Music genre - Citizendia

A music genre is a categorical and typological construct that identifies musical sounds as belonging to a particular category and type of music that can be distinguished from other types of music. Genre is a common concept that has great commercial and aesthetic importance, but it also continues to frustrate fans, artists, composers, and critics who don't want to be pigeonholed, for instance. There is always disagreement about the definition of a genre, and it is impossible to list all genre categories in existence. For further examination of these general issues, see Negus 1999 and Holt 2007 (reference list below).

There are several approaches to genre. In his book Form in Tonal Music, Douglass M. Green lists the madrigal, the motet, the canzona, the ricercar, and the dance as examples of genres (from the Renaissance period). According to Green, "Beethoven's Op. 61 and Mendelssohn's Op. 64 are identical in genre - both are violin concertos - but different in form. Mozart's Rondo for Piano, K. 511, and the Agnus Dei from his Mass, K. 317 are quite different in genre but happen to be similar in form. "^[1] Some treat the terms genre and style as the same, and state that genre should be defined as pieces of music that share a certain style or "basic musical language". Music is an Art form in which the medium is Sound organized in Time. ^[2] Others state that genre and style are two separate terms, and that secondary characteristics such as subject matter can also differentiate between genres. ^[3] A music genre (or sub-genre) could be defined by the techniques, the styles, the context and the themes (content, spirit). Musical technique is the study of natural minor major and chromatic scales minor and major triads dominant and diminished sevenths formula patterns and arpeggios Also, geographical origin sometimes is used to define the music genre, though a single geographical category will normally include a wide variety of sub-genres. Geography (from Greek γεωγραφία - geografia) is the study of the Earth and its lands features inhabitants and phenomena

1 Categorization
2 Arguments
- 2.1 Subjectivity
- 2.2 Resistance
3 Aversion to different genres
4 References
5 See also

Categorization

A list of genres of music (including subgengres) can be found at List of music genres. This list is split into four separate pages List of styles of music A-F List of styles of music G-M List of styles of music N-R However, there are a number of criteria with which one may classify musical genres, including:

The Art/Popular/Traditional distinction
Regional and national distinctions
Fusional origins

Art music

Main article: Art music

Art music, also known as "serious music," primarily refers to classical music, including European classical music, or others listed at List of classical music styles (including non-European classical music), contemporary classical music (including Electronic art music, Experimental music and Minimalist music). Art music (or serious music or erudite music) as defined by Jacques Siron is an umbrella term generally used to refer to musical traditions implying advanced structural Classical music is a broad term that usually refers to mainstream music produced in or rooted in the traditions of Western liturgical and Secular music Classical music in its widest sense refers to music composed in a classical tradition and intended as serious art especially as distinguished from popular or Folk music Contemporary classical music can be understood as belonging to a period that started in the mid-1970s with the retreat of modernism. Experimental music is a term introduced by composer John Cage in 1955 Minimalist music is an originally American genre of experimental or Downtown music named in the 1960s based mostly in consonant harmony, steady Art music may also include certain forms of Jazz (even though jazz is primarily a popular form of music). Jazz is an American Musical art form which originated in the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States

Popular music

Main article: Popular music

The usual stereotype of "popular music" is music belonging to any of a number of musical styles that are accessible to the general public and are disseminated by one or more of the mass media. Popular music is Music belonging to any of a number of musical styles that are accessible to the general public and are disseminated by one or more Music is an Art form in which the medium is Sound organized in Time. Mainstream is generally the common current of Thought of the Majority. "Popular press" redirects here note that the University of Wisconsin Press publishes under the imprint "The Popular Press" For a critical introduction, see the work of Richard Middleton (e. g. Studying Popular Music 1990) and Starr/Waterman American Popular Music (2003)

Traditional music

Main article: Traditional music

Traditional music is the modern name for what used to be called "Folk music", before the term "Folk music" was expanded to include a lot of non-traditional material. Traditional music is the term now used in the terminology of Grammy Awards for what used to be called " folk music " Folk music can have a number of different meanings including Traditional music: The original meaning of the term "folk music" was synonymous The defining characteristics of traditional music are:

Oral transmission: The music is passed down, or learned, through singing and listening and sometimes dancing
Cultural basis: The music derives from and is part of the traditions of a particular region or culture. Oral tradition, oral culture and oral lore is a way for a society to transmit history, literature, law and other Knowledges Culture (from the Latin cultura stemming from colere, meaning "to cultivate" generally refers to patterns of human activity and the symbolic

Regional and national music

It is possible to categorize music geographically. For example, the term "Australian music" could include Australian rock music, Australian traditional music in the European style (eg. Waltzing Matilda), Aboriginal Australian music, Australian classical music, and Australian Jazz.

Fusional origins

In the West, nearly all music except Traditional music has a fusional origin. Traditional music is the term now used in the terminology of Grammy Awards for what used to be called " folk music "

A fusion genre is a music genre that combines two or more genres. A Fusion genre is a music genre that fuses two or more other musical genres For example, rock and roll originally developed as a fusion of blues, gospel and country music. Rock and roll (also known as rock 'n' roll) is a form of Music that evolved in the United States in the late 1940s and early 1950s with roots in mostly African The Blues is a vocal and instrumental form of Music based on the use of the Blue notes It emerged as an accessible form of self-expression This article is about the canonical books of the New Testament Country music is a blend of popular musical forms originally found in the Southern United States and the Appalachian Mountains. The main characteristics of fusion genres are variations in tempo, rhythm and sometimes the use of long musical "journeys" that can be divided into smaller parts, each with their own dynamics, style and tempo.

Artists who work in fusion genres are often difficult to categorise within non-fusion styles. Most styles of fusion music are influenced by various musical genres. While there are many reasons for this, the main reason is that most genres evolved out of other genres. When the new genre finally identifies itself as separate, there is often a large gray area in which musicians are left. These artists generally consider themselves part of both genres. A musician who plays music that is dominantly blues, influenced by rock, is often labelled a blues-rock musician. The first genre is the one from which the new one evolved. The second genre is the newer and less-dominant genre in the artist's playing. An example of a blues-rock group would be Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble. Stephen "Stevie" Ray Vaughan ( October 3, 1954 August 27, 1990) was an American Blues-rock Guitarist Vaughan, a Texas blues guitarist, surrounded by a world in which rock was dominating music, used rock and blues together.

Arguments

Subjectivity

One of the problems with the grouping of music into genres is that it is a subjective process that has a lot to do with the individual's personal understanding and way of listening to music. This is especially true in sub-genres. One example is Led Zeppelin, which could be called heavy metal, hard rock, classic rock, folk, or blues, depending on one's interpretation (and not helped by the fact that they made excursions into other genres such as electric folk). Led Zeppelin were Electric folk is a genre of music in which British and Celtic Traditional music is played in a Rock music style Another difficulty with grouping artists into genres is that, for many, their style of music changes over time.

Some genre labels are quite vague. Many were originally contrived by marketing executives or music critics; post-rock, for example, is a term devised and defined by Simon Reynolds. The word critic comes from the Greek el κριτικός ( el-Latn kritikós) "able to discern" which in turn derives from the word Post-rock is a genre of Alternative rock characterized by the use of Musical instruments commonly associated with Rock music, but using Rhythms Simon Reynolds (born 1963 in London, England; raised in Hertfordshire) is an English Music critic who is well-known for his writings on Another example of this is video game music, which while defined by its media, can also represent its own style, as well as that of any other musical genre. Video game music is any of the musical pieces or Soundtracks found in Video games History Early video game technology and computer chip music

Resistance

Categorising music, especially into finer genres or sub genres, can be difficult for newly emerging styles or for pieces of music that incorporate features of multiple genres. Attempts to pigeonhole particular musicians in a single genre are sometimes ill-founded as they may produce music in a variety of genres over time or even within a single piece. A musician is a person who plays or writes Music. Musicians can be classified by their roles in creating or performing music An instrumentalist plays a Some people feel that the categorisation of music into genres is based more on commercial and marketing motives than musical criteria. In popular usage "marketing" is the promotion of products especially Advertising and Branding However in professional usage the term has a wider meaning of John Zorn, for example, a musician whose work has covered a wide range of genres, wrote in Arcana: Musicians on Music that genres are tools used to "commodify and commercialise an artist's complex personal vision". John Zorn (born September 2 1953 in Queens, New York City) is an American Avant-garde Composer, arranger, Record

Aversion to different genres

Many people have great aversion to genres differing widely from that which they prefer. This phenomenon has been used by shop owners to repel teenagers, to drive dictators out of embassies ^[4], and is a factor with "boom cars" vs. neighborhoods.

See also: Music psychology and Sociomusicology

References

^ Green, Douglass M. Music psychology, or the psychology of music may be regarded either as a branch of Psychology or as a branch of Musicology. Sociomusicology refers to both an academic subfield of Sociology that is concerned with Music (often in combination with other arts as well as a subfield (1965). Form in Tonal Music. Holt, Rinehart, and Winston, Inc, 1. ISBN 0030202868.
^ van der Merwe, Peter (1989). Peter van der Merwe was born in Cape Town, South Africa. He is a Musicologist, Author, and Librarian at the Natal Society Origins of the Popular Style: The Antecedents of Twentieth-Century Popular Music. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 3. ISBN 0-19-316121-4.
^ Moore, Allen "Categorical Conventions in Music Discourse: Style and Genre" Music & Letters, Vol. 82, No. 3 (Aug. , 2001), pp. 432-442
^ Welcome_to_the_Jungle#"Welcome_to_the_Jungle"_and_Noriega

"Genre. " Welcome to the Jungle " is the first track from Guns N' Roses ' debut album Appetite for Destruction, and also on their Greatest Hits album " The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians. Grove Music Online.
Holt, Fabian (2007). Genre in Popular Music. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. The University of Chicago Press is the largest University press in the United States
Negus, Keith (1999). Music Genres and Corporate Cultures. New York: Routledge. Routledge is a publisher of non-fiction academic books and journals ISBN 041517399X.

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