There are several variations of rock n’ roll that makes defining the genre difficult. Some of the early rock pioneers are The Kinks, Rolling Stones, The Beatles, Buddy Holly, and Bo Diddley. [1] X Research source Rock n’ roll evolved through the 1960s, 1970s, and each following decade. In the 1970s, punk rock was born. In the 1980s, metal and hair metal was born. In the 1990s, grunge hit the scene as well as countless other styles. If you hear a song with a strong beat and personality, you might be correct to classify it as rock.
The songs of top 40, more than any other genre, are designed to be catchy and get stuck in your head. With this idea embedded into the songwriting process, top 40 songs typically have a grandiose chorus that repeats several times. [2] X Research source Some popular figures of top 40 hits are Justin Bieber, Katy Perry, Taylor Swift, and Keke Palmer.
The roots of country start with the honky tonk days of the 1950s. The most celebrated star from this decade is Hank Williams. Folk music is another popular subgenre of country. Folk music takes the narrative focus of country and intensifies the storytelling. Popular folk musicians are Woody Guthrie and Bob Dylan.
Early soul pioneers include Solomon Burke, Ben E. King, and Aretha Franklin. Early R&B started in a minimal style like Big Joe Turner and Fats Domino. The genre took on more influences in the 1960s with the Mar-Keys and James Brown. Later R&B took on a hip hop influence with artists like Mary J. Blige and Boyz II Men. Another influential genre that took shape under these genres is funk. Funk is all about being exceptionally groovy. Listen to artists like Funkadelic, 1970s era James Brown, and Sly Stone and the Family Stone. [4] X Research source
Today rap is a major influence on pop music. Some examples of rap’s subgenres are gangsta, trap, chicano, and ghetto house.
Electronic music has developed into several genres of popular music. In the 1990s, techno became a popular dance music that is still happening. Techno evolved into EDM and dubstep, which are both popular. There is electronic aspects in a vast amount of music being produced today.
An example is Stockhausen’s “Helicopter String Quartet,” which requires four helicopters and each member of the quartet to occupy a separate helicopter while playing in unison. [6] X Research source
Captain Beefheart’s infamous album, Trout Mask Replica, is a fully composed album, but the record sounds like improvisation and insanity.
Brian Eno popularized ambient music with compositions like “Music for Airports,” which was composed to be played in airports. Another interesting cross genre is noise music. Noise music is loud and chaotic, but it oftentimes creates a consistent ambient wall of sound.
Philip Glass wrote an opera called “Einstein on the Beach,” which embodies this idea of stacking minimal melodies to create something massive. Other pioneers of the genre, Steve Reich and Terry Riley, have their own style of creating minimalist music.
To best understand classical music and its characteristics, learn the different art movements.
A good indicator that music is from this time period is if it is a cappella and sung in Latin.
The harpsichord is played like a piano, but instead of hitting the strings with soft mallets, the strings are plucked like a harp. This gives the harpsichord a unique and sharp tone.
This era runs parallel with the intellectual movement called the Enlightenment. The Enlightenment birthed the rising belief that human reasoning can overcome problems of the world. This influenced the way composers treated compositions.
Another popular concept explored in the Romantic period was color. Composers began viewing the orchestra as a palette that could depict an array of exotic scenes. A sub-movement within the Romantic era is Impressionism. Similar to Impressionist painters like Monet, composers attempted to imprint an impression on the listener. For example, Erik Satie wrote a series of compositions called “furniture music,” which was the first time someone wrote music intended to be in the background.
For example, Igor Stravinsky broke new grounds by composing a ballet about a pagan myth. The premiere nearly caused a riot from the audience. The modern movement also birthed experimental music with such figures like John Cage and Karlheinz Stockhausen.
Early classical music is best heard in the Gregorian Chants and other choral music. Baroque music has two heavyweights: Bach and Handel. Bach’s cello suite no. 1 in G might be his most recognizable. The classical period has several popular composers. Popular pieces from this era include Mozart’s Eine Kleine Nachtmusik or Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9. [10] X Research source For the Romantic era, listen to Liszt’s Liebestraum or Chopin’s Etude Opus 25. Modern music is so vast, but some key pieces are Stravinsky’s The Rite of Spring and John Cage’s 4’33.
