Music Genres and Styles

Traditional music is a modern name for what has been called "folk music", excluding the expansion of the term folk music to include much non-traditional material. The defining characteristics of traditional music are:

Oral transmission: The music is handed down and learned through singing, listening, and sometimes dancing. It is passed down without written sheet music.

Cultural basis: The music comes from and is part of the traditions of a particular region or culture.

Folk music includes both traditional music and the genre that evolved from it during the 20th century folk revival. The term originated in the 19th century but is often applied to older music. Some types of folk music are also called world music.

Traditional folk music has been defined in several ways: as music transmitted by mouth, as music of the lower classes, and as music with unknown composers. It is not music made only for money.

Folk music is usually music that has been transmitted and evolved by a process of oral transmission or performed by custom over a long period of time; these songs would be passed down from generation to generation, which is why there are often many variations.

Folk music generally identifies with a particular nation and provides a common ground for immigrants. Examples include music from Greece, Latin America, France, Africa, Israel, Asia, or the American Indians.

Folk Music often commemorates a personal or historical event such as religious festivals, funerals, weddings, etc. These songs may also be accompanied by traditional dances or costumes.

Folk music often uses non-standard instruments we generally call “folk instruments”. Some are: banjo, fiddle, harmonica, pan flute, dulcimer, tin whistle, oud, balalaika, didgeridoo, sitar, and djembe.

Art music (also known as serious music) is an general term used to refer to musical traditions implying a more complicated structure and a written musical tradition.

Art music is usually more complex and requires skilled musicians to perform it, unlike traditional music and popular music, which are easily accessible to everyone.

Popular music belongs to any of a number of musical genres "having wide appeal” and is typically distributed to large audiences through the music industry. It stands in contrast to both art music and traditional music, which are typically passed on academically or orally to smaller, local audiences.

Popular music is different than “pop music”, and refers to music of all ages that appeals to popular tastes of society.