Types of Music

There are several different types of music that so many of us have come to know and love today. One of the best aspects of music is the fact that you have a plethora of different styles of music to choose from. You are not limited to one genre anymore. We live in a day and age where not only is there a wide variety of music to choose from, but there are constantly new forms that are created on a consistent basis. Each of the types of music styles all possess a keen element of uniqueness.

One of the types of music that is highly popular to date is Pop. Pop music is best defined as having a popular sound and a commercial appeal. The audience that is said to be most drawn to Pop are teenagers. Although Pop is often viewed as having a new, hip sound, it is often found that there are samples that are used from older songs from any given genre. Many of the Pop songs are short songs with a catchy beat. The word pop was used to describe its first song back in 1926. The word Pop is short for popular. It was used to refer to a rock and roll song out of Britain. The word pop gained its popularity in the United States in the 1950s. It was then that the Pop songs of the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, and Abba took that title. Some of today’s top Pop artists are Rihanna, the Black Eyed Peas, the Jonas Brothers, the Pussycat Dolls, Jordin Sparks, and Lil’ Wayne. Nevertheless, the King of Pop, is and always has been, Michael Jackson.

Another type of music that has come to be very popular to date is Rap music. It may also be referred to as hip hop music. There is a bit of a distinction between the two. Rap is often used to refer to the style of fast rhyming with an up tempo beat that features more of a hard-hitting, hardcore sound. Hip Hop music is a mixture of both pop and rap. That is one of the reasons why hip hop has climbed to its height, making it one of the major chart toppers on the Billboard Charts. Some of the most popular Rap and Hip Hop artists of the current day and age are Lil Wayne, Jay Z, Soulja Boy, 50 Cent, Nas, and the late Tupac Shakur and Notorious B.I.G.

A type of music that is getting some shine right now across the country and around the world is Latin music. It has been around for many years, but it is in recent years that it has been able to snag international attention. Even with its international appeal, Latin music continues to stay true to the deep culture that it is rooted from. These Latin sounds have are highly played amongst the Latin American Caribbean. Some of the top Latin artists of today are Gloria Estefan, Selena, Ricky Martin, Daddy Yankee, Marc Anthony, Shakira, and Enrique Iglesias.

A type of music that has had a long span of popularity is called country. Country got its start in rural areas of the southern United States and the Appalachian Mountains back in the 1920s. Country is also known as Western music. Two of the first country artists to be highly recognized is Jimmie Rodgers, and the Carter family. Up until the 1940s, the style of folk music had went from being called hillbilly music to country. After a while, the term hillbilly began to be viewed with negative connotation, so therefore the name change was initiated. Some of the popular country artists of today are Taylor Swift, Toby Keith, Darius Rucker, Keith Urban, and the Rascal Flatts.

Rhythm and Blues, otherwise known as R&B, gained its popularity in the 1940s. The sound of Rhythm and Blues is described as having a Jazz sound with a heavy beat. It is a style of music that was originally performed by many singers in the African American community. Rhythm and Blues was a genre of music in which the voice was to shine in order to sing the melodic words of the carefully calculated lyrics. Some of the best Rhythm and Blues singers of all time are Luther Vandross, Teddy Pendagraa, Al Green, Barry White, Chaka Khan, Anita Baker, The Temptations, Earth Wind and Fire, and the Isley Brothers. The more contemporary sounds of R&B feature top artists such as Mariah Carey, Whitney Houston, and Stevie Wonder.

The first impressions of Jazz were heard in the early 1900s in New Orleans. There were also some early signs of Jazz in the Saint Lois, Chicago, and Kansas City area. Jazz was a style of music that was initiated amongst African Americans in these areas. Early Jazz can be best described as a mixture of African and European sounds in a translucent blend. There is also a hint of American popular sounds from the 1800s and 1900s that had an influence on the sound. Blue notes were a very important component to the early Jazz sounds. In fact, one of the largest platforms for Jazz and Blues today is in Lower Manhattan of New York City, and is named the Blue Note. A blue note is a note that is sang in a pitch that is lower than the major scale. Another major component to the Jazz sound is called a polyrhythm. A polyrhythm is defined as the simultaneous sound of two or more rhythms. You can not speak about the sound of Jazz unless you talk about syncopation. This is also a quality that you will find in the genre of music. Syncopation is a variety of rhythms that are placed together in a sequence that is unique in essence. Today Jazz has changed into a consistent smoother more contemporary sound. Nevertheless, the element of expression has never appeared to subside. Some of the popular Jazz performers of the 20th Century were Louis Armstrong, Joe “King” Oliver, Buddy Bolden, Clarence Williams, and Jelly Roll Martin. Some of the artists that had some of the favorite Jazz albums in the year 2009 were Kurt Rosenwinkel, Ben Allison, Miguel Zenon, Myron Walden, and Darcy James.

The Blues is a lot similar to Jazz, as far as its roots and spiritual undertones. The Blues is often referred to as- “the music of the soul.” The Blues is a type of music that with every note, you can feel the message of the song. The Blues originated out of the Southern United States back in the 19th century. The Blues uses a twelve-bar chord scale, which is common to many songs. But the Blues makes its distinction by its powerful soul that digs down deep within. And of course, the blue note is a tremendous part of all the late great Blues songs. By the 20th century, some of the best forms of the Blues were the Piedmont, the Jump, the Delta, and the Chicago Blues. Some of the best original Blues artists were B.B. King, Howlin’ Wolf, Bessie Smith, Muddy Waters, Lonnie Johnson, Skip James, Billie Holiday, Robert Johnson, Gary Davis, Ray Charles, and Jimmy Reed. It was in the 1930s that the Blues had shifted its range to its more contemporary sound.