A Guide to the Popular Music Genres Today

Although almost every person loves to listen to music, most of us differ in the types of music that we listen to. On average, people spent 32.1 hours weekly listening to their favorite music.

Music is very powerful. Listening to music has many effects on us and we find our spirits lifted up, we experience relief from stress, and we simply enjoy singing with our favorite artists as we listen to the music that they play. When it comes to listening to music, all of us have our own preferences. But no matter what type of music we listen to, most of us have not really dug into the roots of the genre we are listening to.

Though not comprehensive, the discussion below gives you an idea of where your favorite music genre came from. We limit our discussion to 5 popular music genres of today.

Rap music is the newest genre of music today. A few decades ago, in the 60s and 70s, rap music was born in New York. Although this genre of music is relatively new, it has become the most popular genre among fans of music. This type of music features a high rate of beats per minutes. The rapper does not sing the song but simply says the words in a fast manner of speech. Rhyming and wordplay is used in rap and this makes it a really interesting type of music. There are many popular rappers today. And there are also many popular offshoots of this genre including gangster rap, mumble rap, dirty rap and more.

Rock music was the most popular before rap came. The sounds and rhythms of African music is the origins of rock music. In the 50s and 60s, Elvis Presley and Chuck Berry included elements of blues, gospel, and soul music to give rock its signature sound in those days. Today, the signature sound of rock has changed from drum-centric to a primarily guitar-driven genre.

Pop or popular music is a combination of styles and genres which are designed to be fun, upbeat and palatable to a wider audience. Most pop songs are short, repetitive, and has a chorus.

One of the most misunderstood music genre today is heavy metal. It is looked upon as a loud, angry noise. But in reality its roots come from blues and jazz. To create the darker, heavier sound, these musicians use the tritone known as the devil’s chords. Listeners of every type of music can have something offered by heavy metal. There is heavy metal that includes scary theatrical coatings characteristic of disco and pop music. There are also metal styles that incorporate jazz fusion, classical, and rock elements.

Opposite of pop and rock is punk music. Its beats per minute are very fast and is a very passionate guitar-driven music. It is off-putting and counter-culture.

You can learn more about the history of these music genres from this website where you can get more info.