List of music genres and styles
This is a list of music genres and styles. Music can be described in terms of many genres and styles. Classifications are often arbitrary, and may be disputed and closely related forms often overlap. Larger genres and styles comprise more specific sub-categories.
Art (classical)[edit]
- Andalusian classical music
- Indian classical music
- Korean court music
- Persian classical music
- Western classical music
- Early music
- Medieval music (500–1400)
- Ars antiqua (1170–1310)
- Ars nova (1310–1377)
- Ars subtilior (1360–1420)
- Renaissance music (1400–1600)
- Baroque music (1600–1750)
- Galant music (1720–1770)
- Classical period (1750–1820)
- Romantic music (1780–1910)
- Medieval music (500–1400)
- 20th and 21st-centuries classical music (1901–present):
- Modernism (1890–1930)
- Impressionism (1875 or 1890–1925)
- Neoclassicism (1920–1950)
- High modernism (1930–present)
- Postmodern music (1930–present)
- Experimental music (1950–present)
- Contemporary classical music (1945 or 1975–present)
- Minimal music
- Early music
Avant-garde and experimental[edit]
- Danger music
- Electroacoustic
- Lo-fi
- Musique concrète
- Noise
- Outsider music
- Industrial music
- Progressive music
Popular[edit]
Blues[edit]
- African blues
- Blues rock
- Blues shouter
- British blues
- Canadian blues
- Chicago blues
- Classic female blues
- Contemporary R&B
- Country blues
- Delta blues
- Detroit blues
- Electric blues
- Gospel blues
- Hill country blues
- Hokum blues
- Jump blues
- Kansas City blues
- Louisiana blues
- Memphis blues
- New Orleans blues
- Piedmont blues
- Punk blues
- Rhythm and blues
- Soul blues
- St. Louis blues
- Swamp blues
- Texas blues
- West Coast blues
Country[edit]
- Alternative country
- Americana
- Australian country
- Bakersfield sound
- Bluegrass
- Country blues
- Country pop
- Country rap
- Country rock
- Cajun
- Christian country
- Close harmony
- Dansband
- Hokum
- Honky tonk
- Instrumental country
- Nashville sound
- Neotraditional country
- New Mexico music
- Outlaw country
- Progressive country
- Red dirt
- Rockabilly
- Sertanejo
- Tejano
- Texas country
- Traditional country music
- Truck-driving country
- Western (Cowboy)
- Western swing
- Zydeco
Easy listening[edit]
Electronic[edit]
- Ambient
- Bass music
- Breakbeat
- Chill-out
- Chopped and screwed
- Disco
- Disco edits
- Drum and bass
- Dub
- Electroacoustic music
- Electronic rock
- Electronica
- Ethnic electronica / regional EDM
- Asian underground
- African electronic dance music
- Budots
- Changa tuki
- Dancehall pop
- Funk carioca
- Merenhouse
- Nortec
- Rabòday
- Rara tech
- Russ music
- Shamstep
- Tribal guarachero
- Worldbeat
- Funk fusion genres
- Jungle
- Hardcore
- Hardstyle
- Hauntology
- Hip hop fusion genres
- House music
- Acid house
- Afro house
- Ambient house
- Balearic beat
- Ballroom
- Bass house
- Blog house
- Brazilian bass
- Chicago hard house
- Chicago house
- Deep house
- Disco house
- Diva house
- Electro house
- Electro swing
- Eurohouse
- French house
- Funky house
- Future house
- Garage house
- Ghetto house
- Hip house
- Italo house
- Jazz house
- Latin house
- Melodic house
- Microhouse
- Moombahcore
- Moombahton
- New Jersey sound
- Outsider house
- Progressive house
- Soulful house
- Tech house
- Tribal house
- Tropical house
- UK hard house
- Industrial / post-industrial
- Intelligent dance music (IDM)
- Neo soul
- Nightcore
- Noise music
- Plunderphonics
- Techno
- Tecno brega
- Trance music
- UK garage
- Video game music
Contemporary folk[edit]
Hip hop[edit]
- Alternative hip hop
- Boom bap
- Bounce
- British hip hop
- Chopped and screwed
- Chopper
- Cloud rap
- Comedy hip hop
- Crunk
- Country rap
- East Coast hip hop
- Emo rap
- Freestyle rap
- G-funk
- Hardcore hip hop
- Hip hop soul
- Hyphy
- Industrial hip hop
- Instrumental hip hop
- Jazz rap
- Latin hip hop
- Lofi hip hop
- Miami bass
- Mumble rap
- Nerdcore
- New jack swing
- Political hip hop
- Pop rap
- Progressive rap
- Punk rap
- Ragga hip hop
- Rap opera
- Rap rock
- Religious hip hop
- Snap
- Southern hip hop
- Trap
- Turntablism
- Underground hip hop
- West Coast hip hop
Jazz[edit]
- Acid jazz
- Afro-Cuban jazz
- Alt-jazz
- Avant-garde jazz
- Bebop
- Boogie-woogie
- Bossa nova
- Brazilian Jazz
- British dance band
- Cape jazz
- Chamber jazz
- Continental jazz
- Cool jazz
- Crossover jazz
- Dixieland
- Ethno jazz
- European free jazz
- Free funk
- Free improvisation
- Free jazz
- Gypsy jazz
- Hard bop
- Jazz blues
- Jazz-funk
- Jazz fusion
- Jazz rap
- Jazz rock
- Kansas City jazz
- Latin jazz
- Livetronica
- M-base
- Mainstream jazz
- Modal jazz
- Neo-bop jazz
- Neo-swing
- Novelty ragtime
- Nu jazz
- Orchestral jazz
- Post-bop
- Progressive jazz
- Punk jazz
- Ragtime
- Samba-jazz
- Shibuya-kei
- Ska jazz
- Smooth jazz
- Soul jazz
- Straight-ahead jazz
- Stride jazz
- Swing
- Trad jazz
- Third stream
- Vocal jazz
- West Coast jazz
Pop[edit]
- Adult album alternative
- Adult contemporary
- Ambient pop
- Arabic pop
- Art pop
- Baroque pop
- Bedroom pop
- Brill building
- Britpop
- Bubblegum pop
- C-pop
- Canción
- Canzone
- Chalga
- Chamber pop
- Chanson
- Christian pop
- Classic hits
- Classical crossover
- Country pop
- Cringe pop
- Dance-pop
- Disco polo
- Electropop
- Europop
- Fado
- Folk pop
- Hyperpop
- Indie pop
- Indian pop
- J-pop
- Jangle pop
- Jazz pop
- K-pop
- Latin ballad
- Latin pop
- New Romantic
- Oldies
- Operatic pop
- OPM
- Pop rap
- Pop rock
- Pop soul
- Progressive pop
- Psychedelic pop
- Rebetiko
- Schlager
- Sophisti-pop
- Space age pop
- Sunshine pop
- Swamp pop
- Synthpop
- Teen pop
- Traditional pop
- Turbo-folk
- Turkish pop
- Vispop
- Wonky pop
- Worldbeat
- Yé-yé
R&B and soul[edit]
Rock[edit]
- Afro rock
- Alternative rock
- Beat
- Blues rock
- British rhythm and blues
- Chamber pop
- Christian rock
- Classic rock
- Comedy rock
- Country rock
- Dark cabaret
- Electronic rock
- Experimental rock
- Folk rock
- Funk rock
- Garage rock
- Glam rock
- Hard rock
- Heartland rock
- Instrumental rock
- Jazz fusion
- Latin rock
- Mangue bit
- Metal
- Paisley Underground
- Desert rock
- Pop rock
- Progressive rock
- Psychedelic rock
- Pub rock (Australia)
- Pub rock (United Kingdom)
- Punk rock
- Rap rock
- Reggae rock
- Rock and roll
- Rock opera
- Roots rock
- Southern rock
- Stoner rock
- Swamp rock
- Sufi rock
- Surf rock
- Tropical rock
- Visual kei
- Wizard rock
- Worldbeat
- World fusion
Metal[edit]
- Alternative metal
- Avant-garde metal
- Black metal
- Christian metal
- Death metal
- Doom metal
- Drone metal
- Folk metal
- Glam metal
- Gothic metal
- Heavy metal
- Industrial metal
- Kawaii metal
- Latin metal
- Metalcore
- Metalstep
- Neoclassical metal
- Neue Deutsche Härte
- Nintendocore
- Pirate metal
- Post-metal
- Power metal
- Progressive metal
- Sludge metal
- Speed metal
- Symphonic metal
- Thrash metal
Punk[edit]
Regional[edit]
African[edit]
- African heavy metal
- African hip hop
- African popular music
- Afro house
- Afro pop
- Afrobeat
- Afrobeats
- Amapiano
- Apala
- Arabesque
- Benga
- Bikutsi
- Bongo flava
- Boomba
- Cape jazz
- Chaabi
- Chalga
- Chaoui music
- Chimurenga
- Congolese rumba
- Coupé-Décalé
- Fuji music
- Genge
- Gnawa
- Gqom
- Highlife
- Hiplife
- Igbo highlife
- Igbo rap
- Isicathamiya
- Jit
- Jùjú
- Kadongo Kamu
- Kizomba
- Kuduro
- Kwaito
- Kwela
- Makossa
- Maloya
- Ma'luf
- Marabi
- Marrabenta
- Mbalax
- Mbaqanga
- Mbube
- Morna
- Ndombolo
- Palm-wine
- Raï
- Sakara
- Sega
- Seggae
- Semba
- Shangaan electro
- Soukous
- Taarab
- Zamrock
- Zouglou
Asian[edit]
Chinese:
Hong Kong, China:
Taiwanese:
Japanese:
Korean:
South Asian
- Asian Underground
- Baila
- Baul
- Bhangra
- Bhawaiya
- Dohori
- Filmi
- Indian classical
- Indian jazz
- Indian pop
- Indian rock
- Kuthu
- Lavani
- Morlam
- Ragini
- Sufi rock
Southeast Asian
Malaysian:
Indonesian:
Thai:
Filipino:
Lao:
Vietnamese:
Middle Eastern[edit]
Caribbean and Caribbean-influenced[edit]
Latin[edit]
- Axé
- Brazilian rock
- Brega
- Choro
- Forró
- Frevo
- Funk carioca
- Lambada
- Zouk-Lambada
- Maracatu
- Música popular brasileira
- Música sertaneja
- Samba
Hispanic
Religious[edit]
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Traditional folk[edit]
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- Latin folk
Other[edit]
- Children's music
- Dance music
- Incidental music or music for stage and screen: music written for the score of a play, musicals, or other spheres, such as filmi, video game music, music hall songs and showtunes and others
- Ballroom dance music: pasodoble, cha cha cha and others
- Occasional music: military music, marches, national anthems and related compositions
- Regional and national music with no significant commercial impact abroad, except when it is a version of an international genre, such as: traditional music, oral traditions, sea shanties, work songs, nursery rhymes, Arabesque and indigenous music. In North America and Western Europe, regional and national genres that are not from the Western world are sometimes classified as world music.
- Yodeling
These categories are not exhaustive. A music platform, Gracenote, listed more than 2000 music genres (included by those created by ordinary music lovers, who are not involved within the music industry, these being said to be part of a 'folksonomy', i.e. a taxonomy created by non-experts). Most of these genres were created by music labels to target new audiences, however classification is useful to find music and distribute it.
See also[edit]
This list is split into four separate pages:
- List of styles of music: A–F
- List of styles of music: G–M
- List of styles of music: N–R
- List of styles of music: S–Z
References[edit]
Bibliography[edit]
- Borthwick, Stuart, & Moy, Ron (2004) Popular Music Genres: An Introduction. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press.
- Fabbri, Franco (1982) A Theory of Popular Music Genres: Two Applications. In Popular Music Perspectives, edited by David Horn and Philip Tagg, 52–81. Göteborg and Exeter: A. Wheaton & Co., Ltd.
- Frith, Simon (1996) Performing Rites: On the Value of Popular Music. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press.
- Holt, Fabian (2007) Genre in Popular Music. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
- Negus, Keith (1999) Music Genres and Corporate Cultures. London and New York: Routledge.