More elaboration on DnD races and music:
This is based a bit on a post I did earlier which was a sort of overview of musical styles associated with each race. (Check it out for more songs!) All races have variation and there’s no reason for you to stick within these guidelines, but these are my thought for the general trends you might see and why. I also attempted to add in some more races, though not all of them.
Gnomes are curious, energetic masters of the skills they undertake. With an equal level of enthusiasm and dedication to creating things that are meant to be shown off, of course they would create equally elaborate and show-offy tunes. Grand theater plays with larger than life characters, and ballads that go on for half an hour straight, gnomes will create not just a song, but an experience. Narrowlane is the famous hub of their greatest theaters. (There may be seating for larger races, but they have too much fun leaving the doors gnome-sized)
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Dwarven music formed out of the use of tools. The sound of chisel against stone and hammer against metal formed the rhythmic backbone of their songs. Like old sea shanties, dwarven songs were to set a rhythm to work to, and the lyrics could vary from the romantic to the hilarious. More recently their songs may be heard outside of working (or drinking) hours, but a strong steady beat is still at the heart of everything.
Halflings are the epitome of good cheer and good company. With frequent social gatherings of friends and family alike, their songs are best enjoyed around a table or outside on a warm summer’s night, sung by large groups or more intimate pairs of those in love. They’re not often performers in the sense of traveling and being paid for their songs, but they’re not shy to get on stage and entertain.
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Being essentially adventurer fodder means these little draconians don’t really have the time to make complex music. The closest thing to music they have is quick battle cries to hype each other up and to call for help. They do appreciate music in others and may be easily distracted by a tune, but the skill to create music is not given a lot of precedence when they have devils, demons, dragons and eldritch beings to serve first, if they aren’t just scrounging.
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Take every instrument you own and throw rocks at them, and that’s probably close to goblin music. They’re very experimental, and the better goblin musicians can come up with something vaguely jazzy. But don’t be surprised if you see one playing an instrument you’ve never seen before, they probably made it five minutes ago. Their whole focus is one creating something unique, and in doing so they often overlook or toss out the basics of music.
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Admittedly Kenku are my absolute favorites to consider musically. They have Mimicry, and some sources even say their speaking voices are just patched together sound clips of other people’s voices. That makes them just perfect for all kinds of musical mash-ups. Commercially when performing for other races they would simply listen to a performance by someone else and simply repeat it back, like a fantasy bootleg copy. Multiple kenku can even take different instruments and form a band entirely with their voices. But traditional Kenku music is much more…. chaotic. If you go outside and listen to the birds you realize that it’s dozens of voices all trying to sing over one another, and that’s what kenku music traditionally is. A group of birds all trying to out-do one another and show off. Some circles will simply do increasingly elaborate operatic contests, while ruder company simply interrupts or straight up sings over one another. The result is unpleasant to most other races, except for the oddballs who enjoy mash-ups. The biggest thing is that all the noises they make are entirely sung! Instruments are occasionally used by Kenku but are usually seen as cheating and looked down upon.
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These avian races do not have the Mimicry of their wingless cousins the Kenku, but they have chosen to see that as a point of pride rather than a missing skill. A great deal of their habits were formed around being different, and thus in their opinion better than, Kenku. They do not copy music of others, they do not sing over one another except in harmony. They do happen to prefer their voices over other instruments, but their songs are more along the lines of acapella than remixes.
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As a race made to follow the commands of other races that built them, Warforged music is…… Not very creative. Some more individual Warforged may make a point of creating new music, but most simply create variants on pre-made music. This can be anything from a song played in a different key, to speeding up a song, to… changing a single note.
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Humans are such a complex mixed bag. You can’t really tell what kind of music a human will enjoy creating, but your best bet is to observe the culture of the area they live in, and the cultures they have come in contact with. Humans are prone to picking up music of others and sometimes even combining the styles together to create something new. They’re not shy about joining up with others, and it’s not at all unusual to see a single human in a band otherwise composed of a single, different species, or as a leader of a mixed musical style with a variety of others. As wanderers and curious people who often find themselves interacting with a wide range of cultures, humans are also prone to a wide range of…. commentary. Comedic, cultural and outright protest songs are often found composed by human bards, and they can cut quite deeply.
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Similar to humans, Tieflings don’t have a particular cultural history on their own. As they can be born from any race, their experiences are based on the culture they have grown in. They do tend to lean towards very fast musical styles, showing off and venting at the same time. It’s not unusual though for a slower, more tragic song to come through, especially songs about rejection for those with more troubled pasts.
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These children of divine beings tend to be sought for by holy orders and such often find themselves in religious settings growing up. The backbone of the music they create themselves does tend to have gospel or religious tones to it, but that does not mean all of their songs are about religion. Some of these divine children rebel against their origins and their songs may reflect as much.
Orcs are quite fond of any form of percussion instrument, be that a drum set or even the stomping of feet against the ground. They enjoy using their full body to create music, delighting in the mixture of dance and song. Like battle, dance and song are a way to show off their prowess, though occasionally softer songs may be sung to young orcs, or sung while doing chores. There’s a wide variety of song-games that are used to build skills in orcish culture.
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As a long lived race that personifies the Glamour Aesthetic… Elves have perfected their music and make sure that everyone else knows it. Traditional elvish songs may be tens of thousands of years old, and new songs are not easily accepted into popular society. That doesn’t stop some elves from experimenting with new sounds, but for the most part their music is regal, ethereal, and rigidly composed.
As a cave dwelling variant of Elves the Drow have quite distinct musical tastes from their surface-dwelling cousins. The acoustics of caves can make sound amplify and travel in odd ways, and the Drow have mastered how to put this to use in eerie ways. Their music is often used functionally, confusing and frightening lost adventurers or even sending messages to distant allies, but sometimes they simply sing to hear the caves echo their song back to themselves. There’s not a lot of privacy with songs traveling to distant caverns, so performers are well known, and creating a song can be done with performers far off from one another.
Descended from the proud and noble dragons, the Dragonborn have never forgotten their powerful ancestors. With their pride and skill in combat the Dragonborn rival Elvish music in regal airs, but are more likely to sing about conquest and glory. It’s not uncommon for a Dragonborn with the money for it to commission a song to quite literally sing their praises. Dragonborn musicians rarely perform on their own, often traveling with an orchestra and a choir.
While there are some similarities between Goliath music and Orcish, especially among battle-songs, the Goliaths focus less on physical displays and more on intimidation. This comes from clans and feuding individuals attempting to measure up one another and avoiding battle as much as possible for when they do fight it is often to devastating effect. This social focus is also prevalent in friendlier songs, often call-and-response with their entire tribe while they wandered, or from a parent to a child.
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