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This is a list of electronic music genres, consisting of genres of electronic music, primarily created with electronic musical instruments or electronic music technology. A distinction has been made between sound produced using electromechanical means and that produced using electronic technology.
- Ambient
- Bass House
- Big Room House
- Breakbeat
- Brostep
- Deep House
- Disco
- Downtempo
- Dub
- Dubstep
Let’s start off on the quieter end of the spectrum. Ambient music is one of the oddballs in this list, given that it typically omits drums as an element of the composition. Pioneered by Brian Eno, this genre has no detectable meter (although a slower tempo may be used from a production standpoint), a vague sense of rhythm and is heavily characteris...
This modern form of house music combines the ‘screeches’ and ‘womps’ from brostep and bass music in general, with the danceable beat of house music. A clear winner for the dancefloor. With an emphasis on energy, this genre is on the faster end of house music at ~130BPM and features a very ‘digital’ sounding production. While it does borrow the grow...
1, 2, 3, JUMP! Yeah, you know what I’m talking about, especially if you watched any of the Ultra Music Festival live streams around 2012, or basically anything on Spinnin’ Records. Big Room House is a distinct departure from traditional house music with the festival in mind. While it’s initial hype has died down significantly, it’s still prominent ...
Breakbeat (or simply ‘Breaks’) is quite a broad genre, and technically could encompass other genres featured in this list, like drum and bass, garage, hip-hop and jungle, but I’ll cover it for its own sake. This genre is based around sampled drum breaks from funk and soul records, pitched up to a danceable BPM similar to that of house music. A ‘bre...
I had to include this as a separate genre to ‘dubstep’, as there is a markedly different sound in this modern form – ‘brostep’. In terms of tempo, drum patterns and general structure and arrangement, you’ll find a lot of similarities between Brostep and original Dubstep. 1. ~140BPM 2. Half-time drum pattern – a kick on the 1 and a snare on the 3 3....
Deep house has birthed many different branches of house music over the decades, but here, by deep house, we mean the OG stuff, heavily influenced by Chicago house in the ’70s and ’80s. There are many other modern forms, such as the future house variety, featuring a strong bassline and groove, or the melodic house variety, offered by labels like Anj...
Disco was born in the 70’s, and heavily influenced the development of house and techno in later years. While disco sometimes crossed over into pop, for the most part, it had a very distinct sound, featuring the use of drum machines, rhythm guitars, pianos, and synthesizers. While disco has largely evolved since that time period, it has influenced a...
Sharing similarities with ambient, IDMand trip-hop, downtempo is a genre that is, well, typically lower on the BPM spectrum (100 and below). As the name suggests, you wouldn’t go fist-pumping to this at Coachella. Quiet drums, soft pads and delicate vocals and leads are the name of the game here. As with its sister genres, experimentation is a comm...
Although it started out as a branch of reggae music, Dub quickly became a genre in its own right, borrowing elements from electronic music and reggae at the time. Although the genre still features a lot of traditional instruments like drums, trumpets, rhythm guitar and other brass/wind instruments, it’s the use of electronic FX and subtle synth ele...
This time, we’re talking about original dubstep. If you’re meaning the more modern variant, ‘brostep’, then check that one out. Dubstep, the child of UK garage and drum and bass, is stylized by a half-time 140BPM drum beat, meaning there is a kick on the one and a snare on the 3. The similarity in drum pattern to ‘Dub’ is where the name comes from....
- Techno. One of the biggest genres of electronic music, Techno, began in Detroit in the United States in the 80s, before taking over the rest of the world in the 90s.
- House. Similar to Techno in terms of BPM, House music originated in Chicago in the 80s. Spearheaded by the DJs Frankie Knuckles and Marshall Jefferson, House has since evolved into sub-genres such as Acid, Big Room, Chicago, Deep, French, Deep/Electro, Future, Latin, Minimal, Progressive, Tech, and Tropical House.
- Electro. With the decline of disco music in the United States, funk and early hip-hop merged to form Electro (or, Electro-Funk). The Roland TR-808 remained a common component of the music but added to this were synthesizers, homemade circuits, voice boxes, and instruments such as the flute.
- Dubstep. One of the newer branches of electronic music, Dubstep originated in London in the early 2000s. The genre is characterized by syncopated beats which are somewhere between 130 to 140BPM, with a dedicated break at half-time.
- Ambient Noise. Ambient dub. Ambient industrial. Dark ambient. Drone music.
- Breakbeat. Baltimore club. Big beat. Breakbeat hardcore. Broken beat. Florida breaks. Nu-funk. Miami bass. Jersey club. Nu skool breaks.
- Disco. Afro/Cosmic disco. Disco polo. Euro disco. Italo disco. Nu-disco. Space disco.
- Downtempo. Acid jazz. Chill-out. Space music. Trip hop.
Electronic music broadly is a group of music genres that employ electronic musical instruments, circuitry-based music technology and software, or general-purpose electronics (such as personal computers) in its creation.
Electronic Music Genre Overview | AllMusic. Reaching back to grab the grooves of '70s disco/funk and the gadgets of electronic composition, Electronica soon became a whole new entity in and of itself, spinning off new sounds and subgenres with no end in sight two decades down the pike.
Explore the vast and diverse world of electronic music with Ishkur's guide, a comprehensive and interactive map of genres, artists and tracks.
