List of styles of music: A–F
A B C D E F
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A
Aa-Ak - Al-An - Ap-Ax
- A cappella - any singing performed without instrumental backing
Aa-Ak
- Acid House - came about in the mid to late 1980s, originally in Detroit and Chicago, came through Ibiza to Britain.
- Acid Jazz - a combination of jazz,funk,and hip hop
- Acid Rock - a form of psychedelic rock, characterized with long instrumental solos, few (if any) lyrics and musical improvisation
- Acoustic Music - a music that solely or primarily uses instruments which produce sound through entirely acoustic means, as opposed to electric or electronic means.
- Adult contemporary music is a broad style of popular music that ranges from lush 1960s vocal music to predominantly ballad-heavy music with varying degrees of rock influence.
- Afrobeat - a combination of Yoruba music, jazz, highlife, and funk, fused with percussion and vocal styles, popularized in Africa in the 1970s.
Al-An
- Aleatoric music - music the composition of which is partially left to chance
- Alternative country - reaction against the 1990s highly-polished Nashville sound
- Alternative dance - music combining elements of dance-pop (or other forms of electronic house or techno) and alternative rock genres such as indie rock.
- Alternative hip hop - opposite of gangster rap, usually includes metaphorical aware lyrics (also known as alternative rap or Bohemian hip hop)
- Alternative metal - catch-all term for heavy metal which uses techniques less conventional in heavy metal
- Alternative rock - broad movement born in the 1980s generally relegated to the underground music scene and operating outside of the mainstream
- Ambient music - music that can either be listened to intently, or be played in the background and easily be ignored. oftentimes used for relaxation and meditation.
- Americana- style similar to folk music, but with elements of newer styles such as rock and rhythm and blues
- Anime music - closely tied to J-pop but often accompanied by soundtrack albums
- Anti-folk - sounds raw or experimental; it also generally mocks the seriousness and pretension of the established mainstream music scene in addition to mocking itself.
Ap-Ax
- Apala
- Arabesque - A versatile collection of music fusing eastern folk music, Arab classical music and various other genres
- Arabic pop - a subgenre of Arabic music fusing pop elements
- Argentine rock
- Ars antiqua - music of Europe of the late Middle Ages between approximately 1170 and 1310
- Ars nova - music of the Late Middle Ages, centered in France, which encompassed the period roughly from 1310 to 1314
- Art rock - rock music that tends to have "experimental or avant-garde influences" and emphasizes "novel sonic texture.
- Ashiq - Armenian bards who sing and accompany themselves on a saz (a kind of lute)
- Australian country music (see also Country music)
- Australian pub rock
- Australian hip hop
- Avant-garde jazz - sounds very similar to free jazz, but differs in that, despite its distinct departure from traditional harmony, it has a predetermined structure over which improvisation may take place.
- Avant-garde metal - a subgenre of heavy metal music characterised by the use of innovative, avant-garde elements, large-scale experimentation, and the use of non-standard sounds, instruments, and song structures.
- Avant-garde music - used at different times to mean different kinds of music (usually art music) considered ahead of their time and containing new, unusual, or experimental ideas or elements or fusing different genres.
- Art punk
- Axé - pop music from Brazil
B
Bac-Bal - Bam-Bay - Be-Bh - Bi-Bl - Br-Bu
Bac-Bal
- Bachata - originated in the countryside and the rural neighborhoods of the Dominican Republic. Its subjects are often romantic; especially prevalent are tales of heartbreak and sadness.
- Baggy
- Baião - a Northeast Brazilian rhythmic formula that became the basis of a wide range of music.
- Bakersfield sound - gritty, hard-edged reaction against 1950s pop country (Nashville sound)
- Bakshy - Turkmen folk music made by travelling musicians also called bakshy
- Baila - Sri Lankan dance music derived from African slaves held by the Portuguese
- Baile Funk - Brazilian dance music literally means "ball", as in "dance party", and "funk"
- Baisha xiyue - a song and dance suite from the Naxi of Lijiang, China
- Bajourou - Malian (Mali) pop music usually played at weddings and social gatherings.
- Bakou - trilling vocals that accompany Wolof wrestling
- Bal-musette - a style of French music and dance which arose in 1880s Paris especially the 5th, 11th, and 12th districts.
- Balakadri - a traditional quadrille music that was performed for balls on the Caribbean island of Guadeloupe.
- Balinese Gamelan - A form of Gamelan native to Bali
- Ballad - generic term for usually slow, romantic, despairing and catastrophic songs
- Ballata - an Italian poetic and musical form, which was in use from the late 13th to the 15th century.
- Ballet (music)
Bam-Bay
Be-Bh
- Beach music - a regional genre which developed from various musical styles of the forties, fifties and sixties. These styles ranged from big band swing instrumentals to the more raucous sounds of blues/jump blues, jazz, doo-wop, boogie, rhythm and blues, reggae, rockabilly and old-time rock and roll.
- Beat- a fusion of rock and roll, doo wop, skiffle, R&B and soul. Beat groups characteristically had simple guitar-dominated line-ups, with vocal harmonies and catchy tunes.
- Beatboxing - Music performed by producing percussive and melodic sounds with the mouth alone, often mimicking instruments, recorded samples and other sounds not typically associated with vocalization.
- Bebop - 1940s jazz style with complex improvisation and a fast tempo
- Beiguan - Taiwanese instrumental music
- Bel canto - Italian vocal style which arose in the late 16th century and which ended in the mid-19th century
- Bend-skin - a kind of urban Cameroonian popular music.
- Benga - a genre of Kenyan popular music
- Berlin School of electronic music - a style of electronic music characterized by atmospheric sounds and the use of sequencers.
- Bhajan - a Hindu religious song
- Bhangra/pron. bhang-gruh - a genre from India. A type of popular dance music combining Punjabi folk traditions with Western pop music, fusing traditional drum-based music with elements of reggae, ragga, hip-hop, rock, soul, and dance.
- Bhangra-wine
- Bhangragga
- Bhangramuffin
Bi-Bl
Br-Bu
- Brass band - a musical group generally consisting entirely of brass instruments, most often with a percussion section.
- Brazilian funk
- Brazilian jazz - bossa nova and samba mixed with American jazz
- Breakbeat - a collection of sub-genres of electronic music, usually characterized by the use of a non-straightened 4/4 drum pattern (as opposed to the steady beat of house or trance). These rhythms may be characterised by their intensive use of syncopation and polyrhythms.
- Breakbeat hardcore - a derivative of acid house that combines 4-to-the-floor rhythms with breakbeats, and is associated with UK Rave scene.
- Breakcore - an electronic music style that brings together elements of industrial, jungle, hardcore techno and IDM into a breakbeat-oriented sound that encourages speed, complexity, impact and maximum sonic density. It adheres to a loose set of stylistic rules.
- Breton Music - traditional music of Brittany, France, that is played today yet, with pipes, drums and bombard. It's also known for its original and very ancient songs called "gwerz", or "kan ha diskan".
- Brill Building Pop - named after New York's Brill Building at 1619 Broadway
- Britfunk
- Britpop
- British blues
- British Invasion - rock and roll, beat and pop performers from the United Kingdom who became popular in the United States from 1964 to 1966.
- Broken beat - an electronic music genre which can be characterized by syncopated rhythm typically in 4/4 metre, with staggered or punctuated snare beats and/or hand claps.
- Brown-eyed soul - a subgenre of soul music or rhythm and blues created in the United States mainly by Latinos in Southern California during the 1960s, continuing through to the early 1980s.
- Brukdown - rural Belizean Kriol music
- Brutal Death Metal - extreme form of Death Metal
- Bubblegum dance
- Bubblegum pop - sometimes synonymous with pop music, especially that performed by teen idols; can also refer to specific styles of South African or Japanese pop
- Bikutsi
- Bulerías
- Bumba-meu-boi
- Bunraku - Japanese style originated from a kind of puppet–theater.
- Burger-highlife
- Burgundian School...
- Byzantine Chant...
C
Ca - Cc-Ce - Ch - Ci-Cl - Co - Cr-Cu
Cad-Cam
Can-Car
Cas-Cav
- Cavacha
- Caveman - The remixing/re-formation of songs using guttural noises and grunts, instead of the mainstream accepted lyrics of the current era.
Cc-Ce
Cha
Che-Chi
Cho-Chr
Chu
Ci-Cl
Coc-Cor
Cou-Cow
Cr-Cu
D
Da - De-Dh - Di-Dr - Du-Dz
Da
De-Dh
Di-Dr
Du-Dz
E
Ea-En - Er-Ez
Ea-En
Ep-Ez
F
Fa - Fr - Fu
Fa-Fr
Fr
Fu
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