Styles of Music

Question 1

What are the common traits of jazz music

C3

Answer 1

1. Improvised
2. Swing feel
3. Syncopation
4. Blues notes (slighlty off the pitch notes)
5. Call and response
6. Brass instruments

Question 2

What are the common traits of rock’n’roll music?

Answer 2

1. Strong drum beat
2. Electric guitars
3. Simple stucture (verse chorus)
4. Strong vocals
5. Amplifyed sound
6. Performative energy

Question 3

What are the common traits of punk music?

Answer 3

1. Distorted sounds
2. Fast tempo’s and high energy
3. Simple structure (verse chorus)
4. Themes of rebellion and politics
5. Fast and agressive drums
6. Agressive singing

Question 4

What are the common traits of rock music

Answer 4

1. Prominent electric guitar
2. Strong rhythms
3. Simple stucture (verse chorus)
4. Strong vocals
5. Amplifyed sound
6. Melodic hooks
7. Large dynamic range

Question 5

What are common traits of soul music?

Answer 5

1. Emotional and expressive vocals
2. Some gospel techniques
3. Rhythmic groove (encourages you dance or sway in time with it)
4. Themes of love and relationships
5. Organ/piano

Question 6

What are the common traits associated with disco and funk music

Answer 6

1. You can dance to them
2. Syncopated (to move them along)
3. Repetative

Question 7

What are the common traits of reggae music?

Answer 7

• Catchy offbeat rhythm
• Strong basslines
• Guitar playing in a rhythmic “skanking” style
• Call and response vocals
• Lyrics often touch on social, political, and spiritual themes
• Instruments like drums, keyboards, and horns are common
• Dub techniques like echo and remixing add depth to the sound

Question 8

What are common traits of commercial pop?

Answer 8

1. Simple song structure (verse-chorus-verse)
2. Energetic, danceable beats
3. Memorable hooks
4. High quality and clean production

Question 9

What are the common traits of acoustic and folk music?

Answer 9

1. Acoustic instruments
2. Storytelling lyrics
3. Simple melodies (easy to sing)
4. Raw / natural sound

Question 10

What are the common traits of blues music?

Answer 10

1. Emotional expression
2. 12 bar chord structure
3. Use of blues scale
4. Improvisation within songs
5. Strong rhythmic sections driving the music

Question 11

What are the common traits of urban music?

Answer 11

1. Hip-Hop influence (rhythmic beats, spoken word delivery)
2. R&B fusion
3. Electronic production (e.g. drum synthesisers)
4. Can include slang

Question 12

What are the common traits of metal music?

Answer 12

• Heavy instrumentation
• Aggressive vocals
• fast paced drums
• distorted guitar
• Dark\intense lyric themes
• high energy