The human brain loves classifying information. It’s our way of understanding and simplifying the complex world we live in. Putting things into categories makes it easy and quick to understand any topic. When it comes to books, we have fiction, non-fiction, drama, poetry, memoirs etc. In movies, we have comedies, horrors, action, thrillers and so on. So it is with music.
Music is categorized by something called a ‘genre’. Genre (pronounced ‘Jon-rah’) is a French word, which means ‘kind’ or ‘sort’. In music, genre is a way to categorize different styles into certain shared traditions or set of conventions. These traditions are usually based on the instruments used, the style and origin of the music and the cultural context that shapes it. Peter van der Merwe, a musicologist and author from South Africa, describes genre as pieces of music that share a certain style or “basic musical language.” Oftentimes, musical genres overlap to create something called a ‘subgenre’ or a new genre altogether.
In recent times, thanks to the internet, artists now have the ability to share their music across the world. This means music today is more diverse than ever. Which also means a whole lot of new genres. Let’s take a look at some of the genres of music across the world and gain a better understanding of them.
Genres in India and the rest of the world:
India and music go a long way back in history. The first known record of it is from 30,000 years ago in the Bhimbhetka rock shelters in Madhya Pradesh which depict music instruments and dance. Be it any genre, the use of ragas i.e certain melodic frameworks is heavily relied upon in any music form in India. Broadly speaking though, Indian music can be classified into three categories:
International music has a different set of genres altogether. Some of the most popular forms in the American music industry being Hip-hop, Jazz, Blues, RnB and Country. If you move to the European continent, some genres sound a bit similar to the American ones and some change altogether. For example, American traditions of Rock music and Blues underwent a series of changes in the UK to give birth to the genre of Metal music.
It can be said that countries across the world have their own style of folk music genres and others too, which makes the count of genres almost impossible to keep up with.
In recent times, with the rise of the internet and the ability to share music across the world, there has been a huge rise in the number of genres. With the increased access to music all over the world. Musicians today are able to blend music from across the world and come up with a new genre altogether. It is safe to say now that a lot of popular music today doesn’t quite stick to one particular genre.
Take K-Pop music, for example, made famous across the world by the boy band BTS. Although technically it is Korean Pop music, it is considered to be an all-encompassing genre, comprising elements of Rock, Jazz, Hip-hop, RnB, Reggae, Electronic and more! Bollywood music also follows a similar pattern of mixing genres. Some of the most popular Bollywood songs like Chaiyya Chaiyya or the recent hit number Kala Chashma, mix up more than two genres in a single song.
Some people believe that one’s personality traits influence their choice of music. There’s no scientific evidence to prove if this is true or not. What is true for sure though, is that music is a uniquely human experience and it is subjective in nature. There are a lot of different kinds of music all around the world. One should definitely explore as much of it as possible. You never know what you like till you try it!
Keep exploring, keep learning and keep having fun!
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1. How many genres of music are there?
There are over 1,000 music genres that exist today and the number is only growing. Technically, there can be infinite music genres especially in today's age where the internet has sprawled numerous mash-ups of genres.
2. What genre is BTS?
The music of BTS is categorised as K-pop, a genre that was born in South Korea.
3. What was the first genre of music?
Vocal music and Folk music are considered to be the oldest genres of music.
4. What is the most popular genre of music in 2022?
According to music streaming service Spotify, pop is the most popular genre of music in 2022.
Charu, a feminist and an accidental writer, is yet to master the art of writing about herself. Always curious to learn new stuff, she ends up spending a lot of time unlearning the incorrect lessons. She enjoys all sorts of stories – real, fictional, new, old, hers and would love hearing yours too. Feel free to ping her at storyweavers@byjus.com to share anything that you think is worth sharing.
Comments
Manimudrika
August 5, 2020
Thank-you byju’s for much information about music.. Because i want to be a singer and I am also I am a big fan of BTS too so I purple you ARMYYY????
Shivangi Yadav
June 24, 2020
I am also an army (bts fan)
ปั้มไลค์
May 26, 2020
Like!! I blog quite often and I genuinely thank you for your information. The article has truly peaked my interest.
Ananya
April 25, 2020
is there the entries open for women’s day
Astha Gupta
April 22, 2020
Seeing about BTS really makes me happy
I purple you ?
Vaibhavi Upadhye
April 20, 2020
I am also a diehard fans of BTS (member of A.R.M.Y.)??
Vaibhavi Upadhye
April 20, 2020
Yess I am also diehard fans of BTS??
Parul
April 20, 2020
What an educational article. Loved it.
Utsa Barai
April 20, 2020
I love sad song ❣️?
Trrishan Saha
April 20, 2020
Wow!
Swetha Sekhar
April 19, 2020
I am studying carnatic and folk music for the last 7 years.
Thank you BYJU’S for this informative content
Harinder Pal Singh
April 18, 2020
I am a big fan of BTS. ARMY! Fighting
Nishchala
April 18, 2020
I am an army too
( That means that I am a fan of bts)
Nandini
April 18, 2020
I am a big fan of k-pop music especially BTS???
Neeraj
April 17, 2020
Excellent , interesting and very informative
Prakash
April 17, 2020
Incredible content, Byjus!
Atharva Pratap Singh
April 17, 2020
Learning has become fun and I want to say a special thanks to the BYJU’S group of teachers