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Musical genres are categories which contain music which share a certain style or which have certain elements in common. (See also musical form.)

Some genres, such as Indian music, are geographically defined; others, like Baroque music, are largely defined by chronology. Still others, such as Barbershop, are defined by quite precise technical requirements. Some genres, however, are quite vague, and may be contrived by critics; post-rock, for example, is a term devised and defined by Simon Reynolds. Yet 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.

To some extent, all attempts to categorise music will have a degree of artificiality to them, because musicians tend to produce music in any style they choose, without concerning themselves with which genre they are working in. Some people feel that the categorization of music into genres is useless. 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 commercialize an artist's complex personal vision", implying that oftentimes, genres represent efforts at marketing rather than actual musical distinctions. Other artists feel that it is the artist's fault themselves for making a body of work that can be put into a shared class easily with others.

Dividing music by genre is still widely done, however, making it easier to trace threads through music history, and increasing the ease with which individuals find artists that they enjoy.


1 Overview of main groupings

Although there are many individual genres, it is possible to group these together into a number of overlapping major groupings. The rest of this page attempts to do that for a number of widely agreed areas.

These definitions are relatively short and simple, referring to further articles as needed.

1.1 Classical music (or art music)

The term classical music refers to a number of different, but related, genres. Without any qualification, the usual meaning of "classical music" in the English language is European classical music (an older usage describes specifically the Western art music of the Classical Music Era). It can also refer to the classical (or art) music of non-Western cultures such as Indian classical musicThe origins of Indian classical music can be found from the oldest of scriptures, part of the Hindu tradition, the Vedas. Samaveda, one of the four vedas describes music at length. The two main streams of Indian classical music are Hindustani music, from or Chinese classical musicChinese Classical music is the traditional art or court music of China. It has a long history stretching for more than three thousand years. It has its own unique systems of musical notation, as well as pitching, musical instruments and styles. Intruments.

In a Western context, classical music is generally a classification covering music composed and performed by professionally-trained artists. Classical music is a written tradition. It is composed and written using music notation, and as a rule is performed faithfully to the score. Art music is a term widely used to describe classical music and other serious forms of artistic musical expression, Western or non-Western, especially referring to serious music composed after 1950Events January January 5 US Senator Estes Kefauver introduces a resolution calling for examination of organized crime in the USA January 6 The United Kingdom recognizes the People's Republic of China. The Republic of China severs diplomatic relations with.


1.2 Country music

Country musicCountry music once known as Country and Western music is a popular musical form developed in the southern United States, with roots in traditional folk music, spirituals, and the blues. Vernon Dalhart was the first country singer to have a nation-wide hit is usually used to refer to honky tonkHonky tonk was originally the name of a type of bar common throughout the southern United States, also Honkatonk or Honkey-tonk . Honky tonks were also known as Tonks or Tunks . These were usually establishments selling alcohol to a working-class clientel today. Emerging in the 1930sCenturies: 19th century 20th century 21st century Decades: 1880s 1890s 1900s 1910s 1920s 1930s 1940s 1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s Years: 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 Events and trends Technology Jet engine invented Link Trainer invented Sc in the United StatesThe United States of America also referred to as the United States U. America ¹ or the States is a federal republic in central North America, stretching from the Atlantic in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west. It shares land borders with Canada in, honky tonk country was strongly influenced by the blues, as well as jug bands (which cannot be properly called honky tonk). In the 1950s, country achieved great mainstream success by adding elements of rock and roll; this was called rockabilly. In addition, Western swing added influences from Swing and bluegrass emerged as a largely underground phenomenon. Later in the decade, the Nashville sound, a highly polished form of country music, became very popular. In reaction to this, harder-edged, gritty musicians sprung up in Bakersfield, California, inventing the Bakersfield sound. Merle Haggard and similar artists brought the Bakersfield sound to mainstream audiences in the 1960s, while Nashville started churning out countrypolitan. During the 1970s, the most popular genre was outlaw country, a heavily rock-influenced style. The late 1980s saw the Urban Cowboys bring about an influx of pop-oriented stars during the 1990s. Modern bluegrass music has remained mostly traditional, though progressive bluegrass and close harmony groups do exist, and the sound is the primary basis for jam bands like the Grateful Dead.





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