What is music genre? Different music genres and their association

What is music genre?

Different music genres and their association

What is a definition of a music genre? 

Music genre can be categorises various types of music each genre has its own symbols and its own belonging to certain groups of conventions.  It is to be distinguished from musical form and musical style, although in practice these terms are sometimes used interchangeably.  Therefore music is separated into many genres differently depending on the style. For example, madrigal, motet and dance are example of genres from the Renaissance period.  Renaissance music is vocal and instrumental music written and performed in Europe during the Renaissance era. This is an example of how a piece of music can be categorised. People may refer to some or all of a small group of categories when using period as the criteria for a music genre. These include Early Music, Medieval Music, Renaissance Music, Baroque Music, Classical Music, Romantic Music, and 20th Century Music. Within the music genre there is a popular music genre – any genre of music having wide appeal however, this doesn’t last very long. Another genre is expressive style, style – a way of expressing something (in language or art or music etc.) that is characteristic of a particular person or group of people or period; “all the reporters were expected to adopt the style of the newspaper”. Also each genre has different associations and representation for example;

This is an example of the elements that influences the representation of house music. Dance music includes ambient, breakbeat, disco, electro, freestyle and electroacoustic music. It is the music made to facilitate or accompany dancing. The Renaissance dance music was written for instruments such as the lute, viol, tabor, pipe, and the sackbut. In the Baroque period, the major dance styles were noble court dances. From that the dance music developed to classical music era containing vocals mostly sonatas, string quartets and symphonies. General association of this genre includes beats music and often are shown at the club, gigs or festival. 

In terms of rock we are able to see that the associations that are drawn between them are dark colours, emphasised by the lack of bright colours in the pictures. They also seem to be heavily involved in tattoos or body art such as pericings also. Explicit language is seen in a variety of different ways in their music weather it be in interviews or in the song lyrics. Other stereotypical views are the simple long hair and leather clothing that are seen throughout the entirety of rock. 

Dance music is seen as the complete alternative to rock, this includes bright colours and scenes that are usually in a club or rave. The equipment is usually that of a laptop and Dj set. the stage is seen as much more bright in a live performance and the consumers themselves are seen as much more laid back and gracious when comparing  to rock and metal fans.

This includes baggy clothing such as loose jackets or hoodies, muscularity and confident poses, although the overall look seems to be more casual and stylish. The general consensus is that more weapons are shown in this type of music as well as expensive items such as cars, money, jewellery and properties. Explicit language is once again present as seen in Rock music. the glorifying of women is almost exclusive to this genre of music with women being sexualised for their appearance more so than any other genre of music.