Musical Genres

Different people have different tastes.  There are so many categories of music each wonderful for their unique characteristics.

Rock N Roll
Rock N Roll is popular music played on amplified intruments such as the guitar and bass.  It has heavy percussion and voice accomaniment.  This has been here since Elvis in the 1950's. Examples:  Kiss, Pink Floyd, Led Zepplin, Rolling Stones, and the Beatles.  

Pop
This is lighter rock characterized by synthesizers, multiple voice accompaniment, and more strings ad brass. Examples:  Madonna, Michael Jackson, Jewel, Debbie Gibson, and Hanson.

Rap
This is characterized by a hard percussion beat and speaking in rhythm. Examples:  Snoop Doggy Dogg, Run DMC, Dr. Dre, Notorious B.I.G., and "Puff" Daddy.

R and B
R and B is a combination of dance music with vocals. Examples:  Boyz II Men, Color Me Bad, Blackstreet, and TLC.

Country
This music is derived from the folk style of the southern United States, or the Western cowboy. Examples:  Garth Brooks, Tim McGraw, Clint Black, Shania Twain, and Reba McIntire.

Folk
Folk is a traditional song containing a simple melody and a refrain. Examples:  Stan Rodgers, Woody Guthrie, Bob Dylan, and Peter, Paul, and Mary.

Jazz
This American music evolved from Ragtime and Blues.  It contains brass ensemble and syncopated rhythm. Examples:  Louie Armstrong, John Coultrane, Scott Joplin, and Duke Ellington.

Blues
These songs are characterized by expression and sorrow that originated in the south. Examples:  Ella Fitzgerald, B.B. King, and Billie Holliday.

Classical
Renaissance - The renaissance was not only a re-birth in art but in music as well.  It had a small melody often accompanied by voice.    Examples:  Guillame Dufay and Josquin des Prez.
Baroque - This music is characterized by strings and the harpsichord.  It has a very detached sound. Examples: J.S. Bach, George Frederic Handel, Dominico Scarlatti, and Antonio Vivaldi.
Classic - This time was built off of Baroque by introducing symphony form.  It is characterized more by the piano and bigger otchestras.  Examples:  Ludwig van Beethoven, Franz Schubert, Felix Mendelssohn, Frederic Chopin, Robert Schuman, Franz Liszt, Richard Wagner, Johannes Brahs, and Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky.
Modern - This music is very "weird." It is often characterized by having no key signature and awkward time signatures. Examples:  Bela Bortok, Igor Stravinsky, Aaron Copland, and Dmitri Shhostakovich.                                                   

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