The word ‘Genre’ refers to a specific type of music, film or writing. So your favourite movie genre could be a comedy or an action film. In the musical sense, genre included rock, metal and punk for example. So with the rock genre for example, there are many sub-genres. This include, hard rock, classic rock, soft rock and punk rock. Some differences between hard rock and alternative rock are that, in alternative rock, they differ and variate around the genre and change the style more than hard rock. Alternative rock bands such as Fall Out Boy and Panic! At The Disco, may sometimes add some pop tracks/albums. Whereas hard rock will very rarely differ from the heavy sounding, distorted guitar sounds. Everyone has a different taste for different genres. Such as myself, i’m more of a metal and rock fan, whereas others could be more of a classical and jazz fan. The word ‘genre’ means: “a class or category of artistic endeavor having a particular form, content, technique.” This statement can be whittled down to 9 main areas of focus: Rhythm, Instrumentation, Tempo, Moods and lyrical themes, Composition and arrangement, Instrumental and vocal technique, Influence of technology, Significant artists/producers, History - (era, cultural context, associated fashions etc.). These nine areas of focus can be put to all genres including metal, jazz and blues. Tempo As a whole the metal genre generally has a tempo of 100-180 beats per minute. Sometimes it can be more or less than this range depending on the style of songs. This is compared to the tempo of the blues genre which ranges from 60-120 bpm. So between the two genres there’s a noticeable difference in the tempos. Then the jazz genre is around 90 bpm, which fits nicely in the middle of the other two genres. Genres use different tempos to add feeling and emotion to the songs. Like, if you had a blues song played at 200bpm, it just wouldn’t be as calm as it should. Likewise, if the metal genre is played at 60 bpm. no one would be able to get into it as much as they do when it’s played at 180 bpm. Moods and lyrical themes In the metal genre, you can normally sense the emotion and get a feel as to what the songs written about. This can be seen with Metallica’s song One, which is written about a man going to war and, quite literally, being blown up and having to spend the rest of his life hooked up to machines to keep him alive. In the blues genre, the lyrics are raw and full of emotion. Each line is then normally followed by a short instrumental break. The lyrics are generally written about troubles/experiences in life, either faced by the artist or someone they know. With Jazz, the lyrics are generally more softer than blue and metal. This adds to the ability to sit and listen to Jazz for a long period of time, without the strain of listening to the heavy vocals the come with metal. Instrumental technique In the metal genre, the bands are generally composed of a drummer, two guitarist and a bassists. Sometime they might have a keyboard player for live shows. The guitars generally sit well and clear in the mix of the song with a distorted tone, giving them the kick they need. The lead guitars will have high noted solos with the rhythm playing open and palm muted notes. In blues, they normally stick round the 12 bar blues scale and notes. With just a single guitar playing the notes, which are normally all solo style playing with very little chord playing. The drums are very soft sounding, mostly playing using brushes rather than full drum sticks. Jazz is similar, but at the same time very different. The instrumental arrangement is similar with a guitar, bass and drums, but will have more of a brass influence. In jazz songs, they take out the high toned solos, with trumpet and sax solos. This just backs up the calm feeling you get when listening to jazz
