You have to be kidding on some of these. Unless you’re hiding under a rock with no TV or radio and listen only to classical and opera…
Acid - Late '60s psychadelic rock - supposedly enhanced acid trips for those who were interested in having them.
Alternative - Not popular enough to be “mainstream”, but very popular especially on college campuses - REM and U2 are often referred to as bordering on “alternative”, the Cure is a very successful “alternative” group, I don’t listen to much of this style, so I don’t have any good band names to throw at you.
AlternRock - Beats me - one would assume it’s alternative that has a harder edge and leans more toward rock.
Avant-gard - um, yeah
Bebop - a particular style of jazz, not sure what defines it
Christian Rap - yeah, right
Gothic - some alternative, some industrial. Appeals to the Goth crowd, hence the name. Varies by which Goth individual you ask - just find someone wearing black lipstick and lots of black cloting with their hair dyed black and pale, pale skin and listen to what they’re listening to.
Hard Rock - Guitar-and-drum driven rock and roll - there’s sure to be a rock station in your local radio market that plays hard rock (sometimes referred to as “album rock” but that’s a stupid name for it). Examples include Van Halen, AC/DC, Jimi Hendrix, etc.
Industrial - Need help with this one…I know it when I hear it…
Metal - a step beyond Hard Rock, leaning toward heavier, repetitive drum and guitar work, lots of guitar “power chords”, lots of heavy distortion on the guitars. Examples: Metallica, Ozzy Osbourne/Black Sabbath. Has been losing popularity gradually since the '90s, but still going.
New Age - Airy, atmospheric, relaxing sounds, lots of synthesized instruments/vocals. Not my cup of tea. Examples: some Enya, Yanni, etc… Go to a music store. Browse under “New Age”, you’ll get the idea.
New Wave - the precursor to Alternative, began to appear in the early '80s. Kate Bush, Devo, Adam Ant, David Bowie, etc.
Pop - Short for “popular” - the current mainstream music in any given time period. Current pop music includes Britney Spears, Back Street Boys, Missy Elliott, Justin Timberlake. Varies by decade - in the '60s, the Beatles were “Pop”, in the '50s, Buddy Holly was “Pop”, in the '40s Glenn Miller and Tommy Dorsey were pop. Music stores usually have an extensive “Pop” section.
Progressive - Not alternative enough to be alternative, not mainstream enough to be pop.
Punk - Rebellious, loud, and frantic. The Sex Pistols, The Ramones, The Clash, etc… Green Day tries very hard to be Punk, but they just don’t quite make it. The music style that brought the world green mohawks and the mosh pit.
Psychadelic - similar to “Acid” - like, wow, man…
Oldies - You’re kidding, right? Popular music from the '50s, '60s and early '70s. Elvis, the Righteous Brothers, Jefferson Airplane, Derek and the Dominoes, Eddie Cochran, the Beatles, Aretha Franklin, etc… Covers several categories, including acid/psychadelic, hard rock, pop, R&B, etc. Disco is not included in “oldies”.
Rave - techno dance music, popular at clandestine dance clubs known as “raves”, hence the name. Often created by the DJ at the rave - you will not find a “Rave” section at your local music store.
R&B - Definition changes depending on the decade, name is an abbreviation for “Rhythm and Blues” although current R&B has little to do with Blues music. '50/'60s: Ray Charles, James Brown, Sam and Dave, Aretha Franklin. '90s/today: Nelly, TLC, R Kelly. Most music stores have an “R&B” section.
Rock - Like hard rock, only not as hard, unless it is as hard, then it is as hard. Still usually guitar driven, the “standard” rock band includes guitar, bass, drums, and sometimes keyboards plus a vocalist. C’mon, there is no way that you don’t know what “rock” is. Listen to the radio - you’re bound to have a rock station in your city. Or browse through the “Rock” section at your local music store.
Techno - as the name implies, technology based dance music. Lots of synth, sampled instruments, drum machine rhythms.
Everyone else, feel free to contradict me or add better examples than I came up with…
Music does not fit neatly into these categories - one person’s rock could be another person’s metal, pop can be progressive if your tastes run that direction, and some artists will include five or six music styles on a single album depending on what mood they’re in when they write the songs. Some artists change categories as their style develops over the years. U2 started out skirting the edges of punk and new wave, dipped into rock and pop later on, made a pass at alternative, and now flit around the edges of all of the above. David Bowie has been psychadelic, new wave, pop and rock at various times.
Pop?
Progressive?
Punk?
Psychadelic?
Oldies? (well, what is considered an oldie, anyway?)
Rave?
R&B?
Rock?
Techno?
