This is a list of electronic music genres, consisting of
genres
Genre () is any form or type of communication in any mode (written, spoken, digital, artistic, etc.) with socially-agreed-upon conventions developed over time. In popular usage, it normally describes a category of literature, music, or other for ...
of
electronic music
Electronic music is a genre of music that employs electronic musical instruments, digital instruments, or circuitry-based music technology in its creation. It includes both music made using electronic and electromechanical means ( electroac ...
, primarily created with
electronic musical instrument
An electronic musical instrument or electrophone is a musical instrument that produces sound using electronic circuitry. Such an instrument sounds by outputting an electrical, electronic or digital audio signal that ultimately is plugged into ...
s or
electronic music technology. A distinction has been made between sound produced using
electromechanical
In engineering, electromechanics combines processes and procedures drawn from electrical engineering and mechanical engineering. Electromechanics focuses on the interaction of electrical and mechanical systems as a whole and how the two systems ...
means and that produced using electronic technology.
[T. B. Holmes, ''Electronic and Experimental Music: Pioneers in Technology and Composition'' (London: Routledge, 2nd ed., 2002), , p. 6.] Examples of electromechanical sound producing devices include the
telharmonium
The Telharmonium (also known as the Dynamophone) was an early electrical organ, developed by Thaddeus Cahill c. 1896 and patented in 1897.
, filed 1896-02-04.
The electrical signal from the Telharmonium was transmitted over wires; it was hear ...
,
Hammond organ
The Hammond organ is an electric organ invented by Laurens Hammond and John M. Hanert and first manufactured in 1935. Multiple models have been produced, most of which use sliding drawbars to vary sounds. Until 1975, Hammond organs generated s ...
,
electric piano
An electric piano is a musical instrument which produces sounds when a performer presses the keys of a piano-style musical keyboard. Pressing keys causes mechanical hammers to strike metal strings, metal reeds or wire tines, leading to vibrations ...
, and the
electric guitar
An electric guitar is a guitar that requires external amplification in order to be heard at typical performance volumes, unlike a standard acoustic guitar (however combinations of the two - a semi-acoustic guitar and an electric acoustic gui ...
. Purely electronic sound production can be achieved using devices such as the
theremin
The theremin (; originally known as the ætherphone/etherphone, thereminophone or termenvox/thereminvox) is an electronic musical instrument controlled without physical contact by the performer (who is known as a thereminist). It is named afte ...
,
sound synthesizer
A synthesizer (also spelled synthesiser) is an electronic musical instrument that generates audio signals. Synthesizers typically create sounds by generating waveforms through methods including subtractive synthesis, additive synthesis and f ...
, and
computer
A computer is a machine that can be programmed to Execution (computing), carry out sequences of arithmetic or logical operations (computation) automatically. Modern digital electronic computers can perform generic sets of operations known as C ...
.
[T. B. Holmes, ''Electronic and Experimental Music: Pioneers in Technology and Composition'' (London: Routledge, 2nd ed., 2002), , p. 8.] Genre, however, is not always dependent on instrumentation.
In its early development, electronic music was associated almost exclusively with Western
art music
Art music (alternatively called classical music, cultivated music, serious music, and canonic music) is music considered to be of high phonoaesthetic value. It typically implies advanced structural and theoretical considerationsJacques Siron, ...
, but from the late 1960s, the availability of affordable music technology—particularly of synthesizers—meant that music produced using electronic means became increasingly common in the popular domains of
rock
Rock most often refers to:
* Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids
* Rock music, a genre of popular music
Rock or Rocks may also refer to:
Places United Kingdom
* Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...
and
pop music
Pop music is a genre of popular music that originated in its modern form during the mid-1950s in the United States and the United Kingdom. The terms ''popular music'' and ''pop music'' are often used interchangeably, although the former describe ...
and
classical music
Classical music generally refers to the art music of the Western world, considered to be distinct from Western folk music or popular music traditions. It is sometimes distinguished as Western classical music, as the term "classical music" also ...
, resulting in major electronically based subgenres.
[T. B. Holmes, ''Electronic and Experimental Music: Pioneers in Technology and Composition'' (London: Routledge, 2nd ed., 2002), , p. 1.] After the definition of
MIDI
MIDI (; Musical Instrument Digital Interface) is a technical standard that describes a communications protocol, digital interface, and electrical connectors that connect a wide variety of electronic musical instruments, computers, and re ...
in 1982 and the development of
digital audio
Digital audio is a representation of sound recorded in, or converted into, digital form. In digital audio, the sound wave of the audio signal is typically encoded as numerical samples in a continuous sequence. For example, in CD audio, sa ...
, the creation of purely electronic sounds and their manipulation became much simpler. As a result, synthesizers came to dominate the pop music of the early 1980s. In the late 1980s,
electronic dance music (EDM) records made using only electronic instruments became increasingly popular, resulting in a proliferation of electronic genres, subgenres, and scenes. In the new millennium, as computer technology became even more accessible and
music software
This is a list of software for creating, performing, learning, analyzing, researching, broadcasting and editing music. This article only includes software, not services. For streaming services such as iHeartRadio, Pandora, Prime Music, and Spotify, ...
advanced, interacting with music production technology made it possible to create music that has some similarities and some differences to traditional
musical performance practices, leading to further developments and rapidly evolving subgenres.
[S. Emmerson, ''Living Electronic Music'' (Aldershot: Ashgate, 2007), , pp. 111-13.]
Genres
Remix derivatives
*
Chopped and screwed
Chopped and screwed (also called screwed and chopped or slowed and throwed) is a music genre and technique of remixing music that involves slowing down the tempo and deejaying. It developed in the Houston hip hop scene in the early 1990s by DJ ...
*
Disco edits
*
Nightcore
A nightcore edit is a version of a track that increases the pitch and speeds up its source material by approximately 35%. This gives an effect almost identical to playing a 33⅓-RPM vinyl record at 45 RPM. This 35% increase in RPM causes the ...
*
Tecno brega
*
Weird SoundCloud
Broader genre groups
*
Electronic dance music
**
Christian electronic dance music
Christian electronic dance music, also known as CEDM, Christian EDM, Christian Dance Music, CDM, or Christian electronic music is a genre of electronic dance music and Christian music. Its musical styles closely mirror non-Christian EDM; however, ...
*
Rave music
A rave (from the verb: '' to rave'') is a dance party at a warehouse, club, or other public or private venue, typically featuring performances by DJs playing electronic dance music. The style is most associated with the early 1990s dance mus ...
See also
*
Ishkur's Guide to Electronic Music Ishkur's Guide to Electronic Music is an interactive online guide to electronic music created by Kenneth John Taylor, aka Ishkur.
The website consists of 153 subgenres and 818 sound files. Genres include little-known ones like terrorcore and chemic ...
*
List of electronic music festivals
The following is an incomplete list of music festivals that feature electronic music, which encapsulates music featuring electronic instruments such as electric guitar and keyboards, as well as recent genres such as electronic dance music (E ...
*
List of electronic musicians
*
Dance music
Dance music is music composed specifically to facilitate or accompany dancing. It can be either a whole musical piece or part of a larger musical arrangement. In terms of performance, the major categories are live dance music and recorded danc ...
*
List of hip hop genres
*
List of industrial music genres
Industrial music is a form of experimental music which emerged in the 1970s. In the 1980s, industrial splintered into a range of offshoots, sometimes collectively named post-industrial music. This list details some of these offshoots, including f ...
*
List of trance genres
*
Styles of house music
A
: Emphasizes a repetitive, hypnotic and trance-like style, often with samples or spoken lines instead of lyrics. It has core electronic "squelch" sounds that were developed around the mid-1980s, particularly by DJs from Chicago who experi ...
*
List of subcultures
This is a list of subcultures.
A
* Africanfuturism
* Afrofuturism
* Anarcho-punk
* Athlete
B
* BDSM
* Beat Generation, see beatnik
* Bent edge
* Bikers, see motorcycle clubs and outlaw motorcycle clubs
** Bōsōzoku
* Bills
* Biopunk
* Bird ...
*
Timeline of electronic music genres
A timeline of electronic music genres, with a date of origin, the locale of origin, and music samples.
See also
*List of electronic music genres
*Electronic music
* Electronic dance music
*Styles of house music
*List of trance genres
A list ...
Notes
External links
Graph of genres
{{Western music genres
Electronic Music
Electronic music is a genre of music that employs electronic musical instruments, digital instruments, or circuitry-based music technology in its creation. It includes both music made using electronic and electromechanical means ( electroac ...