Genre of the Week

What is a genre? It's a funny word! Well it's a French word, meaning 'kind' or 'type' and in English, we use it to describe different kinds of art, music or literature. 

In singing assemblies, we've been finding out a bit about different musical genres. We listen to some music, talk about the genre and its roots and introduce some traits to listen out for. Scroll through the genres below. There will be a new one each week.

Remember these are basic introductions to genres - music crosses genre all the time. Some people wish we didn't even use terms to describe different types of music! But it's important to understand what people mean when you hear them using these terms. Find out more at BBC BITESIZE

Gospel

Jazz

Jazz is a huge 'umbrella' genre that encompasses many sub-genres like bebop, swing, jazz-funk and ragtime. So it's hard to sum up the genre as a whole! However, there are some features that jazz music has in common. Jazz has its roots in African American music and grew out of marching bands and ragtime in New Orleans, USA, in the early 1900s. 

Listen out for:

• jazz scales and blue notes
• improvisation
• saxophone, trumpet, trombone, piano feature a lot in jazz music, as well as many other instruments

Jazz standards are usually based on songs from musicals and other popular music. Here are John Coltrane and Betty Carter's versions of My Favourite Things from The Sound of Music. Which version do you prefer? Why?  

Country 

Country music is a type of popular music with its roots in Blues and various other types of American folk music, including music from singing cowboys! The term country music was coined in the 1940s, but the genre remains very popular today. As with most genres of music, country music has many influences and has changed over the decades. Some of the most famous country musicians are Dolly Parton, Charley Pride, Willie Nelson, Patsy Cline and Johnny Cash. It is every country musician's dream to perform at the Grand Ole Opry, a concert stage in Nashville, Tennessee  Listen out for:

• Guitar, double bass, violin, mandolin, steel guitar, banjo
• Themes of heartbreak and nostalgia, sometimes featuring gun-slinging outlaws
• A clip clop rhythm, or perhaps a waltz in three beats, for line dancing or slow dancing

Watch this footage of Dolly Parton and Charley Pride performing on country music shows:

Dolly challenges the 'dumb blonde' stereotype, back in 1967, and Charley sings a love song as a member of the Country Music Hall of Fame.

You can read more about country music here or here. Some very famous rock and roll musicians like Buddy Holly and Elvis Presley were influenced by country music. We had fun singing along to Hillbilly Rock in our country music assembly, which describes this crossover from country to Rock and Roll! And we also listened to the Country/Rap hit Old Town Road, featuring 'Lil Nas X and country star Billy Ray Cyrus...

Blues
Blues music emerged in America more than 100 years ago. A lot of Blues music reflects on  the hardships of ordinary life. The music developed from different influences such as work songs and church singing, as well as travelling stage shows. There is even a link to the keening vocals of the Islamic call to prayer. There are many different styles of Blues from the 1900s to the 1970s, but there a few features to listen out for:

• A call and response structure - either with voices or instruments.
• Repetitive lyrics and musical lines (AAB verse structure).
• Guitar, harmonica and piano accompaniments - acoustic and, later, electric.
• Clashing 'blue notes' that stand out in the melody. 

The first Blues superstars were powerful female singers like Bessie Smith. Here she sings Nobody Knows You When You're Down and Out, and St Louis Blues in the only known footage of the lady herself. 

There were many other Blues queens in the 1920s, including Ma Rainey, Ethel Waters and Alberta Hunter. 

Another early style of blues was known as country blues and was usually a solo singer accompanied on guitar or piano sometimes with added harmonica or drums. Well-known country blues musicians include Lead Belly, Blind Lemon Jefferson, Robert Johnson and Charley Patton. You can hear Charley Patton's Spoonful Blues (recorded 1929) below:

From the 1920s to the 1970s, lots of African-American people moved from the rural Southern states of America to Northern cities like Chicago and Detroit. Different styles of blues emerged, known collectively as city blues or urban blues. During the 1940s and 1950s city blues was very popular in black clubs and bars. Many had amplified bands. Well-known electric blues musicians include Elmore James, Muddy Waters, T-Bone Walker, B.B. King and Howlin’ Wolf. Here's Howlin' Wolf performing How Many More Years? featuring his distinctive Blues harmonica. 

By the 1960s, the blues had spread beyond the USA notably to the UK and the rest of Western Europe. English blues guitarists such as Eric Clapton emulated this style. Many more blues rock guitarists have followed. The blues has left its mark on all areas of popular music and is the driving force behind rock music. You will probably have heard of The Rolling Stones. Here's their famous blues cover of Little Red Rooster (which was originally recorded by Howlin' Wolf!)

Find out more about the Blues on BBC BITESIZE.

Hip Hop

You've all heard of Hip Hop! Did you know that it developed from the disco craze, starting in the late 1970s and into the 1980s. Maybe some of your parents or grandparents were there at the start! Famous artists include The Sugarhill Gang, Jay Z, Notorious B.I.G, Eminem, Lauryn Hill, Nas, Drake, Warren G, Busta Rhymes, Snoop Dogg, Missy Elliot, Nicky Minaj, Kendrick Lamar. Mrs Woolfenden used to love listening to Salt n Pepa when she was growing up. Who are your favourite hip hop artists?
Listen out for:

• A regular beat accompanying rap (spoken) vocals
• Sampling - borrowing beats and basslines from other songs
• MCs on the mic and DJs scratching on turntables

Making history with some very early hip hop - Sugarhill Gang play Rapper's Delight. Can you hear the bassline has been sampled, or borrowed, from CHIC's disco hit Good Times?

Disco

Disco music hit its high-point in America in the mid to late 1970s. Unsurprisingly, disco music started in nightclubs - it's music that you just can't help but dance to. Famous artists include CHIC, Donna Summer, The Bee Gees and Sister Sledge. Disco influenced later genres like early Hip Hop and House music. Listen for the following features and don't forget to dress up in some sparkles and dance along!

• Regular bass beat
• Funky guitar rhythms and catchy hooks
• A good melody (tune) to sing along with

Classic disco tune Le Freak by CHIC. Freak out!

Marie Lloyd

Music Hall  
Music Hall songs were the popular music of the the Victorian and Edwardian times (1830s-1910s) in the UK. Music Hall was extremely popular in London with the famous Wilton's Music Hall and Hoxton Hall (which are not far from Queensbridge). Some performers were the first pop stars, like Marie Lloyd. There are a few early recordings featuring old music hall stars, like the one below, and more recordings of recent stars like George Fornby. Music Hall songs grew out of folk music, but influenced The Beatles, The Kinks, and other famous pop artists.  
Listen out for:

• Singalong choruses - everybody would know the words and join in!
• Piano or orchestral accompaniment
• Lots of comedy songs and songs about a hard life

A music hall medley from the phenomenal Florrie Forde, one of the most popular entertainers in Britain at the turn of the 20th Century

We sang Daisy Bell in singing assembly and couldn't help joining in with the chorus. Perhaps your parents and grandparents know this one? You can even hear a recording from 1894 here. It's a bit crackly!

Pop  
'Pop' is short for popular music, so the term is often used to describe music that would be included in other genres. However, some songs are really considered classic pop songs. Famous pop musicians include The Beatles, Abba, Beyonce, Jackson 5, Michael Jackson, Madonna, Justin Bieber, Prince, Lady Gaga, Arianna Grande, Elton John... the list goes on! 
Mainstream pop has some common traits. Listen out for:  

• Verse / chorus / verse / chorus structure
• Might include a 'bridge' section
• Has a catchy chorus or catchy 'hook'
• Features guitars, keyboards, electric bass, drumkit and powerful vocals

A lot of pop music is great for a fast dance, but there are also slow pop songs like ballads for a slow dance or for a great singalong. 

Pharrell Williams sings one of the catchiest pop songs EVER - Happy by Daft Punk

Skiffle

Mrs Woolfenden's washboard
and home-made string bass

Skiffle was perhaps the first DIY musical genre that hit the big-time with recordings that sold widely. It was a teen craze in the UK in the mid-1950s. Did you know that the Beatles, The Rolling Stones, The Who, David Bowie and Billy Bragg all started out playing Skiffle music?

Listen out for:

• Fast tempo and loud playing and singing
• Guitars, tea-chest bass, washboard and other homemade percussion
• Music to dance and sing to
• Simple repeated choruses

Rock Island Line is perhaps the most famous example of a skiffle song. It was originally recorded in an American prison in 1934, but Lonnie Donegan's recording became famous.

We also love Mama Don't Allow which you can find here or on the singing assembly page.

Folk

The term 'folk music' covers a very broad range of songs and tunes from all around the world. Different kinds of folk songs and tunes include:

• Sea shanties and other work songs for singing whilst working together
• Ballads (story songs)
• Instrumental tunes - often with A, A, B, B structure
• Tunes for traditional dances
• Modern or indie folk songs

Folk music is really music of the people and so the following things describe folk music:

• Music sung and played in families and communities - often (not always) as a collective activity rather than as performance
• Traditional songs and tunes dating back many years with no known writer
• Songs and tunes are traditionally learnt and taught by ear, rather than notated. 
• Features unaccompanied singing and acoustic instruments. 

Reggae

Reggae emerged in Jamaica in the 1960s. Bob Marley is the most famous reggae singer/songwriter, but check out other legends too, for example, Jimmy Cliff, Toots and the Maytals and the wonderfully named Eek-a-Mouse.

Listen out for:

• Electric guitars, keyboard, bass guitar and drums
• Amplified bass guitar riffs
• 4/4 rhythm with missing emphasis on the first beat and repeated offbeat quavers (short notes).
• Verse and chorus structure
• Simple chord sequences
• Political themes

Listen: Bob Marley, Get Up Stand Up, live in Munich, 1980