n’bass” slowly but surely transformed into intelligent jungle.
INTELLIGENT – music with this characteristic is intended more for listening and relaxing time, rather than for use at parties, especially as a decoration for the dance floor. There are intelligent versions of “jungle” and “techno”. Compared to pure styles, their reasonable versions are more melodic, atmospheric, and you can trace a theme, often a very nice one.
Disco (English: Disco, lit. “disco”) is a genre of dance music that emerged in the early 1970s. Disco developed almost simultaneously in the United States and Europe. American disco is characterized by a sound close to funk and soul. European disco was closely intertwined with traditional pop music and general trends in pop music. One of the first disco hits in Europe was the song “J’attendrai” performed by Dalida (1975). In the USA, the first hits of the style are considered to be “Rock The Boat” by the Hughes Corporation (American hit No. 1 of the year), “Rock You Baby” by George McCray and “Love’s Theme” by Love Unlimited Orchestra (the theme from the film “Heat”), released in 1974. The general formula of a disco composition is as follows: a dance rhythm at a tempo of about 120 beats per minute and “live” melodies, often heavily orchestrated.
Downtempo (English downtempo - low tempo) or downbeat (downbeat) - a style in modern electronic music. Music is characterized by a slow rhythm, most often broken. Close to trip-hop, but less oppressive and depressive. It is close to ambient, but has a rhythmic structure, often consisting of loops that have a “hypnotic” effect. Characterized by a constant desire for innovation.
Easy Listening (Easy Listening) is not a special direction in music, but the attitude of listeners towards it. But in this article we will still call Easy Listening a certain style. Easy Listening – music that is easy to understand and does not require special understanding of the rhythm and melody. The history of this style begins in the 50s, when famous musician Henry Manchini wrote the soundtrack for the first episodes of the cartoon “The Pink Panther” and many films of the 50s and 60s. The press has since begun to show hysterical interest in this direction. The largest record companies literally flood Easy Listening musicians with offers to release their albums. In addition, various companies are also re-releasing classics in the Easy Listening style. Now we can hear this music in sound tracks for various films such as “From Dusk Till Dawn”, “Pulp Fiction”, “Four Rooms”, “Generation X”, “ Romeo + (and) Juliet”, etc.
Electroclash is a genre of popular music that incorporates elements new wave, punk and dance electronica. Electroclash musicians use: sound traditions of the 80s (synthesizers, often early analogues, drum machines), retro sounds, musical minimalism, combining this with visual images of the 70s-80s, vintage aesthetics of disco and punk. Prototypes of electroclash aesthetics can be seen in the cult film Liquid Sky. Suicide is considered one of the founders of electroclash. Electroclash gained popularity in the late 90s in New York and Detroit. The official birthplace is considered to be the Lux club in Williamsburg, where Larry T, the man who coined the word “electroclash” and owns the rights to it, hosted parties. The origins of the name lie in the intersection of influences experienced by a number of European and American groups working in this vein. The lyrics mostly borrow from punk themes, are often aggressive and focus more on emotion than technique.
electronic School of Music focused primarily on the study and application of sound synthesis capabilities, the creation of completely new, previously unheard, artificial timbres. Historically, the ground for the emergence of electronic music was prepared by the development of sonorous interpretation of sound in the works of composers of the first half of the twentieth century. Electronic music originated in Germany and first declared itself in 1951, when at the Summer Courses of Contemporary Music in Darmstadt, W. Mayer-Eppler demonstrated a sample of “electric sounds” editing. Largest representatives electronic school - Germans Herbert Eimert, Karlheinz Stockhausen, Hans Werner Henze, French Henri Pousseur, Pierre Boulez, Italians Bruno Maderna, Luciano Berio, Japanese Toshiro Mayuzumi and others.
Representatives of the electronic school operate with sound at the level of its primordial basis - that is, the overtone series. The achievements of the electronic school have greatly influenced pop, rock and modern dance music.
Folktronica or Electrofolk is a genre of music that includes various elements of folk music and electronics. The term folktronica, which now “brands” electronic music with elements of ambient, folk, jazz, classical and hip-hop, the creation of which uses mainly analogue synthesizers.
Funk (English funk) is one of the fundamental movements of African-American music. The term denotes a musical direction that, along with soul, makes up rhythm and blues, as well as a style of dancing to this music. The formation of funk began in the 60s in opposition to the growing commercialization of rhythm and blues. The founders of the style were James Brown and George Clinton. The name of the style comes from the word “funky,” which in jazz slang means “a bizarre, intricate manner of performance.”
Funk, first of all, is dance music, which determines its musical features: extreme syncopation of parts of all instruments (syncopated bass is called “funking”), pulsating rhythm, screaming vocals, repeated repetition of short melodic phrases. Larry Graham is often credited with inventing the slap bass drumming technique that became the hallmark of funk. Guitarists in funk bands play in a rhythmic style, often using a wah-wah sound effect. Dead or muted notes are used in riffs to enhance percussive elements. Jimi Hendrix was a pioneer of funk rock. A follower of funk in the new century was the synth-funk style.
In fact, Fusion (from English “fusion”, “fusion”) is a fusion of two or more musical styles (for example, English Art Rock, in which elements of classical music and rock arrangements of instrumental parts are “fused”). However, most bands classified as Fusion artists play a fusion of jazz and rock, pioneered by jazz trumpeter Miles Davis, who pioneered the use of electric instruments and rock rhythms in long jazz improvisations in the mid-'60s. Davis's numerous followers - John McLaughlin, Tony Williams, Billy Cobham, Chick Corea, Joseph Zawinul and Wayne Shorter - somewhat modified the "fusion" of jazz and rock, shifting the emphasis to rock, which ensured the style's success among youth audiences. Complex piano and guitar chords, virtuoso instrumental solos. In the late 70s, jazz saxophonist Ornette Coleman, known as a free jazz virtuoso, made Jazz-Rock Fusion more powerful, dynamic and called his version “harmonic Fusion”.
Pop (English Pop-music from Popular music) - a direction of modern music, a type of modern popular culture. This is not just popular music, but also based on pop rhythms traditional to the Western world. In various regions of the world it is based on Western pop rhythms, but with only isolated elements of regional varieties of local traditional music. Pop music can mimic different musical styles that are most popular in this moment, but the rhythmic basis changes little. Therefore, pop music has little influence on music of different genres and styles.
This style appeared in the mid-80s in Chicago. In the era of disco's undivided reign, this style was very pretentious and, of course, trendy in very narrow progressive circles. The house style was created exclusively for dancing and was created exclusively with the help of electronic musical instruments, drum machines and synthesizers. There are several versions of the origin of the name of this style. One of them says that House was named after the name of the Warehouse club, where local DJs first began mixing Kraftwerk music with direct beats made on a drum machine. House music has changed a lot since then, in the 90s it became the most relevant and fashionable, dozens of new styles were born based on house, and house compositions took their leading places in the charts. House is undoubtedly the main style of the 90s. You don't need to explain what house sounds like. House music is not very fast, about 130-140BPM, accompanied by an absolutely straight beat (a clap or snare is applied to every second kick drum hit), and a hat sounds on every sixteenth beat. That's all house. Modern house returned to its roots and began to use a lot of disco elements, so that towards the end of the nineties there was a real revival of this style. However, it became less solemn due to the fact that hip-hop has finally taken root in pop culture, and house now belongs to the style of the last century.
A complex term intended to describe 90s electronic music that can be used equally well on the dance floor or at home. Over time, the IDM (Intelligent Dance Music) style has largely gained negative notoriety among dance musicians and fans who were driven by the only question of whether they were playing mindless dance music or not. Originating in the late 1980s, the sound grew out of a combination of heavy dance coming primarily from raver parties and large-scale club events, plus downtempo. DJs such as Mixmaster Morris and Dr. Alex Paterson combined Chicago house, soft synth pop/new wave with ambient, encouraging the emergence of a new wave of musicians inspired by a wide variety of musical sources. (During these years, many DJs and musicians also protested against the growing chart-oriented orientation of British dance music, as exemplified by the new hits "Pump Up the Jam" from Technotronic and "Sesame's Treat" from Smart E's.) Sheffield's Warp Records worked with the best representatives of this genre, in fact, a productive collection from the Warp studio called Artificial Intelligence introduced listeners around the world to half a dozen of the central performers in this style: Aphex Twin, the Orb, Plastikman, Autechre, Black Dog Productions and B12. Other major record labels Rising High, GPR, R&S, Rephlex, Fat Cat, Astralwerks also made quality IDM releases, although by the mid-90s the majority of electronica music being recorded for listeners pushed the studios towards further experimentation and beat orientation. In the absence of a central, commercial scene, North America became the most fertile and hospitable ground for IDM, and by the late 90s, dozens of established studios opened their doors to work with musicians in this style, including Beat, Isophlux, Suction, Schematic and Cytrax. Despite frequent attempts to rename the style (Warp suggested the term “electronic listening music”, and Aphex Twin settled on “braindance”), the IDM style remained a viable way for fans to express their usually confused preferences.
“Independent” rock. Typically, the definition of “indie groups” (and, accordingly, “indie rock”) includes groups and performers who work outside the sphere of interests of large record companies and record at so-called “indie” or “independent” companies. Often the “independence” of these companies means a low budget, and even more often - the desire to play and promote music that interests a very limited circle of listeners, that is, commercially unpromising. The English and American music press tend to view indie rock as the art of snobs, although in some cases "indie" bands produce truly talented works for which the general public is ill-prepared. As a rule, the style of indie bands has nothing to do with their “independence” - these can be hard rock bands or psychedelic ones, the main thing that unites them is the desire for some kind of artistic integrity and a declaration of the “non-saleability of art.” Since the early 90s, the concepts of “indie” and “alternative rock” have become synonymous. Typical representatives: Nirvana, Jesus Lizard, Porno For Pyros, Sonic Youth, etc.
The culture, conceived and created as anti-music, did not last long. The music of noises has really begun to be perceived as music; it is easily sold and bought and “caresses” the ears of hundreds of people around the world. This certainly has something to do with the world of electronic music, if only because Kraftwerk themselves were at the origins of all this.
Industrial styles are distinguished into: Percussion Industrial, Improve Industrial, Industrial Noise, Musique Concrete, Electro Body Music, Aggro-industrial and Darkwave.
This dissonant, sharp sounding music emerged from experiments with electronics and sound recording by such bands of the mid-70s as Cabaret Voltaire and Throbbing Gristle (the name of the label of the second of them, Industrial Records, gave the name to the new style). This music was full of electronics, distortion and was too avant-garde for the rock of that period. Following these initial examples, Industrial Dance groups emerged in the mid-80s such as Ministry, Front 242, Nitzer Ebb, Skinny Puppy. Over the next decade, Industrial became heavy metal, with artists such as Nine Inch Nails, White Zombie, and Marilyn Manson gaining widespread popularity.
Jazz (English Jazz) is a form of musical art that arose at the beginning of the 20th century in the USA as a result of the synthesis of African and European cultures and subsequently became widespread. The characteristic features of the musical language of jazz initially were 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 of new rhythmic and harmonic models by jazz musicians and composers.
Latin (Spanish música latinoamericana) is a generalized name for the musical styles and genres of Latin American countries, as well as the music of people from these countries who live compactly on the territory of other states and form large Latin American communities (for example, in the USA). IN colloquial speech the abbreviated name “Latin music” (Spanish: música latina) is often used.
Latin American music, whose role in the everyday life of Latin America is very high, is a fusion of many musical cultures, but it is based on three components: Spanish (or Portuguese), African and Indian musical cultures. As a rule, Latin American songs are performed in Spanish or Portuguese, less often in French. Latin American artists living in the United States are usually bilingual and often use English lyrics.
Spanish and Portuguese music do not belong to Latin American music, being, however, closely connected with the latter by a large number of connections; Moreover, the influence of Spanish and Portuguese music on Latin American music is mutual.
Lo-Fi (eng. Lo-fi) is a direction in music, which is characterized by low quality sound recording. Many lo-fi bands record their music on cheap cassette recorders. This is a unique form of protest that is inherent in alternative rock. The lo-fi movement began quite a long time ago. All early rock 'n' roll records (Buddy Holly, The Beach Boys, Beatles), garage rock of the 1960s, albums by The Velvet Underground, punk rock of the late 1970s can be classified as lo-fi. However, as a distinct genre, lo-fi emerged in the alternative rock of the 1980s. Indie rockers of that time preferred to record on non-professional four-track tape recorders. Lo-fi only became widely known in the 1990s thanks to bands such as Beck, Sebadoh and Pavement. Today, many mp3 release groups of the scene use the term Lo-Fi, placing it in the ID3 tags of the music genre to indicate that a particular mp3 release belongs to the style of quiet, calm and beautiful music with a slow rhythm: chill out, lounge, downtempo, trip hop, acid jazz, etc.
Lounge (also lounge music) is a term in popular music to designate light, background music, which initially often sounded in the lobbies (hence the name - lounge - lounge, living room, salon) of hotels, shops, cafes , in elevators. In contrast to the more general term "light music", lounge music is characterized by more jazz influences, intimacy and improvisation. Although there is specially recorded music for such purposes, the term "lounge" covers a wide range of performers of various genres - from jazz, bossa nova to electronica. The general characteristic is light, soothing compositions. Literally, any musician who plays for the public in restaurants and shops can be considered a lounge performer. Lounge music is associated with parties with the obligatory martini. IN music industry The so-called music of bachelor's living rooms intersects with the lounge in the United States - another format distinguished by the presence of experimental-kitsch performers.
There is often an opinion that noise is almost the same as Dark Ambient and this is probably correct. Just like ambient, pure noise is characterized by the absence of clearly defined melody and rhythm, but is characterized by greater heaviness and darkness of sound and, as a rule, a very dirty sound. Noise is characterized by industrial noise and playing on random coincidences of sounds. Also distinguished are such directions as rhytm & noise (the term Power Electronics is also sometimes used), i.e. rhythmic noise (Master/Slave Relationship, Hunting Lodge, Esplendor Geometrico, P.A.L., Blackhouse, Allerseelen) and japanoise (Aube, Merzbow, Masonna), i.e. Japanese noise, the most radical form of noise, the compositions in which, as a rule, are monochromatic aggressive noises.
The history of Goan style is quite intricate. Several decades ago, this term was used to describe a style of music performed in the town of Goa in India. European musicians, inspired by Indian philosophy, culture and aesthetics, tried to express their feelings in music and named the style Goa. Gradually, the concept of Goa-Trance became somewhat blurred; many musicians, taking Goa-trance tracks made by followers of Indian culture as a standard, began to sculpt their own creations, without even an inch trying to delve into the roots of real Goa music. Goa trance began to be called music produced by just anyone. Gradually, the styles were nevertheless separated from all this pseudo-Goan music and a separate layer was identified called Psychedelic Trance. The origin of Psychedelic Trance is the British Isles, later this style spread to Germany, Holland, Denmark and the rest of Western Europe. What is Goa-Trans? This is a soft style. There's no hard beat here. The basis of Goa is melody and harmony. Psychedelic also includes intricate synth lines, transforming, sometimes sharp and bright, sounds associated with hi-tech/space style. Both styles do not have heavy bass, although there are additions of pulsating ultra-low bass. You can meditate to this music, you can dance, you can think. Goa/Psychedelic Trance is not a pure dance style, it is a complex compilation of different styles and concepts, from esotericism. Traditional Indian instruments such as the sitar and sador (or their electronic counterparts) were often used to create the music, combined with the strong, hypnotic synths that trance has always been famous for. This style is much less suitable for DJs and vinyl records than other electronic dance styles (DAT was often used instead of vinyl). Therefore, the Goa style until the end of the 90s had a relatively small number of DJs promoting it around the world. Record labels such as Dragonfly, Blue Room Released, Flying Rhino, Platipus and Paul Oakenfold's Perfecto Fluoro became important sources of new music. England's most popular DJ Oakenfold has finally given Goa trance the big following it has been missing for several years. He promoted this music on radio and in clubs throughout the country. In Britain (Return to the Source) Goa trance was also well received, the studio released three collections of the best trance music. Labels: Perfecto Fluoro, Tip Records, Symbiosis Records, Flying Rhino, Blue Room, Transient.
Rap (English rap, rapping) is a rhythmic recitative, usually read to music with a heavy beat. A rap artist is called a rapper, or more generally, an MC.
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 performers use rap. In rock music, it is found in genres such as rapcore, nu metal, alternative rock and alternative rap. Pop musicians and modern RnB performers also often use rap in their compositions.
The word “rap” comes from the English rap - knock, blow (a hint of the rhythm of rap). To rap also means to talk, to talk.
Later, erroneous backronym theories arose, according to which the word rap is supposedly an abbreviation. The transcripts were called “Rhythm and Poetry”, “Rhytmic African Poetry”, or “Radical American Poetry”, etc. Rap first appeared in the 1970s years among African Americans in the Bronx, where he was “exported” by visiting Jamaican DJs. Rap was initially done not for commercial purposes, but for pleasure, and at first it was done mainly by DJs. These were simple rhyming couplets addressed to the audience. Performing rhyming chants on the streets remains a tradition in black neighborhoods to this day. In addition, the so-called “battles” are verbal duels in which two rappers quarrel, maintaining rhyme and rhythm. Battles can be not only swearing, it can be the presentation of rhymed text on a certain topic.
The genre and culture of hip-hop, of which rap is a major part, reached its peak in popularity in the 1990s. Rap also had a serious influence on R'n'B music.
R&B – (Rhythm and blues), blues vocal and instrumental style of black music of the 1930s, which arose under the influence of swing. Subsequently commercialized. Considered one of the earliest forms of black rock music. Its commercial modifications, created by white musicians, include “rock and roll” and “twist”.
Reggae music was born in Jamaica in the early 60s, its origins and tributaries are numerous: Ska, Rock-Steady, calypso (music of Trinidad and Tobago), Zouk (music of the Antilles), Soul and, of course, Jazz. In the middle of this century, the Caribbean musical styles of Ska and calypso became fashionable among British colonists in Jamaica, spread throughout the New World and became popular among Europeans. Jamaica was experiencing tumultuous socio-political events at this time, and it was time for music to reflect the social context. Black Jamaicans needed a sound that would exclusively convey their mood and attitude to what was happening in their lives. New music came from the “unemployed street.” It was a slowed-down combination of Ska and Rock-Steady with an amplified bass line. The centers of communication for young people of both sexes was the “disco” - Dance hall or dances, and all sorts of “strains” in the crowded urban lumpen crowd constantly took place at the “dances”. Then, in one of Bob Marley’s first songs, the “rude boys” were asked to “cool down” - the songs acquired social meaning. The arrival of His Imperial Majesty Haile Selassie I to Jamaica in 1966 caused an extraordinary spiritual uplift among most Jamaicans. For Rastafarians this was an event of exceptional importance. His name and faith in the Lord are behind all the best in reggae. When soulful words were set to good dance music, anthems were born. Bob Marley, Peter Tosh and Bunny Wailer are revolutionaries with guitars, their call is the revolt of the spirit, through the awareness of His reality, and also through the intention to throw off the shackles of the slavish habit of following the ways of Babylon. Their global message to all the oppressed found a global response: “Get up! Rise up! Rise up for your rights!” It is clear that having received the opportunity to record and publish their own music, Africans turned to their tradition and discovered a sound there that is called “roots” and produced musical products under the general name “reggae”. It must be said that the Rastafari movement is developing independently of reggae, but many musicians praise the Almighty in their songs.
Tango (Spanish tango) - 1. Old Spanish folk dance. Doubles ballroom dance free composition, characterized by an energetic and clear rhythm. 2. Music for this dance. Initially developed and spread in Argentina and Uruguay, then it became popular all over the world. Tango was previously known as tango criollo, or simply tango. Today there are many tango dance styles, including Argentine tango, Uruguayan tango, ballroom tango (American and international style), Finnish tango and ancient tango. Argentine tango is often considered the "authentic" tango because it is closer to what was originally danced in Argentina and Uruguay.
The music and dance elements of tango are popular in activities related to dance, gymnastics, figure skating, synchronized swimming, etc.
Techno originates from electronic house music developed in Detroit in the mid-80s. Where house still has a clear connection to disco, even when that style was entirely mechanical, techno has always been strictly electronic music aimed specifically at a specific small audience. Early techno musicians and DJs Kevin Saunderson, Juan Atkins and Derrick May emphasized the electronic, synthesized beats of electro-funk artists such as Afrika Bambaataa and synth-rock artists such as Kraftwerk. In the US, techno was only an underground phenomenon, but in the UK it burst into the country's mainstream music scene in the late 80s. In the early 90s, techno began to split into many subgenres, including hardcore, ambient and jungle. In hardcore techno, the beats per minute of each song were increased to ridiculous and un-danceable levels in order to chill and alienate the masses of fans. In the case of the Ambient style, everything happened the other way around - there was a decrease in rhythm and the appearance of spatial electronic textures; it was used as relaxing music when ravers and club youth needed a break from acid house and hardcore techno. Jungle was almost as aggressive as hardcore, combining energetic techno beats with breakbeats and danceable reggae. All techno subgenres were originally intended for use in clubs, where they were mixed by DJs. As a result, most music was available on 12" singles or compilations by various artists, where the tracks were quite long, giving DJs a lot of material to mix. In the mid-90s, a new type of techno musician emerged, mainly ambient artists such as the Orb and Aphex Twin, but also heavier styles such as the Prodigy and Goldie, who began to create albums with compositions that did not contain raw material for DJ mixes. It is not surprising that these musicians, especially the Prodigy, became stars of world techno.
This style broke out in the early 90s, leaving German techno and hardcore behind. Trance is based on endless repetitions of short synthesizer samples throughout the entire track, while allowing minimal changes in the rhythm and frequency characteristics of the synthesizer to be able to differentiate the compositions. The effect of such music is that listeners are immersed in a state of trance, similar to a religious one. Despite the decline in interest in music in the mid-90s, trance returned again, but closer to the end of the century, displacing house style from the world music arena as the most popular style of alternative dance music. Thanks to the influence of acid house and Detroit techno, the development of trance coincided with the opening of the recording studios R&S Records (Ghent, Belgium) and Harthouse/Eye Q Records (Frankfurt, Germany). R&S defined the format with singles such as “Energy Flash” (Joey Beltram), “The Ravesignal” (CJ Bolland) and other tracks from Robert Leiner, Sun Electric and Aphex Twin. The Harthouse studio was opened in 1992 by Sven Vath together with Heinz Roth & Matthias Hoffman. She provided significant influence to the sound of trance itself, thanks to compositions from Hardfloor (“Hardtrance Acperience”) and own composition Vath (“L’Esperanza”), plus releases from the Arpeggiators, Spicelab and Barbarella teams. Musicians such as Sven Vath, Bolland, Leiner and many others began playing music in in full(unabridged), although it did not make any special changes in the field of world music. Despite a long period of formation and development, the trance style completely disappeared from the world stage, ending its influence on British musical culture in the late 90s, it was replaced by breakbeat dance (trip-hop and jungle). The classic German sound did make its changes, so the term “progressive” trance appeared, used to describe the influence from the soft forms of house and Euro dance. By 1998, most of the famous DJs such as Paul Oakenfold, Pete Tong, Tony De Vit, Danny Rampling, Sasha, Judge Jules were playing trance in the most prestigious British clubs. Even the US has (finally) taken notice of the style, led by excellent DJs including Christopher Lawrence and Kimball Collins.
Music is an integral part of most people's lives. Musical works are listened to in all corners of our planet, even in the most remote ones. Despite the enormous popularity and importance of this art direction, many people do not think about what types of art exist. styles and genres of music. This article examines the TOP 10 musical trends that have not lost their popularity to this day.
Due to the variety of different genres, many of you are wondering: What types of music are there? We tried to answer your question and organize the main styles of music into a separate list, which, according to experts, will always be popular despite many years.
1 Pop music
This style is modern direction of music. This genre is characterized by simplicity, interesting instrumental parts and a sense of rhythm, while the vocals are not the main focus. The main and almost the only form of musical composition is the song. “Pop” includes the characteristic features of Europop, Latin, synthpop, dance music, etc.
Music experts highlight the following features of pop music:
- conservative song construction scheme “verses + choruses”;
- simplicity and ease of perception of melodies;
- the main instrument is the human voice, accompaniment plays a secondary role;
- The rhythmic structure plays an important role: most of the compositions are written for dancing, so they are distinguished by a clear, unchanging beat;
- on average, the length of songs is from 3 to 5 minutes, which fully corresponds to the format of modern radio stations;
- lyrics are usually dedicated to personal emotions and experiences (love, sadness, joy, etc.);
- The visual presentation of works is of great importance.
2 Rock
As the name suggests (rock – “to pump”), this genre of music characterized by rhythmic sensations that are associated with a certain movement. Some features of rock compositions (electric musical instruments, creative self-sufficiency, etc.) are secondary, which is why many music styles mistakenly attributed to rock. Various subcultures are associated with this musical direction: punks, hippies, metalheads, emo, goths, etc.
Rock is divided into several directions or styles, ranging from “light” works of dance rock and roll, pop rock and Britpop, to brutal and aggressive death metal and grindcore. This genre is characterized by “musical expression,” in particular, increased dynamics (loudness) of performance (some compositions are performed at 120-155 dB).
Rock bands typically consist of a vocalist, a guitarist (who plays the electric guitar), a bass player, and a drummer (sometimes a keyboard player). The rhythm section consists of bass guitar, drums and rhythm guitar (not always).
3 Hip-hop
This music direction consists of several genres: from “light” styles (pop-rap) to aggressive ones (hardcore, horrorcore). The lyrics of the songs can also have different content - from light and casual (memories of childhood, youth, etc.) to complex social problems.
Hip-hop is based on styles such as funk, jazz, reggae, soul and rhythm and blues. Quite often, hip-hop is confused with rap, which is fundamentally wrong. RAP is a recitative performance of musical compositions, while hip-hop may have no recitative at all. In the USSR this music style appeared in the 1980s.
The following subgenres of hip-hop exist:
- old school: relatively simplified recitative, lines of equal duration, constant direction of rhythm and beats;
- new school: relatively short tracks, more soulful motives (in the direction of pop music);
- gangsta rap: songs about hard life, hooliganism, crime, etc.;
- political hip-hop: the lyrics call for anti-social activities, uniting society to resolve various internal and external threats;
- alternative hip-hop: this direction is based on the styles of funk, jazz, pop rock, soul, and the compositions are a combination of music with recitative;
- g-funk: this style combines g-funk melodies and deep funk basses (synthesizer filling, subtle flute sound and recitative), diluted with male or female backing vocals;
- horrorcore: this direction is distinguished by the greatest “rigidity” and brutality of tracks;
- southern hip-hop: this style has southern motifs from African and Latin American countries;
- Grime: characterized by the dark atmosphere of the track, booming bass and fast aggressive rapping.
4 RAP
RAP is a rhythmic recitative, which is usually read to the beat. The performers of such compositions are rappers or MCs. RAP is one of the main components of hip-hop. But this style is also used in other genres (drum and bass, pop music, rock, rapcore, nu metal, etc.).
The origin of the word “REP” is based on the English “rap” (beats, knocks) and “to rap” (speak).
RAP music is quite diverse. The compositions can be simple, but at the same time interesting and melodic. They are based on the beat - the rhythm of the songs. Often every beat there is a certain emphasis of clap (clap), snare (clear and short drum beat), percussion (whistles, chains, etc.) or bass drum.
Keyboards, wind instruments and computer sounds are usually used as musical instruments.
5 R&B
R&B (rhythm and blues) refers to song and dance genre of music. This style is based on blues and jazz trends of the first half of the twentieth century. A distinctive feature of the genre are dance motifs that encourage listeners to dance uncontrollably.
The R&B style is dominated by cheerful melodies that do not carry any special philosophical or thought themes.
Many music experts associate rhythm and blues with black people, since it is based on all “black” genres, with the exception of classical and religious motifs.
6
This musical direction arose at the end XIX century in USA. This style of music combines African and European cultures.
The distinctive features of this direction are improvisation, sophisticated rhythm (syncopated figures) and unique techniques of rhythmic textures.
Jazz also refers to dance music. The compositions are cheerful, giving vivacity and a good mood. But unlike R&B, jazz melodies are calmer.
7 Instrumental music
Compositions of this music styles are performed with the help of musical instruments, and the human voice does not take any part in this. IM can be solo, ensemble and orchestral.
Instrumental music is one of the best background styles. Melodies based on live instruments and modern hits are ideal for quiet radio stations, and listening to them brings harmony while working and relaxing.
8 folk music
Folk music, which belongs to musical folklore, is also a fairly popular style. The compositions represent the musical and poetic creative ideas of the people, which are passed on from generation to generation. Traditional melodies are usually created by the rural population. This music direction a significant contrast to popular and academic singing.
The texts are based on various motives, ranging from warm love relationship, ending with terrible and terrible military events.
9 Electro
Electronic music is a fairly broad genre, the melodies of which are created using electronic musical instruments and computer technology. This style has various directions, ranging from experimental academic songs to popular electronic dance tracks.
Electronic music combines sounds generated by electronic technologies and electromechanical musical instruments(telharmonium, Hammond organ, electric guitar, theremin and synthesizer).
10 Trance music
Trance is a type of electronic music, the characteristic features of which are artificial sound, emphasis on special attention harmonic parts and timbres, as well as a relatively fast tempo (from 120 to 150 beats per minute). Trance is usually used for various dance events.
If you start to continue this list, it will be endless since hundreds appear from year to year various styles and substyles. We also wanted to note that our list did not include such styles of music as:
- disco
- techno
- country
- lounge
- trance
We will be glad if you leave your comments and add to the presented list!