Popular music: Encyclopedia II - Popular music - Genres

Popular music - Genres

Popular music dates at least as far back as the mid 19th century. Below is a list of genres.

Different genres often appeal to different age groups. These often, but not always, are the people who were young when the music was new. Thus, for instance, Big band music continues to have a following, but it is probably a rather older group, on average, than the audience for rap. For a few of the genres listed below (for instance, Ragtime), the original target generation may have died out almost entirely.

This "generation gap" in the consumption of popular music is particularly marked since the second world war and the increased economic and social independence of younger people. Music hall and other forms before the 1940s are not so clearly marked by generation.

• Acid house
• Alternative rock
  • Goth rock
  • Grunge
  • Indie rock
• Arabesque music
• Big band
• Blues
• Blues rock
• Chinese rock
• Contemporary Christian
• Country music
  • Bluegrass
• Dancehall
• Desert rock
• Disco
• Easy listening
• Electro
• Electronic music
• Elevator music
• Emo
• Enka
• Folk, specifically in its popularized forms, as opposed to performed by traditional folk musicians
• Funk
• Gospel
• Hard rock
• Heavy metal
• Hip hop
• House music
• Industrial rock
• Jazz
  • Smooth jazz
  • Swing
• J-pop
• J-rock
• Music hall
• New Age
• New Wave
• Pop music
  • Bubblegum pop
  • Cantopop
  • Turkish pop music
  • Traditional pop music
• Pop standards
• Progressive rock
• Psychedelic music (was popular circa 1967)
  • Acid rock
• Punk rock
• Ragtime
• Reggae
• Rock and roll (rock)
• Rhythm and blues
• Rhythmic
• Southern rock
• Soul music
• Tin Pan Alley music
• Trance music
• World music

Show Tunes are generally considered to be in between popular and unpopular music. Examples being that "Memory" (Cats) is a very acceptable song, while only select groups of people enjoy listening to "One" (A Chorus Line) , "Jellicle Songs for Jellicle Cats" (Cats), "The Dream" (Fiddler on the Roof), "We'd Like to Thank You, Herbert Hoover" (Annie), "Over the Moon" (RENT), etc.

Popular music - Genres that are not popular music

Musical genres usually considered not to be popular music include:

• Most classical music, including opera
• Children's songs (including nursery rhymes and jumprope songs)
• Folk music, as created by traditional performers
• Gregorian chant, hymns, and many other forms of religious music
• Military music
• National anthems and other patriotic music
• Sea shanties and other work songs

As noted earlier, these have a distinct character from popular music: either they are transmitted by word of mouth rather than in organized fashion (children's songs, authentic folk music) or else they are produced to fill the needs of a particular social institution (church, aristocracy, the military, or the state).

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Genres", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki