List of styles of music: G–M

G H I J K L M

G

Ga – Ge-Gn – Go-Gr – Gu-Gy

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• G-funk – style of West Coast gangster rap

Gaa-Gal

• Gaana – upbeat Tamil dance song performed at celebrations
• Gabber – a faster, more anarchistic, form of house music designed to counter the pretentious Dutch house scene of the 1980s
• Gagaku – any Japanese classical music played for the Imperial Court
• Gaita Zuliana – diverse form of Venezuelan folk
• Galant – intentionally simplistic style of Western classical music designed to counter the increasingly complex Baroque music of the 18th century

Gam-Gan

• Gamelan – Indonesian classical music
• Gamelan bebonangan – Balinese style of gamelan that utilizes a 7-tone scale and cymbals
• Gamelan degung – Sundanese style of gamelan that uses the pegog scale
• Gamelan gong kebyar – Balinese style of gamelan known for its explosive changes in tempo
• Gamelan salendro – West Javan gamelan
• Gamelan selunding – Balinese style of gamelan
• Gamelan semar pegulingan – Balinese style of gamelan
• Gammaldans – wide variety of traditional Nordic dance music, and modernized versions created by Nordic-Americans
• Gandrung – traditional Indonesian dance music
• Gangster rap – hip hop that deals with illegal activity

Gar-Gav

• Gar – Tibetan chanting and dancing.
• Garba - Gujarati music and dance.
• Garage house – heavily polished style of American house
• Garage rock – raw and energetic style of rock, often practised by high school bands in garages
• Gavotte – traditional French dance music

Ge-Gn

• Gender wayang – Balinese style of gamelan
• German folk – any folk music performed by Germans
• Ghazal – Arabic (particularly Pakistani) angst-ridden poetry, often accompanied by music
• Ghetto house – form of Chicago house known for its sexually explicit lyrics
• Ghetto zouk – modern fusion of zouk from the caribic and kizomba from Angola.
• Ghettotech – fusion of Chicago house, Miami bass, electro, glitch, and techno
• Girl group – any all-female pop or rock group
• Glam metal – a subgenre of heavy metal with elements of glam rock, hard rock and pop rock.
• Glam punk – fusion of glam and punk rock
• Glam rock – loosely defined pop rock which included heavy themes of gender-bending and androgyny
• Glitch – style of EDM based around samples of malfunctioning technology in order to create an intentionally harsh sound
• Gnawa – Islamic African religious music

Go-Gr

• Go-go – style of funk known for its syncopated rhythms and call-and-response vocals
• Goa trance – fusion of trance music and traditional Indian styles
• Gong chime – any music performed with high-pitched pot gongs, usually Southeast Asian styles
• Goombay – Bahamian drum music
• Goregrind – style of grindcore known for its lyrical focus on gore and forensics
• Goshu ondo – traditional Japanese dance music from the Meiji era
• Gospel – modernization religious music
• Gothic metal – fusion of gothic rock and heavy metal
• Gothic rock – style of post-punk, heavily inspired by Gothic art
• Grebo – a short-lived British style of garage rock from the 1990s
• Gregorian chant – a capella, religious chant used by the Roman Catholic Church
• Grime – fusion of hip hop and UK garage
• Grindcore – fusion of death metal and hardcore punk with indecipherable vocals.
• Groove metal – style of heavy metal that took elements of thrash, but played at mid-tempo, making a slower, groovier sound
• Group Sounds – Japanese pop from the 1961s, inspired heavily by British beat and American bubblegum pop
• Grunge – minimalist style of alternative metal, known for its heavily distorted guitars and angst-ridden lyrics
• Grupera – American rock-inspired Mexican rock

Gu-Gy

• Guajira – Cuban country music, performed in rural communities
• Gumbe – Guinea-Bissaun folk music
• Gunchei – Central American music played to accompany the garifauna dance of the same name
• Gunka – Japanese military music
• Guoyue – modernized Chinese traditional music
• Gwo ka – Guadaloupean drum music
• Gwo ka moderne – modernized form of gwo ka
• Gypsy jazz – Roma-French style of jazz
• Gypsy punk – Romani style of punk rock

H

Ha- He-Ho – Hu-Hy

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Hab-Has

• Habanera – African-American style based on Cuban contredanza
• Halling – Norwegian folk music made to accompany the dance of the same name
• Hambo – Swedish folk music made to accompany the dance of the same name
• Hamburger Schule – style of alternative rock based in Hamburg, Germany
• Happy hardcore – incredibly fast, upbeat, and optimistic style of hardcore techno
• Haqibah – Sudanese a capella music
• Hardcore hip hop – aggressive and confrontational form of hip hop
• Hardcore punk – heavy metal-informed style of punk
• Hardcore techno – style of techno known for distorted, industrial-esque beats
• Hard bop – style of bebop informed by gospel, R&B and blues
• Hard house – fusion of hardstyle and house music
• Hard rock – Loud, bluesy, distorted, and technically proficient form of rock
• Hardstep – gritty, heavy style of drum & bass
• Hardstyle – intense, heavy style of EDM known for its heavy kick-drums and reversed basslines
• Hard trance – heavy, reverberating style of trance music
• Harmonica blues – blues music that utilizes the Richter-tuned harmonica
• Hasapiko – Greek folk dance music, originating in Constantinople

Hat-Haz

• Hát tuồng (Hát bôi) – Vietnamese opera

He-Ho

• Heartland rock – style of rock known for its minimalism, straightforwardness, and concern with the American working class
• Heavy metal – technically proficient, fast-paced, aggressive form of hard rock
• Hi-NRG – uptempo, fast-paced style of EDM known for a reverberating, four-on-the-floor rhythm
• Highlife – Ghanan style that married traditional African forms with Western pop
• Hiplife – fusion of highlife and hip hop
• Hip hop – combination of funk, poetry and innovative DJ techniques, particularly sampling of pre-recorded material
• Hip house – fusion of hip hop and house music
• Hindustani classical – Northern Indian classical music
• Hiragasy – style of music and dance performed by troupes of relatives for day-long periods by the Merina people of Madagascar
• Honky-tonk – crisp, clean form of country
• Honkyoku – religious music performed by Japanese Zen Buddhists
• Hora lungă – improvisational Romani folk music
• Hornpipe – music played to accompany the British naval dance of the same name
• Horrorcore – hip hop known for dark, horror-inspired lyrics
• Horror punk – punk that is lyrically inspired by 1950s horror B-movies, often in an ironic way
• House – a relaxed, disco-informed style of EDM

Hu-Hy

• Huayño – Peruvian folk music
• Hula – Hawaiian folk music made to accompany the dance of the same name
• Humppa – Finnish jazz style
• Hunguhungu – folk music performed by Garifuna women
• Hyangak – Korean court music from the Three Kingdoms period
• Hymn – any religious song
• Hyphy – fast-paced style of hip hop from the San Francisco Bay Area

I

• Icaro – music sung in healing ceremonies of the Shipibo-Conibo people of Peru
• Igbo – any music performed by the Igbo people of Nigeria
• Illbient – form of ambient inspired by dub in its use of layering and hip hop in its use of sampling
• Impressionist – style of Western art music inspired by the visual arts movement of the same name
• Improvisational – any kind of music that is made up on the spot
• Incidental – music played in the background of a film or play
• Indietronica – fusion of indie rock and EDM
• Indie folk – fusion of indie rock and folk music
• Indie – music that is formed around an idea of remaining on the underground and a DIY ethic
• Indie pop – a melodic, often angst-free and optimistic, form of pop-rock associated with the indie scene
• Indie rock – generic term for rock music linked to the indie subculture
• Indo jazz – fusion of jazz and traditional Indian music
• Industrial death metal – fusion of industrial and death metal
• Industrial hip hop – fusion of industrial and hip hop music
• Industrial – early form of electronica that linked avant-garde electronic experimentation to punk rock energy, vocalisation, and ethics. Industrial spawned an indulgence in darkness, horror, and even fascism (although often not seriously) that carried over into goth, emo, and metalhead culture
• Industrial musical – musical theater performed by the workers of a company to promote teamwork
• Industrial metal – fusion of industrial and heavy metal music
• Industrial rock – fusion of industrial and rock music
• Instrumental – music that had no lyrics
• Instrumental rock – any rock music that neglects vocals
• Intelligent dance – more experimental and intellectual form of electronica so called to distinguish itself from the commercialist trends in rave music
• Inuit – any music performed by the Inuit people of Greenland and Canada
• Irish folk – traditional music of the Irish people
• Irish rebel – Irish folk with an emphasis on Irish republicanism
• Isicathamiya – a capella form of singing used by the Zulu people of South Africa
• Islamic music
• Isolationist – style of ambient that uses repetition and dissonance to create a sense of uneasiness
• Italo dance – an optimistic form of Eurodance that developed in Italy
• Italo disco – form of disco developed in Italy that lead to the creation of modern EDM
• Italo house – Italian house music that followed on from Italo disco
• Izvorna bosanska – Bosnian rural roots music

J

Ja-Je – Ji-Ju

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• J-Pop – pop music made by the Japanese
• J-Rock – rock music made by Japanese performers

Ja-Je

• Jaipongan – music made to accompany the dance of the same name of Sundanese people of Indonesia
• Jam – a type of band that plays long instrumental tracks, often improvised, called 'jams'
• Jamrieng samai – Cambodian pop music
• Jangle pop – style of indie pop known for its uplifting, 'jangly' sounds
• Japanoise – noise music from Japan
• Jarana yucateca – traditional Yucatán dance music
• Jarocho – Mexican dance and song style from Veracruz
• Jawaiian – fusion of Hawaiian traditional music and reggae
• Jazz – a type of music that originated in the late 19th and early 20th century in the Southern United States
• Jazz blues – fusion of jazz and blues music
• Jazz-funk – fusion of jazz and funk music
• Jazz fusion – any music that fuses something with jazz, particularly jazz-rock
• Jazz rap – fusion of jazz and hip hop
• Jegog – gamelan played with bamboo-based instruments
• Jenkka – Finnish folk dance music
• Jesus – style of CCM developed by the American hippie-based Jesus Movement

Ji-Jt

• Jig – uptempo Irish folk dance music
• Jing ping – Dominican folk dance music developed by slave during European colonialism
• Jingle – short, catchy song used in advertising
• Jit – Zimbabwean pop music
• Jitterbug – any music that accompanied the dance of the same name
• Jive – swing music used to accompany the African-American ballroom dance of the same name
• Joged – Balinese dance music
• Joged bumbung – fusion of gamelan and joged
• Joik – style of Sami folk music
• Joropo – Venezuelan waltz
• Jota – Spanish folk dance music
• Jug – African-American folk music made from household objects such as jugs, spoons, and washboards
• Juke joint blues – fusion of blues and soul
• Jùjú – Nigerian pop music
• Jump blues – uptempo blues music played with horns
• Jumpstyle – faster form of progressive house
• Jungle – style of EDM known for fast tempo, breakbeats, samples, and dub-inspired layered synths
• Junkanoo – Bahamas folk dance music

K

Ka – Ke-Kh – Ki-Kp – Kr-Kw

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K-

• K-pop – Korean pop music

Ka

• Kaba – Southern Albanian instrumental folk music
• Kabuki – form of Japanese musical theatre known for its elaborate make-up and costuming
• Kagok – Korean folk music
• Kaiso – Trinidadian folk music
• Kalamatianó – Greek folk music
• Kan ha diskan – Breton folk music
• Kansas City blues – blues music performed by Kansas City inhabitants
• Kantrum – fast-paced Khmer-Thai folk music
• Kargyraa – deep, growling form of Tuvan throat singing
• Kaseko – Surinamese music that fuses African, European, and American styles
• Kachāshī – fast-paced Ryukyuan festive folk music
• Kawachi ondo – Japanese folk music from the Osaka region
• Kayōkyoku – an early form of J-Pop

Ke-Kh

• Kecak – Balinese folk opera
• Kacapi suling – Sundanese folk music
• Kertok – Malay musical ensemble utilizing xylophones
• Khaleeji – Arab folk music
• Khene – Malay woodwind music
• Khyal – North Indian form of Hindustani classical music
• Khoomei – soft, droning form of Tuvan throat singing

Ki-Kp

• Kirtan – Indian drum music performed during Hindu bhakti rituals
• Kiwi rock – rock music performed by New Zealanders
• Kizomba – Angolan folk dance music
• Klapa – Croatian a capella music
• Klasik – Afghan classical music
• Klezmer – Jewish classical music
• Kliningan – Sundanese folk dance music
• Kolomyjka – tongue-in-cheek Hutsul folk dance music
• Komagaku – Japanese court music from the Heian period
• Kpanlogo – Ghanan folk dance music
• Kpop – South Korean pop music

Kr-Kw

• Krakowiak – fast-paced Polish folk dance music
• Krautrock – highly experimental form of German art rock that incorporated electronic influences
• Kriti – Indian classical music
• Kroncong – Indonesian folk music utilizing the ukele
• Kuduro – Angolan folk music
• Kulintang – ancient gong music of the Filipinos, Indonesians, Malays, Bruneian, and Timorese
• Kundiman – Filipino love songs
• Kvæði – Icelandic folk music
• Kwaito – South African house music
• Kwassa kwassa – Congolese folk dance music
• Kwela – South African skiffle music

L

La – Le-Lo – Lu

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La

• Lambada – Brazilian dance music
• Latin metal – A genre of heavy metal with Latin origins, influences, and instrumentation, such as Spanish vocals, Latin percussion and rhythm such as Salsa rhythm
• Latin music Spanish- and Portuguese-language popular music
• Latin pop – fusion of pop music and Latin American music or any pop music from the Spanish-speaking world
• Latin Swing - a fusion of gypsy jazz rhythms and Latin music, including flamenco, samba and salsa. Created and played by Lulo Reinhardt, Germany
• Lavani – style of traditional Indian music performed in Maharashtra

Le-Lo

• Legényes – Hungarian and Romanian folk dance music performed by the inhabitants of Transylvania, now modern-day Cluj-Napoca
• Letkajenkka – Finnish folk dance music
• Lhamo – Tibetan folk opera
• Lied – German poems spoken to music
• Light – soft, non-confrontational British orchestral music
• Liquid funk – form of drum and bass with a heavy emphasis on melody
• Liquindi – style of percussion performed by the various 'pygmy' peoples of Africa in which drummers stand in a body of water and hit the surface
• Lo-fi – any music recorded at a quality lower than usual
• Logobi – form of zouglou influenced by the French colonists in the Ivory Coast
• Long song – Mongolian folk music in which each syllable is extended for a longer than average period of time
• Louisiana blues – any blues performed by inhabitants of the state of Louisiana
• Lounge – downtempo music intended to give the listener a sense of being somewhere else, i.e. a jungle or outer space
• Lovers rock – form of reggae fusion known for its romantic lyrics
• Lowercase – extreme form of ambient music consisting of long periods of silence and occasional, very minute sounds

Lu

• Lu – Tibetan a capella music
• Lubbock sound – fusion of rock and roll and country music from Lubbock, Texas
• Luk Krung – more polished form of luk thung
• Luk thung – Thai folk music
• Lullaby – soothing song sung to young children to lull them to sleep
• Lundu – harmonious style of Afro-Brazilian music
• Lust - romantic retro 80's music

M

Ma – Mb-Mg – Mi – Min-Mir – Mo-Mp – Mu

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• M-Base – style of musical thought and composition developed by Steve Coleman

Mad-Mam

• Madchester – fusion of EDM, psychedelic rock, and indie rock
• Madrigal – style of classical singing popular in the Renaissance and Baroque eras
• Mafioso rap – subgenre of gangsta rap that focuses on organized crime
• Mahori – form of Thai and Khmer classical music
• Makossa – Cameroonian pop
• Malhun – Arab folk poetry
• Maloya – style of folk developed by the slaves on the French territory of Reunion
• Mambo – Cuban style of jazz

Man-Map

• Manaschi – Kyrgyz song recital of the Epic of Manas
• Mandopop – style of C-pop sung in the Mandarin language
• Manele – Romani folk music
• Mangue Bit – Brazilian electronic genre played in a fast-paced, punk-informed style
• Manila Sound – fusion of Western rock music and traditional Filipino folk music
• Mapouka – traditional folk dance music of the Aizi, Alladian, and Avikam people of the Ivory Coast

Mar-Maz

• Marabi – South African style informed by blues and jazz
• Maracatu – Brazilian folk dance music
• Mariachi – fusion of Mexican folk music and pop music
• Marrabenta – Mozambican folk dance music informed by Portuguese styles
• Martial industrial – style of neo-folk informed by military marches and militaristic themes
• Maskanda – South African folk music
• Marinera – romantic Peruvian folk dance music
• Martinetes – a capella flamenco music
• Mass – Christian hymns sung by large vocal groups
• Matamuerte – Garifuna folk dance music
• Mathcore – fusion of metalcore and math rock
• Math rock – rhythmically complex form of experimental rock
• Maxixe – Brazilian folk dance music
• Mazurka – Polish folk dance music

Mb-Mg

• Mbalax – Senegalese folk dance music that combines traditional sabar drumming techniques with jazz, soul, rock, and Latin music
• Mbaqanga – Zulu jazz style that was one of the first South African genres to achieve intertribal recognition
• Mbube – South African a cappella music
• Meditation – any music created to aid meditation procedures
• Medieval folk rock – form of folk rock that incorporated elements of earlier folk traditions, such as Medieval, Renaissance, and Baroque music, despite what the name may suggest
• Medieval metal – fusion of folk metal and Medieval folk rock
• Medieval – period of Western art music ranging from the 6th to 15th centuries
• Mejoranera – Panaman guitar music
• Malhun – north African style of classical music that borrows from Andalusian traditions
• Melam – Indian drumming style
• Melodic hardcore – style of hardcore punk known for its slower, melodic guitars, juxtaposed with shouted vocals
• Melodic metalcore – fusion of melodic hardcore and metalcore
• Melodic – any music that utilizes melody, the combination of notes so that they are perceived as a single string of music
• Memphis blues – style of blues from Memphis
• Memphis soul – polished, funky style of soul from Memphis
• Mento – Jamaican folk music
• Merengue – Dominican folk dance music
• Merengue típico – style of modern merengue that attempts to sound similar to 19th century merengue
• Méringue – Haitian guitar music
• Metalcore – fusion of thrash metal and hardcore punk; often sung melodically
• Mexican rock – rock music performed by Mexicans
• Meykhana – Azerbaijani spoken word music
• Mezwed – Tunisian folk music

Mia-Mil

• Miami bass – rave-inspired style of hip hop
• Microhouse – minimalist, stripped down form of house music
• Mini-jazz – rock-inspired meringue music
• Minuet – French folk dance music
• Milonga – Argentinian and Uruguayan folk dance music

Min-Mit

• Min'yō – Japanese folk music
• Minimal – heavily experimental form of orchestral music known for its simplicity
• Minimal trance – fusion of psychedelic trance and minimal music
• Minimal techno – fusion of techno and minimal music
• Minstrel – American folk music which parodied African-American styles
• Minneapolis sound – glam-informed style of dance-rock pioneered by Prince

Mo-MP

• Modinha – Brazilian folk music
• Modern classical – loose term for orchestral music made during or after the 20th century
• Modern laïka – modernized and pop-informed style of laïka
• Modern rock – any rock music (usually alternative rock) made during or after the 1990s
• Mor lam – Laotian and Thai folk music
• Mor lam sing – fast-paced, sexual, and modernized form of mor lam
• Moombahton – fusion of electro house and reggaeton
• Moombahcore – moombahton incorporating dubstep influences and elements of Dutch house
• Motown – slick, pop-informed form of soul music
• Montuno – loose term for Cuban music and its derivatives
• Morna – Cape Verdean folk music
• Mozambique of Cuba – Cuban folk dance music
• Mozambique of America – American derivative of the Cuban style of the same name

Mu

• Mugham – Azerbaijan classical music
• Murga – Uruguayan and Argentinian folk dance music
• Musette – French folk dance music
• Mushroom Jazz – eclectic genre that draws from downtempo, hip hop, and world styles
• Music drama – an artwork that covers all forms of art
• Music hall – English popular music of the 19th century
• Música criolla – Peruvian music informed by African, European, and Andean styles
• Musica llanero – Venezuelan and Colombian folk music
• Música popular brasileira – loose term for Brazilian pop music
• Musiqi-e assil – Persian orchestral music
• Musique concrète – heavily experimental orchestral music known for its use of electronic instruments
• Muwashshah – Arabic musical poetry

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