Music has been, and remains to be, unbeatable nourishment for the soul. In spite of the fact that there are many different types of music, they all serve, virtually, the same purpose of entertaining people and lifting people’s spirits. With this, it is clear that music is inseparable from the lives of human beings since without music, people will have a hard time finding a way to relax and be entertained. This paper is an exploration of the different types of music played world over.
One of the commonest types of music is Gospel music. It is a type of music where songs are written and played with the objective of praising or honoring God. It is mainly popular among the Christian community and it has attracted a lot of fans all over the world.
Gospel music takes a lot of forms depending on the artists and their faith but some classifications cut across all denominations (McManus 58). Some of these classifications include songs for praise and worship, rap gospel, rock gospel and the like. Virtually every community has a number of gospel songs that they sing in church as they worship their God.
There are however gospel songs and artists who have gained worldwide popularity. Most of these songs and artists are from the United States. Some of the artists who are known for their contribution in Gospel music include Women of Faith, Kirk Franklin, Cece Winans etc.
Another type of music is rap music. This type of music is made up of powerful beats and rhyming and fast spoken words that come out rhythmically. It is most popular among Afro-Americans although it has gained worldwide popularity. Rap music is associated with criminals and ex-convicts and thus many rap artists claim to have been in jail at one point in their lives.
Rhythm and blues is a type of music with slow beats and rhythmic keyboard or guitar accompaniment. It is mainly used to convey love messages. Rhythm and blues originated from the United States but it now has an artist and fan base all over the world (Ajanta 1). Rhythm and blues is, arguably, the commonest type of music given its appropriateness for a myriad of environments.
Almost all the aforementioned types of music originated from a type of music called folk music. Contemporary music, therefore, is a combination of a number of folklore musical arts. Folk music is mainly used in preservation of cultural values and thus its features are mainly words that preserve certain events and dressings and dance styles for a particular ethnic community.
Due to the culture preservation nature of folk music, it has been used by nations in public functions (“Types of Music” 1). It has also been used by a number of countries as a means of attracting tourists.
There are many types of music such that an exhaustive analysis of all types of music is, somehow, impractical. Early artists came up with the types of music depending on the passions they had as far as music is concerned. The types that were developed then continue to evolve and many contemporary music types have been developed. Despite the variety of the types of music, all types of music are equally important since they perform very critical roles in the societies where they are popular.
Works Cited
Ajanta, Bhatta. “Different Types of Music”. 2009. Web.
McManus, Henry. Music Classifications. Journal of Arts, 2009, pp. 32- 154.
Music. “Types of Music”. 2010. Web.