If there’s one thing that can unite us all, it’s music. And it is that, although some of us like a musical style more than others, the emotion we feel when listening to the guitar chords of our favorite artist, the first chords of a song by our band of flagship girls or even the first notes of a classic sonata music when you are true lovers of violins and strings, it’s the same for everyone.
But Have you ever wondered how many types of music or musical genres exist in the world? If the answer is yes, you’re in luck, because starting with LOS40, we’ve rounded up all the information you need to learn a little about some of the most important music genres of all time and find the inspiration you might need to start listening to new music. . Who knows if you will vibrate as much as with your favorite artist?
The main musical genres
1. Classical music
Classical music is the mother of almost all music. Classical music is considered totality of works or musical compositions created during classicismthat is to say between the years 1750 and 1820 in Europe.
The greatest representatives of classical music are Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Johan Sebastian Bach, Ludwig van Beethoven, Vivaldi, Verdi, Tchaikovsky, Wagner, Chopin and Shubert.
2. Blues
The blues is a musical form or a musical genre born deep in the southern United Statesmore precisely in the Mississippi Delta, around 1860. This type of music of African origin landed on the American continent, mixing characteristic songs of workers during their long working days, cries, spirituals and classic ballads of Afro-American culture.
Some of the most famous blues singers of all time include BB King, Rory Gallagher, Joe Bonamassa, Gary Moore, Jimmi Hendrix, Etta James, Eric Clapton, Bonnie Raitt, Carlos Santana, Rory Gallagher, Muddy Waters, Willie Dixon, Bessie Smith and Sonny Boy Williamson.
3. Rhythm and blues or R&B
Rhythm and blues, better known by its abbreviation R&B, is a musical genre also born in the United States but in this case, in the 1940s. R&B was born from the union of the key pieces of blues, jazz and gospel, and is characterized by its insistent rhythms which are much more catchy and danceable than jazz.
R&B was the predecessor of famous rock and roll and some of its greatest exponents are Witney Houston, Alicia Keys, Michael Jackson, Beyoncé, Aretha Franklin, Prince, Ray Charles, James Brown, Stevie Wonder, Lionel Richie, Diana Ross and Rihanna , among many other artists.
4.Jazz
jazz is a musical style that appeared in New Orleans (USA) at the end of the 19th century as a means of response and collective protest against the oppression and the state of slavery to which the country’s black community was subjected.
This musical genre, characterized by the presence of groups made up of various musicians playing trombone, cornet and clarinet, It was the escape route for African-American citizens, who used non-melodic, mostly improvised rhythms to express their displeasure and regret.
The most important jazz artists of all time are: Duke Ellington, Thelonious Monk, Charlie Parker, Charles Mingus, Miles Davis, Ella Fitzgerald, John Coltrane and Louis Armstrong.
5. Soul
Soul is perhaps the most difficult musical genre to define. It is classified as soul to a much of the African American music that was made in the United States between the 1950s and 1970s reinterpreting the rhythms of R&B, so many of the greatest exponents of this style of music can also be found in other contemporaries such as Stevie Wonder, Aretha Franklin, James Brown, Ottis Reding or Al Green.
6. Funky
As derived from jazz and soul, in the second half of the 1960s funk appeared in the United Statesa type of popular music characterized by strong, slow and syncopated rhythms in which the importance of melody and harmony is reduced and in return the bass line and percussion are much more present.
Some of the most famous funk singers in history are Prince, James Brown, George Clinton, Barry White, Grace Jones, Curtis Mayfield, Tim Maia, Sylvia Robinson, as well as the bands Kool & the Gang, Wild Cherry, Funkadelic and Parliament . .
7. Rock’n’roll
The English expression rock and roll, which originally defined the yawing ships give when the sea is rough, eventually became the name of what was undoubtedly the most revolutionary musical genre in the history of music.
Rock and roll was born around 1950 in the United States to put an end to the slow ballads to which young people danced. Presenting itself as a much more rebellious musical genre, rock and roll is nothing more than an evolution of the blues in which the rhythm became binary and was fast and very marked. This was accompanied by a very simple melody and instrumentation based on electric guitars, drums, basses and pianos, although other instruments could always be added.
Within the rock genre there are subgenres that, although they have their peculiarities, always maintain the essence of the guitar and with marked and simple rhythms of this type of music, such as glam-rock, psychedelic rock, punk rock, folk rock, heavy metal, progressive rock, blues rock, surf rock, and instrumental rock, among others.
Some of the most relevant rock artists of all time are Elvis Presley, Chuck Berry, Bill Halley, David Bowie and Ozzy Osbourne, among others, as well as bands such as Queen, The Rolling Stone, The Beatles, U2, Pink Floyd, Lez Zeppeling and The Who.
8.Pop
And after rock came pop. Born in the 1960s this musical genre takes elements of rock and roll and British popular or folk music form a new type of music with a simple structure in which the melody is the great protagonist.
Although there are many types of pop or pop music as this genre was initially known, all songs in this genre are characterized by not being very long, having a chorus repeated several times and that they have more or less simple and catchy lyrics.
Some of the most renowned artists in the world of pop are Madonna, Michael Jackson, Bruno Mars, Elton John, Rihanna, Billie Eilish, Ariana Grande, Pink, Justin Timberlake, Britney Spears, the Spice Girls, One Direction, Dua Lipa and Rosalia . , among many others.
9. Rap Music
Rap was born at the end of the 1970s in the most marginal neighborhoods of New York as a derivation of funk, and its appearance, framed by the hip hop culture of the United States, meant a real revelation in the world of music. music, since for the first time words prevailed over musical rhythms, giving value to rhymes, rhythmic speech and intonation of speech.
In rap, there are several subgenres, the most popular being New York Boom Bap, G-Funk, California and Dirty South, Crunk and Trap.
Some of the most famous rappers in the history of this musical genre have been Tupac Shakur (2pac), La Rock, The Notorious BIG, Rakim, 50 Cent, Jay Z, Eminem, Nicki Minaj, Lil Wayne, Drake and Ice Kube, among many others.
10. Disco Music
R&B evolved over the years into what is now known as disco music, a type of dance music that emerged in the 1970s which blended elements of rhythm and blues, funk and blues with Latin and psychedelic beats to create, over a repetitive 4/4 time signature, a sound in which the rhythm was the sole protagonist.
11. Reggae
One of the derivatives of rock is reggae. This musical genre appeared in Jamaica in the 1960s and was a quick and positive adaptation of rock and roll. It is characterized by its mellow melodies, a strong syncopated rhythm known as the heartbeat and repetitively influenced by Rasta movement lyrics and sound.
The undisputed king of reggae is Jamaican singer-songwriter Bob Marley, although other artists such as Peter Tosh, Bunny Walter, Jimmy Cliff, Manu Chao, Sean Paul and Macka Diamond, among many others, are also eminent personalities of this musical genre.
12. Reggaeton
He reggaetonformerly known as underground music, is a musical genre derived from reggae in Spanish that was born in Puerto Rico in the 1970s coinciding in time and space with the appearance and expansion of hip hop culture and, consequently, of rap, which is characterized by the use of repetitive and catchy bases and a bass rhythm that makes of this musical genre an absolutely dancing style that evokes sensuality.
Some of the most famous reggaeton artists of all time are Daddy Yankee, Bad Bunny, Don Omar, Karol G, Maluma, Anuel AA, Rosalía, Bad Gyal, J Balvin, Ozuna, Nicky Jam, and Wisin & Yandel, among others.
Other popular music genres around the world
- Gospel (American religious music)
- Popular
- Country music
- techno music
- house music
- Will be
- Trap
- Drill
- drums and bass
- Garage
- techno music
- Flamenco (Spanish musical genre)
- two step
- heavy metal
- Salsa (sum of Cuban sounds and Caribbean rhythms)
- Bachata (from the Dominican Republic)
- Mambo (from Cuba)
- Cumbia (from Colombia)
- Tango (originally from the Río de la Plata region)
- Rumba (from Cuba)
- Bolero (from Cuba)
- dirty
- punk music
- Bossa Nova (popular music from Brazil)
- Fado (from Portugal)
- Rancheras (originally from Mexico)
- Dembow (from the Dominican Republic)
- Dancehall (original from Jamaica)
- new age music
- psychedelic rock
- surf music
- dance music
- K-Pop (Korean popular music name)
- Experimental music
- Benga (from Kenya)
- Afro-beat (originally from Africa)
- Fuji (original from Nigeria)
- Chaabi (from Algeria)
- Highlife (original from Ghana)