Styles of Music

This lesson is designed to give you an overview of the stylistic characteristics that are involved in each style or genre of music. Each style has its own unique traits that are a lot of times mixed and matched with the traits of other styles in order to create a fresh new sound.

Rock is the simplest genre of all of the genres listed. The chord of choice for a rock song is the power chord. This chord only contains two different notes and that is what makes the style so simple. The power chord is usually the only chord that you will hear in a rock song. The instrumentation is usually made up of two guitarist's, one electric bass player, a drummer, and a vocalist. Most songs in this genre are in 4/4 timing and due to the simplicity of the chords used in rock, you are less restricted by the scales that you can use. Because power chords only have two different notes, they are compatible with huge variety of scales. Basically any scale that contains a perfect fifth above the tonic can be played over a power chord.

The major chord is the chord of choice for a pop song. Pop is a genre that is mostly in 4/4 timing. Pop chord progressions usually consist of major or minor chords and are known for being constructed out of the major modes. Ionian is a mode that is commonly used to make pop music. Common chord progressions are listed below.

I IV V

I vi IV V

I IV vi ii V

Country is a style that is the same as pop music theoretically. It uses a lot of the same chords as pop does. What sets country apart from pop is the instrumentation and the familiar country vocal timbre. Instruments used to make country music usually consist of a guitar, bass, drum set, violin, piano, and vocals. Country also uses a lot of the same chord progressions as pop music. These chord progressions are also normally constructed from the major modes much like pop music.

Funk is a style that is very syncopated. This means that the notes will commonly be placed on the and's of beats. Funk is also known for having only one chord in the whole song. This is called jammin on the one and is very common in funk styles. Chords that are known for funk are The minor 7, the Dominant 9, and The Dominant 7 #9. Rhythm is what drives this style. Common instruments used in funk are the guitar, bass, drum set, trumpet, trombone, vocalist, saxophone, flute, and a variety of percussive effects. It is common for there to be a solid bass line that is complimented by a rhythm guitar playing a funk chord in relation to the rhythm of the bass line. Timing in this style is usually is 4/4 timing and the drummer commonly counts by 16th note subdivisions. Like this: 1 e & a 2 e & a 3 e & a 4 e & a. These articulations are usually played on the hi-hat by the drummer in order to keep solid time.

The classical style of music a style that has very picky rules that can be broken, but only after they are learned. Classical music can take on many different forms and is actually the originator of all western tonal styles of music. This was the only style that existed in western tonal music when the idea of chords were introduced. It was this style that fine tuned the way of going about chord progressions. Today many styles have branched off from this style and still carry on some of the same harmonic traditions that were started when classical music was the popular music of the day.

Jazz is the most harmonically complex genre of all. Chords in jazz are usually made up of at least 4 different notes. A lot of times in jazz the key will change several times during the song. This is why jazz is extremely hard to play. Instead of using one scale for a melody like most other genres, jazz will be made up of complex chord changes that change the key every few measures. This is called modulating. Instruments commonly used in jazz are the trumpet, trombone, saxophone, drum set, guitar, bass, piano, and vocals. In the early days of Jazz it wasn't uncommon for a banjo and a clarinet to be included in the instrumentation. In the jazz style the bass player usually plays steady quarter notes for the bass line rhythm while the guitarist and pianist comp the chords. Comping is a way of playing chord progressions in the Jazz style. It is a short brief playing of the chord rather than holding it and letting it ring. Another characteristic of Jazz is the tendency to in include angular melodies. Angular melodies are a type of melody that has large leaps in between each note of the melody. This will give the melody a nice mix of intervals and really draws out the Jazz sound.