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What about musical genres. Contemporary musical genres

The purpose of this article is to acquaint readers with various modern musical genres and the musical means that composers use when creating works within a certain style. The ability to navigate musical genres and subgenres is one of the first signs of professionalism, so this article will be of interest to all those who have already embarked on the path of improvement in the musical field.

Most critics divide modern music genres into three main areas: pop, rock and rap, which in turn are rooted in earlier styles and have spawned a large number of offshoots of their own.

Pop is contemporary popular music. It is a very broad term covering many genres such as disco, trance, house, techno, funk, new wave and others. Let's stop and look at the features of each of them.

  • Disco. Not so long ago, it was the most popular genre of dance-pop music. It has an abundance of effects, the leading role of the rhythm section of drums and bass, as well as the secondary, background sound of strings and wind instruments.
  • Trance. It belongs to one of the genres of electronic music and is notable for its high emotional impact on the listener. This effect is achieved through the use of sad, "cosmic" melodies.
  • House. This is the name of dance, completely electronic music. The main and only instrument is a synthesizer. A distinctive feature of this genre is the presence of looped musical phrases and solo melodies. Effects are widely used.
  • techno. In one phrase, you can say this: futuristic music of the big city. Techno features include fantastic melodies, a gloomy metal sound, "cold", devoid of emotional vocals.
  • Funk. One of the dance genres, which is characterized by clearly defined percussionists dominating all other instruments, low melody, "sloppy" rhythm.
  • New wave. A genre of popular music that has evolved from punk rock and uses the same musical medium.

Rock as an independent genre is rooted in the "black" American blues, which appeared in the 20-30s. Traditional blues consists of 12 measures, that is, sections of a composition consisting of several notes, the first of which has an accent or accent. To the main toolkit blues includes a double bass or bass that sets the rhythm, a solo guitar, drums, often keyboards and brass. To be quite precise, rock emerged from a branch of this genre - the guitar blues, which already has much less keyboards and brass instruments.

Appearance rock And rock and roll, concepts that are often equated with musicians such as Elvis Presley and the Beatles. The former can be called the popularizer of this genre, while the Beatles were the ones who turned rock into art.

Musically, rock has remained almost the same blues, but their semantic content is different: rock is the music of protest against society, power, or something else.

Rock has collected many subgenres, the main ones being soft rock, hard rock, pop rock, folk rock, punk rock, psychedelic rock, heavy metal and thrash.

  • Hard rock. Literally, it translates as "heavy, hard." This style has such a name for a reason, because its sound corresponds to what it is called. Heaviness in hard rock is achieved through the dominant sound of a loud and powerful rhythm section over the rest of the instruments. In most cases, the drummers, bass or rhythm guitar are "weighted". Hard rock often uses Overdrive and Distortion effects.
  • pop rock. Popular rock. This style is well balanced, using all sorts of effects and popular arrangements. Pop rock can be attributed to any rock music that is designed for a wide audience of listeners.
  • folk rock. This is rock music with elements of folk music.
  • Punk rock. This genre includes rough, often unprofessional, but expressive music, which is characterized by simple, unpretentious, but shocking melodies.
  • Psychedelic rock. Complex, unconventional music, overflowing with various effects. This music has a high level of emotional impact on the listener.
  • heavy metal called sharp metal music, which is often not harmonic. It is far from the usual standards.
  • Thrash. This is a very hard genre, which is characterized by the complexity and continuity of melodies, as well as improvisation.

Rap how the genre evolved from dance music. Characteristic features: uneven rhythm, complex experiments with drummers, the presence of looped musical fragments. One of the main features of rap is the absence of vocals, which are replaced by recitative. Rap is read like poetry, not sung. The main instruments are drums and a complex bass, which often leads. Often rap musicians use the scratch effect - the squeak of vinyl records.

Most likely rap originated from reggae- a dance style that originated in Jamaica. These two styles have a lot in common: the same uneven, ragged rhythm, the presence of looped musical fragments, a complex drummer.

The report on the topic "Genres of Music", summarized in this article, will help you learn a lot of useful information about musical genres, including modern ones.

What are the musical genres?

Genres of music determine the nature and style of the musical direction. The first genres that stood out were church music. It was matet and mass. Later, a genre of secular song arose. In the 17th century, the oratorio, opera, and cantata appeared. With the development of chamber music, new genres appeared, such as folk song, romances, ballad, requiem, vocalise, serenade, cant.

In the future, the development of musical genres was very fast. Today there are 4 categories:

  • theatrical genres. This includes ballet and opera, musicals, musical dramas, operettas, vaudevilles, melodramas and musical comedies.
  • concert genres. This includes sonatas, oratorios, symphonies, cantatas, quartets and quintets, trios, suites.
  • Mass genres. These include songs, marches and dances.
  • Cult and ceremonial genres. The works are associated with festive or religious rites. For example, carnival songs, Christmas carols, spells, funeral and wedding laments, troparia, bells and kontakia.

Genres of contemporary music

In modern music there are many directions and genres. Let's look at the main ones:

  1. Rock(heavier music for perception with elements of folk motives):
  • pop rock
  • Hard rock
  • folk rock

2.Pop

  • House is music played on a synthesizer.
  • Trance is music with comic and sad melodies.
  • Disco is music with rhythmic bass and drum sections.

3.rap

  • alternative rap.
  • Rapcore is a mixture of rap with heavy music.
  • Jazz rap.
  • Dirty rap.
  • comedy rap.

4.Electronic music

  • Deep house
  • Garage house
  • new disco
  • Soul full house

There is also a classification of genres of such main areas as:

  1. Classical music. They spread in the 18th century. Among them are overture (instrumental introduction to plays, performances or works), sonata (for chamber performers), etude (small piece for honing music performance), scherzo (live and fast-paced music), symphony, opera, oratorio.
  2. Rock music. We have already talked about it above. The list of rock music genres also includes Grunge (guitar sound), Gothic rock (gothic music), Viking rock (punk rock combined with folk music).
  3. . The list of its genres is liturgy (Christmas or Easter service), antiphon (music with alternating choral groups), rondelle (original melody for one motive), proprium (part of the mass), ordinarium.
  4. secular music. The list of its genres is composed of guilliard (rhythmic and fast), ballad, villancico (ballad with poetic text).

We hope that the report on genres of music helped you prepare for the lesson, and you learned a lot of interesting information for yourself. And you can leave a story about musical genres through the comment form below.

musical genres.

Music(Greek μουσική, adjective from Greek Μούσα - muse) - art, the means of embodying artistic images for which are sound and silence, organized in a special way in time.

Musical genre- a kind of music, musical works, distinguished by special stylistic features peculiar only to it. The concept of a genre in music stands on the border between the categories of content and form and makes it possible to judge the objective content of a work based on the complex of expressive means used. Characterizes, as a rule, the historically established genera and types of musical works. In musicology, various systems for classifying a musical genre have developed, which depend on which of the genre-causing factors is considered as the main one. Often the same work can be characterized from different points of view, or the same genre can be attributed to several genre groups. It is also possible to single out “genres within genres”, for example, various genres of vocal and instrumental music included in the opera. Opera, on the other hand, is essentially a synthetic genre that combines various art forms. Therefore, when classifying, it is necessary to keep in mind which factor or combination of several factors is decisive. Genre features can be intertwined: for example, song and dance genres. The composition of the performers and the method of performance determine the most common classification of genres. This is, first of all, the division into vocal and instrumental genres. Some genres have a complex history that makes them difficult to classify. Thus, a cantata can be both a chamber solo work and a large composition for a mixed composition (xop, soloists, orchestra).

Genre- a kind of model with which specific music is correlated. It has certain conditions of execution, purpose, form and nature of the content. So, the goal of a lullaby is to calm the baby, so “swaying” intonations and a characteristic rhythm are typical for it; in the march - all the expressive means of music are adapted to a clear step.

The simplest classification of genres is by way of execution. These are two large groups:

instrumental(march, waltz, etude, sonata, fugue, symphony);

vocal genres(aria, song, romance, cantata, opera, musical).

Another typology of genres is related with performance environment. It belongs to A. Sohor, a scientist who claims that the genres of music are:

1. Ritual And iconic(psalms, mass, requiem) - they are characterized by generalized images, the dominance of the choral principle and the same mood among the majority of listeners.

Psalm(Greek "praise") - hymns of Jewish and Christian religious poetry and prayers from the Old Testament.

Mass- the main liturgical service in the Latin rite of the Catholic Church. Consists of opening rites, Liturgy of the Word, Eucharistic Liturgy and closing rites

Requiem(lat. “dead”) - a funeral service (mass) in the Catholic and Lutheran churches, corresponds to the funeral liturgy in the Orthodox Church.

2. Mass-household genres(varieties of song, march and dance: polka, waltz, ragtime, ballad, anthem) - they are distinguished by a simple form and familiar intonations;

3. Concert genres(oratorio, sonata, quartet, symphony) - characteristic performance in a concert hall, lyrical tone as the author's self-expression;

Oratorio- a large piece of music for choir, soloists and orchestra. It differs from the opera by the absence of stage action, and from the cantata by the larger size and branching of the plot.

Sonata(ital. sound) - a genre of instrumental music, as well as a musical form called sonata form. Composed for chamber composition of instruments and piano. Usually solo or duet.

Quartet- a musical ensemble of 4 musicians, vocalists or instrumentalists.

Symphony(Greek "consonance", "euphony") - a piece of music for the orchestra. As a rule, symphonies are written for a large mixed orchestra (symphony), but there are also symphonies for string, chamber, wind and other orchestras; a choir and solo vocal voices can be introduced into the symphony.

Folk music, musical folklore, or folk music (English folk music) - the musical and poetic creativity of the people, an integral part of folk art (folklore), which exists, as a rule, in oral (non-written) form, passed down from generation to generation.

Spiritual music- musical works related to texts of a religious nature, intended for performance during a church service or at home.

Classical music(from lat. сlassicus - exemplary) - exemplary musical works of outstanding composers of past years, which have stood the test of time. Musical works written according to certain rules and canons in compliance with the necessary proportions and intended for performance by a symphony orchestra, ensemble or soloists.

Latin American music(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 compactly live on the territory of other states and form large Latin American communities (for example, in the USA).

Blues- This is a musical style that was created by black musicians living in the United States of America. The blues was first played at the end of the nineteenth century in the southern states, in the vicinity of the Mississippi River Delta. The music of this style is very diverse, many musicians have created their own style of performance.

Jazz(English jazz) - a form of musical art that arose in the late XIX - early XX century in the United States as a result of the synthesis of African and European cultures and subsequently became widespread. Characteristic features of the musical language of jazz initially became improvisation, polyrhythm based on syncopated rhythms, and a unique set of techniques for performing rhythmic texture - swing. Further development of jazz occurred due to the development of new rhythmic and harmonic models by jazz musicians and composers.

Country(English country music from country music - rural music) - the most common variety of North American folk music, in popularity in the United States is not inferior to pop music.

Romance in music- a vocal composition written on a short poem of lyrical content, mostly love.

Electonic music(German Elektronische Musik, English Electronic music, colloquially also “electronics”) is a broad musical genre that refers to music created using electronic musical instruments and technologies (most often with the help of special computer programs).

Rock music(Eng. Rock music) - a generalized name for a number of areas of popular music. The word "rock" - (translated from English "rock, rock, rock") - 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" and so on. Some distinctive features of rock music, such as the use of electric musical instruments or creative self-sufficiency (it is typical for rock musicians to perform compositions of their own composition), are secondary and often misleading.

reggae(English reggae; another spelling is "reggae") - Jamaican popular music that appeared in the 1960s and became popular since the 1970s.

Pop music(English pop-music from popular music) - the direction of modern music, a type of modern mass culture. It is a separate genre of popular music, namely, an easy-to-remember song.

A person from his very birth comes into contact with music: in infancy, his mother sings lullabies to him, in kindergarten and school - singing songs by the choir and at matinees.

The first bell and graduation, initiation into students and Mendelssohn's waltz.

Music is eternal, it inspires a person in joy and helps to survive moments when it is hard.

In the modern world, there are various musical genres:

  • Classical.
  • Retro.
  • Chanson.
  • Metal.
  • Jazz.
  • Acapello and others

All of them have their fans and connoisseurs, worthy of respect and a place on Olympus, where Muse and Harmony reign.

Some people, preferring symphonic or spiritual music, do not want to listen to anything about modern instrumental or electronic, considering these art forms to be some kind of parody.

The proposed article tells what genres of music are and presents unknown works.

Each era has its own genre of music, some of them disappear without a trace, others pass through the centuries, gaining immortality.

The definition of a musical genre includes a set of certain properties and behaviors in the art world, inherent in the work and the conditions that affect its creation.

The instrumental genre includes works performed exclusively by instruments, without the intervention of the voice.

The table provides a list with examples of the main classical types of musical works related to the instrumental genre:

Only a small list of the main directions of classical music is indicated, with extensions for each of the categories.

The most popular genre of modern electronic music

At the end of the eighties of the last century, a new musical direction was formed, which has firmly entered modern culture - electronic music.

Below are the main and most popular of its directions:

  • House - was formed by changing the sound of disco. A distinctive feature is the frequent repetition of the beat rhythm with alternating sampling.
  • Soul Full House - identical to the previous one, but with the inclusion of vocals.
  • Deep house is light dance music that combines elements of ambient and jazz. Performed on keyboards with a slight addition of female vocals.
  • Garage house - identical to the previous one, but the vocals are brought to the first place.
  • New disco - performed by a synthesizer in a rhythmic style.

Note! More than twenty different branches of the main directions of music are known, for different age categories there is a preferred course.

What are the vocal genres

The most extensive direction in music is the vocal genre.

Its diversity includes:

  1. Chamber music - performed by a small number of vocalists for a select audience. Translated from Latin - singing in the room.
  2. There are varieties of this direction:

  • Folk - songs composed by the people and passed down from generation to generation. Words change over time, music stays the same.

    They are divided into labor, performed at work, festive - for religious or secular holidays, weddings, seeing off to the army, etc., ditties, lullabies, lyric.

  • Romances are lyrical songs performed with a guitar.
  • Requiem - mourning singing in the Temples.
  • Ballads are songs of praise that tell of great victories.
  • Serenades are declarations of love performed by male lovers.
  • Kant - polyphonic singing, sounding with overflows.
  • Vocalization is an exercise for training the vocal cords.

  • Modern:
    • Rock is a broad genre that includes metal, punk rock, pop rock, rock and roll, jazz fusion, gothic rock, hard rock, etc.
    • Pop - popular music: house, disco, trance, etc.
    • Rap is hard to attribute to vocals, as they read it, but this direction is considered vocal.
    • Jazz and blues music.
  • Spiritual - designed to heal the soul; often performed at worship services:
    • Liturgies - narrations of the main points of Holy Scripture, are performed by the choir.
    • Antiphons - repeated singing with alternation of two leading groups.
    • Rondel, proprium, ordinarium are parts of the mass that are different in sound and purpose.
  • Secular - bearing a national character, telling about the life of people and states:
    • Billiards are fast rhythmic songs.
    • Ballads are the stories of the winners.
    • Villancico are Italian poetic ballads.
  • Classical - performed in theatrical performances:
    • Opera is a stage musical work, including vocal singing, stage performances and musical accompaniment.
    • Operetta is a comic opera, diluted with dance scenes and conversations.
    • Aria is a complete episodic excerpt from an opera or operetta.
    • Vaudeville is a musical play.
    • An interlude is a piece of music played to fill a pause.
    • Cantata is a solemn piece of music.
    • Musical - a performance that includes elements of operetta, opera, pop singing and stage dance.
    • Chorus - a musical ensemble consisting of a large number of performers, often accompanied by an orchestra.
  • Chanson and bard song.
  • Genre(fr. genre) is a general concept that surrounds the most essential properties and connections of the phenomena of the world of art, a set of formal and meaningful features of a work. All existing works reflect certain conditions, while participating in the creation of the definition of the concept of genre.

    Arioso- a small aria with a melodious declamatory or song character.

    Aria- a completed episode in an opera, operetta, oratorio or cantata, performed by a soloist accompanied by an orchestra.

    Ballad- solo vocal compositions using the texts of poetic works and preserving their main features; instrumental compositions.

    Ballet- a type of stage art, the content of which is revealed in dance and musical images.

    Blues- a jazz song of sad, lyrical content.

    Bylina- Russian folk epic song-tale.

    Vaudeville- a cheerful theatrical play with musical numbers. 1) a type of sitcom with couplet songs, romances, dances; 2) the final couplet song in the vaudeville play.

    Hymn- solemn song

    Jazz- a kind of improvisational, dance music.

    Disco- a musical style with a simplified melody and a hard rhythm.

    Invention- a short piece of music, in which any original find in the field of melodic development, shaping is essential.

    Sideshow- a piece of music played between parts of a piece.

    Intermezzo- a small free-form play, as well as an independent episode in an opera or other piece of music.

    Cantata- a large vocal and instrumental work of a solemn nature, usually for soloists, choir and orchestra.

    Cantilena— melodious, smooth melody.

    chamber music - (literally "room music"). chamber works are either pieces for solo instruments: songs without words, variations, sonatas, suites, preludes, impromptu, musical moments, nocturnes, or various instrumental ensembles: a trio, a quartet, a quintet, etc., where three, four, five instruments respectively participate and all parts are equally important, require careful finishing from the performers and the composer.

    capriccio- a virtuoso instrumental piece of an improvisational warehouse with an unexpected change of images, moods.

    Concert- a work for one or (rarely) several solo instruments and an orchestra, as well as a public performance of musical works.

    Madrigal- a small musical and poetic work of love and lyrical content in the 14th-16th centuries.

    March- a piece of music with a measured tempo, a clear rhythm, usually accompanying a collective procession.

    Musical- a piece of music that combines elements of opera, operetta; ballet, pop music.

    Nocturne- in the XVIII - early XIX century. a multi-part instrumental piece, mostly for wind instruments, usually performed outdoors in the evening or at night, from the 19th century. a small lyrical instrumental piece.

    Oh yeah- a solemn piece of music dedicated to some significant event or person.

    Opera- a musical and dramatic work based on the synthesis of words, stage action and music.

    Operetta- a musical stage comedy work, including vocal and dance scenes, orchestral accompaniment and conversational episodes.

    Oratorio- a work for soloists, choir and orchestra, intended for concert performance.

    House is a style and movement in electronic music. house is a descendant of the dance styles of the early post-disco era (electro, high energy, soul, funk, etc.). The main difference between house music is a repeated rhythm beat, usually in 4/4 time, and sampling - work with sound inserts that are repeated from time to time in music, partially coinciding with its rhythm. one of the most important contemporary sub-styles of house is progressive house.

    choir - a work for a large singing group. choral compositions are divided into two large groups - with or without instrumental (or orchestral) accompaniment (a cappella).

    Song- a piece of poetry meant to be sung. its musical form is usually couplet or strophic.

    potpourri- a play composed of excerpts from several popular melodies.

    Play- a finished musical work of small size.

    Rhapsody- a musical (instrumental) work on the themes of folk songs and epic tales, as if reproducing the performance of a rhapsod.

    Requiem- mourning choral work (funeral mass).

    Romance- a lyrical work for voice with musical accompaniment.

    R&B (Rhythm-N-Blues, English Rhythm & Blues)- This is a musical style of song and dance genre. originally, a generalized name for mass music based on the blues and jazz trends of the 1930s and 1940s. currently, the abbreviated abbreviation of rhythm and blues (English r&b) is used to refer to modern rhythm and blues.

    Rondo- a piece of music in which the main part is repeated several times.

    Serenade- a lyrical song to the accompaniment of a lute, mandolin or guitar, performed in honor of the beloved.

    Symphony- a piece of music for the orchestra, written in sonata cyclic form, the highest form of instrumental music.

    Symphonic Music- unlike the chamber one, it is performed in large rooms and is intended for a symphony orchestra. symphonic works are characterized by depth and versatility of content, often grandiosity of scale and, at the same time, accessibility of the musical language.

    Consonance- a combination in the simultaneous sounding of several sounds of different heights.

    Sonata- a musical work of three or four parts of different tempo and character.

    Sonatina- little sonata

    Suite- a work for one or two instruments from several heterogeneous pieces connected by a common idea.

    Symphonic Poem- a genre of symphonic music expressing the romantic idea of ​​the synthesis of arts. a symphonic poem is a one-part orchestral work that allows for various program sources (literature and painting, less often philosophy or history; pictures of nature).

    Toccata- a virtuoso piece of music for a keyboard instrument in fast movement and a clear tempo.

    Tone- a sound of a certain pitch.

    tush- a short musical greeting.

    Overture is an orchestral piece designed to serve as an introduction to opera, ballet, drama. in their imagery and form, many classical overtures are close to the first movements of symphonies.

    Fantasy is a free-form piece of music.

    Elegy- a piece of music of a sad nature.

    Etude- a piece of music based on virtuoso passages.



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