This is a glossary of music in the United States. It contains words, slang, jargon and other terminology relevant to the study of American music. Its timeframe extends prior to the United States itself, and it also includes music from abroad that is likely to be referenced in writings about American music. It includes music from Puerto Rico, the United States Virgin Islands, Northern Mariana Islands, Guam and American Samoa. It does not include music from former American territories like the Philippines, even from the times they were part of the United States.
An FM radio format in the United States popular from the 1970s to the 1980s, using 1960s music perceived as underground arranged into preset playlists.
This term refers to two different kinds of bands: the classic rock groups of the 1960s and early 1970s who were the mainstays of the AOR radio format; and the stadium rock bands of the late 1970s who arose to fit into the pre-existing radio format.
A genre that combines alternative rock, heavy metal and hardcore punk, resulting in a hard-edged, guitar-focused sound, often performed in unusual time signature.
An amalgam of roots musics formed by the confluence of the shared and varied traditions that make up the American musical ethos; specifically those sounds that are merged from folk, country, blues, rhythm and blues, rock and roll and other external influential styles.
Musical groups consisting of balalaikas (a Russian triangular stringed instrument) and domras (a Russian round stringed instrument), which became popular in immigrant communities in the 1910s and 20s.
A style of country music developed and popularized during the 1950s and 1960s, featuring Fender Telecaster guitars, a drum backbeat, fiddles and steel guitars, along with stylistic touches from rock music.
A kind of narrative poem, adapted for recitation or singing; especially, a sentimental or romantic poem in short stanzas; also any slow and romantic song
In United States popular music, a ballad is any slow and romantic song. This usage comes from the Tin Pan Alley tradition of sentimental ballads.
The native American ballad (abbreviated NAB) tradition is the corpus of folk ballads that descend from the British Isles but have been infused with elements of American folk music. The term native American ballad has no connection to Native Americans, but rather refers to the ballads themselves, which are native to America.
The term blues ballad refers to a specific genre of music that combines the Anglo-American ballad with African American music, especially the blues.
In Mexican-American and Tejano music, corridos are considered a type of ballad.
The practice of using one’s mouth, lips, tongue, voice, etc. as a percussive instrument to create beats, rhythms and melodies for music, mainly hip hop.
A subgenre of heavy metal employing fast tempos, shrieked vocals, highly distorted guitars, double-kick drumming and unconventional song structure, often emphasizing antireligious and misanthropic themes.
A style of popular music that originated in the folk music of the rural population of the southern and western United States and characterized by string-band instruments and simple melodies.
From the band Blue Grass Boys, led by Bill Monroe; bluegrass is first attested in print in reference to the genre of music in 1956.
Any note or notes that produce the characteristic clashes with the underlying harmony associated with blues music. The flatted third, flatted fifth and flatted seventh can all be considered blue notes when played over major or dominant chord progressions, while only the flatted fifth will clash with minor chord progressions.
An African American song form, a traditional ballad with a sparsely-detailed narrative style focused on the emotional high points, combined with elements of the blues, especially floating lines.
The term blues ballad does not encompass all ballads in blues form; it is a specific genre thereof.
The terms banjo ballad and nodal ballad are synonymous.
A lively Spanish dance in 3/4 time; also an unrelated slower-tempo dance of Cuban origin, in 2/4 time.
It is the dance of Cuban origin that is usually referred to in the United States, having played a central role in the development of salsa as well as Tejano and Mexican-American music.
A style/sub-genre of hip hop characterized by hard-hitting drums, usually containing the kick drum/snare drum/hi-hat combination rather than claps, snaps, TR-808 bass drums, cowbells, shakers, and various other percussion sounds used for rhythm.
A noisy, rapid, shuffling dance engaged in competitively by a number of persons or pairs in succession, originating in Southern African American culture.
Any rapid bluegrass dance tune, especially featuring a five-string banjo.
The percussion break of songs chosen by a DJ for use in hip-hop music.
The theatres in the Broadway theatre district; especially those covered by contracts between the owners and theatrical unions.
Broadway is closely associated with musical theater, and a play (or, by extension, anything else) described as "Broadway" is likely to be similar to classic American musical theater as it has been performed on Broadway.
A genre of soul music influenced by rhythm and blues, arising in the 1960s, characterized by its performers' Latino heritage.
The term brown-eyed soul was coined in imitation of the older and more established term blue-eyed soul, which refers to a genre of soul performed by white people.
A style of music associated with antebellum contests in which slaveowners gave prizes of cake to the slave who danced most humorously and outrageously, wearing clothes and performing dances normally characteristic of upper-class European aristocracy.
A style of house music associated with the city of Chicago.
Chicago house was the style associated with a Chicago club called The Warehouse, which was shortened to house, which then became the modern worldwide genre.
A traditional dance recorded among the people of Ohkay Owingeh (New Mexico) and other Tewa peoples, performed by women in four pairs facing a male chorus.
A style of rhythm and blues associated with black night clubs in Los Angeles in the mid-20th century, characterized by a laidback style that allowed for conversation in the venues the genre was performed in.
The term club music typically refers to electronic dance music. It was originally used as a replacement for the word disco when that fell out of fashion. It is more recently the source of specific genres of dance music like Baltimore club.
A march of Cuban origin in four-four time in which people form a chain, each holding the hips of the person in front of them; in each bar, dancers take three shuffle steps and then kick alternate legs outwards at the beat; the chain weaves around the place and allows new participants to join the back of the chain.
The conga became popular in the United States in the 20th century.
A genre of jazz with a smooth, coloristic style, a lack of vibrato and well-integrated composed and improvised sections, often featuring unusual instrumentation, occurring in pairs.
Any culture whose values and lifestyles are opposed to those of the established mainstream culture, especially to western culture
In the context of United States music history, "the counterculture" most often refers to the hippies, Civil rights and anti-war protestors of the 1960s, in reference to their association with psychedelic rock, folk-rock and other genres.
A diverse field of American popular music that grew out of hillbilly music and features elements from rural peoples across the Southern and Western United States.
Though still used occasionally country and western fell out of favor in the 1950s, largely replaced by the shortening country music.
A style of country music with roots in Scots-Irish Appalachian folk music, blues, and jazz and characterized by banjos, fiddles, acoustic guitars, dobros, and mandolins; but containing no drums, electric guitars, pianos or other keyboard or wind instruments.
A rerecording of a previously recorded song; a cover version; a cover song.
The term cover song originally referred to recordings by white artists that mimicked black rock and rhythm and blues bands during the 1950s, re-recording their songs with a more polished sound aimed at white audiences. The term cover song has since been used more loosely to refer to any song a band records that was originally written and performed by a different act.
When used as a genre in reference to the modern United States and without any additional context, "dance music" usually refers to electronic dance music.
In reference to hip hop, an act being described as "dance music" or "dance-oriented" probably means they are influenced by electro or one of the hip-hop related offshoots of house music, like Baltimore club. A "dance remix" is likely to be in any of these styles as well.
In the context of the 1970s, dance music meant disco. When disco became massively unpopular, dance music largely replaced it, and was used synonymously with club music.
A subgenre of heavy metal typically employing moderate to fast tempos, heavily distorted guitars, deep growling vocals, blast beat drumming and complex song structures with multiple tempo changes, often having violent or dark lyrics.
One who acts as a disc jockey; plays, cuts and mixes/blends recorded music.
In the context of hip hop, deejay is also sometimes written DJ. The deejay creates the beats and other instrumental sounds, most often accompanying a rapper.
The spelling deejay is also common in reference to disco.
A genre of dance music that was popular in the 1970s, characterized by elements of soul music with a strong Latin-American beat and often accompanied by pulsating lights.
A percussive musical instrument spanned with a thin covering on at least one end for striking, forming an acoustic chamber, affecting what materials are used to make it.
Drums are nearly ubiquitous in American music. The only major genre that traditionally avoids them is bluegrass.
A drum kit, used in most popular music, is a collection of drums and other percussion instruments designed to be played together.
A stringed instrument, with strings stretched across a sounding board, usually trapezoidal. It's played on the lap or horizontally on a table. Some have their own legs. These musical instruments are played by plucking on the strings (traditionally with a quill) or by tapping on them (in the case of the hammer dulcimers).
While the term East Coast hip hop can rarely be used in reference to any hip hop from the East Coast, it is mainly used in reference to classic 80s and 90s New York-area hip hop, but not necessarily hip-hop from, for example, Miami. The terms East Coast hip hop and West Coast hip hop are mainly used in the context of the 1990s East Coast-West Coast hip hop rivalry.
In old school hip hop, groups were made up of at least one emcee and DJ. In modern hip hop, the DJ is less prominent and the emcee is more often known as a rapper.
(dated) Music of foreign-born people, especially folk or traditional music; now sometimes a part of world music.
In the United States, ethnic music most specifically refers to the classic body of recordings of Central and Eastern European immigrants to the United States from the early to mid-20th century, and music in that style.
Any of various bowed string instruments, often used to refer to a violin when played in any of various traditional styles, as opposed to classical violin.
A type of African American folk music, most specifically associated with communication among slaves, as among a leader to those whom he organizes, or as between the slaves at two different fields or plantations.
The terms field cry, field holler and field call were largely interchangeable in early American music history. They have acquired more specific modern meanings by convention.
The terms field cry, field holler and field call were largely interchangeable in early American music history. They have acquired more specific modern meanings by convention.
The cry came in many forms, which have been labelled thusly
The urban cry is associated with urban life and calls for attention by salesmen.
A type of African American folk music, most specifically associated with slaves and rural life. They often contained falsettos, whistling and humming, or moaning.
The terms field cry, field holler and field call were largely interchangeable in early American music history. They have acquired more specific modern meanings by convention. Regionalisms like whooping and loud mouthing were also used. The holler was known specifically as a corn field holler, cotton field holler or just holler.
A form of jazz music of the 1950s and 1960s that attempted to overcome existing limitations and conventions, often by discarding features such as fixed chord changes or tempos.
A style of music derived from 1960s soul, with elements of rock and other styles, characterized by an prominent bass guitar, dance-friendly sound and a strong backbeat.
A 19th-century religious movement, incorporated into numerous Native American belief systems, according to which performing a dance would reunite the living with spirits of the dead and bring prosperity and unity to native peoples.
Though the Ghost Dance ritual died out long before, Ghost Dance songs were performed into the 1980s.
A genre of experimental electronic music of the 1990s, characterized by a deliberate use of sonic artifacts that would normally be viewed as unwanted noise.
A type of African American religious music based on folk music melodies with the addition of elements of spirituals and jazz.
In some contexts, the word gospel can be ambiguous. It is sometimes used loosely to encompass all modern Christian music, or as encompassing both the genre of African American religious music (black gospel) as well an originally unrelated form of Southern folk music also called Southern gospel. It is not clear which sense bluegrass gospel refers to.
The man significance of the habanera in American music is its early arrival in African American culture, where it was already a major part of musical innovation in the 19th century. It is responsible for the Spanish tinge in jazz.
A traditional ritual and music/dance event among the Kwakiutl, Makah and Nootkan tribes of Native Americans.
It is the Cannibal Man dance, which reenacts a spiritually important narrative. It is part of the Kwakiutl Cedar Bark Dance and has been introduced to the Makah and Nootkan tribes through marriage.
A genre descended from rock music, characterized by massive sound, highly amplified distortion, and overall loudness, often with extended guitar solos, and lyrics that involve violent or fantastic imagery.
An expressively emotional, powerful and earthy style of musical expression associated mainly with bluegrass, old-time and country music, characterized by unmetered music and use of gapped scales in singing.
A mix of Appalachian, Southern and western music, performed by rural white people in a range of styles for commercial recording in the early United States popular music industry; the precursor to country music.
One who chooses not to conform to prevailing social norms: especially one who ascribes to values or actions such as acceptance or self-practice of recreational drug use, liberal or radical sexual mores, advocacy of communal living, strong pacifism or anti-war sentiment, etc.
In the United States, hippies are most closely associated with the music genres of the 1960s counterculture, especially psychedelic rock and folk-rock. The term "hippie music" usually refers to those genres; it may also be pejorative in some circles.
A style of country music emphasizing traditional country instruments (e.g., guitar, steel guitar and fiddle); a rough, nasal vocal style; and tragic themes such as heartbreak, infidelity and alcoholism.
The genre now known as jazz was then marketed as either hot music or sweet music. Hot music was for young people and African Americans, while sweet music was more sedate and respectable music for listening.
An umbrella term encompassing many genres of modern rock music.
The term indie rock initially (1980s) referred to labels outside the major businesses that dominated the industry (from indie as a shortening for independent). The term applied to the labels, whose bands mostly produced music in the style called alternative rock. When alternative rock became more mainstream (through the success of grunge in the 1990s), the term indie rock came to refer to music that remained outside the mainstream. More recently many indie rock bands have achieved mainstream commercial success, however, so the term indie no longer necessarily references independent.
A type of 19th century song from the parlor music tradition, inspired by Irish tunes and specifically a very popular collection of songs entitled Irish Melodies by Thomas Moore.
A musical art form rooted in West African cultural and musical expression and in the African American blues tradition, with diverse influences over time, commonly characterized by blue notes, syncopation, swing, call and response, polyrhythms and improvisation.
Jazz was originally in the form of jass, and may be related to the African American slang jism(semen).
The word was not originally musical. It referred to a general air of excitement. It came to be in wide use in reference to the jazz bands of Chicago in around 1916.
When used on its own, jazz band implies the classic 6-8 player lineup of early jazz bands in the 1910s and 1920s. The exact lineup fluctuated, and was eventually largely replaced by big bands.
More loosely, any band that plays jazz can be called a jazz band.
An early genre of alternative hip hop mainly known from the late 1980s and early 1990s, characterized by jazz music with hip hop beats and Afrocentric, socially conscious rapping.
Used variously as synonymous with jazz fusion; or as any style of rock mixed with jazz (as opposed to jazz fusion, which is jazz mixed with rock); or as simply a general term for any music that combines both jazz and rock in any capacity.
A form of rural Puerto Rican music, center on a dance called the seis and an associated form of music, accomanied by the cuatro (guitar) and güiro (a gourdscraper).
In the United States, "jig" usually refers to the Irish dance. It is a lively dance in 6/8 (double jig), 9/8 (slip jig) or 12/8 (single jig) time; a tune suitable for such a dance. By extension, a lively traditional tune in any of these time signatures. Unqualified, the term is usually taken to refer to a double (6/8) jig.
A stock character from minstrel shows, an oft-dancing African American stereotype.
The term Jim Crow later became a general epithet for African Americans and the name for a set of laws designed to oppress them. It comes from the song "Jump Jim Crow" by Thomas D. Rice in 1828.
A type of boogie-woogieblues music influenced by big band swing, typically performed by a seven-piece combo and characterized by use of horns, shuffle rhythm, group singing during the choruses and raunchy lyrics.
A group of rustic musicians, specializing in bluegrass or folk music, whose instruments include empty jugs, bottles, and similar containers of various sizes which produce musical sounds when the player blows across the openings at the tops of their necks.
A Louisiana Creole dance derived from the Cajun two-step.
La la was a word for both a Creole house party at which music was played and the style of music played therein. The word zydeco occupied the same function for a different genre of music.
A stringed instrument and a member of the lute family, having eight strings in four courses, frequently tuned as a violin. They have either a bowl back or a flat back.
A group of instrumental musicians who generally perform outdoors, and who often incorporate movement - usually some type of marching - with their musical performance.
A popular genre of Southern soul, closely tied to the Stax record label, characterized by a gritty urban sound with a laidback rhythm and Southern flair.
Minstrel shows were one of the most popular forms of music and theater in the 19th century. The practices associated with are now considered highly racist.
A genre of theater that combines spoken dialogue with song and dance.
While the United States has been home to many forms of musical theater -- such as ballad opera and minstrel shows -- the term musical theater in the context of the United States typically refers to a style that developed in the late 19th century and became exemplified by popular Broadway theater in the 20th century.
A subgenre of country music that became popular in the 1950s and 1960s, containing elements of popular music, including string sections and background vocals.
A genre of blues from New Orleans, Louisiana, characterized by a sunny attitude, prominent use of horns and piano and influences from jazz and Caribbean music.
A style of rhythm and blues from New Orleans, characterized by the use of piano and horns, with syncopated rhythms influenced by local musical traditions.
A progressive subgenre of bluegrass music, typically incorporating electric instruments, non-traditional chord progressions, and lengthy improvisation.
A subgenre of country music that became popular during the 1970s, fusing older styles (such as honky tonk) with newer styles including rock and blues. Artists involved wrote their own material, demanded creative control of their music and adopted an "outlaw" image.
19th century popular music intended for the [[[parlor]] (i.e. small group settings at home).
In the United States, parlor music typically refers to a style of popular songs, often Irish in form or origin, with narrative lyrics and a focus on nostalgia, sentimentality and nationalism.
A bribe given in exchange for a favor, such as one given in exchange for the promotion of goods or services (originally one given to a disk jockey to play a record).
A percussion-focused segment of a song, chosen by a hip-hopDJ to manipulate through cutting, mixing and other techniques in order to create rhythmic music.
A keyboard musical instrument, usually ranging over seven octaves, with white and black keys, played by pressing these keys, causing hammers to strike strings.
The boogie-woogie is a style of rural piano blues that rose to prominence in the 1930s; it is characterized by the repeated use of bass riffs that are then transposed in a distinctive way.
In the United States, the word polka most often refers to the German and Slavic-derived styles of the Midwest or the Mexican-derived styles from Texas. Polkas can also be found in Irish-American music, jazz and other styles.
A genre of music which uses rock instrumentation for "non-rock" purposes, often producing songs which are akin to rock music, yet still very different.
A chord or combination of notes used in rock music and typically selected to sound good at high volume and high levels of distortion. Power chords make extensive use of intervals such as open fourths and fifths.
A genre of popular music inspired by 1960s British and American pop and rock music, with strong melodies, crisp vocal harmonies, economical arrangements, and prominent guitar riffs.
A genre of popular music, blending rockabilly with punk rock, that has grotesque or humorous lyrics which often draw heavily on the imagery of 1950s science fiction and horror films.
The term R&B is not common in reference to the genre called rhythm and blues; it is more often abbreviation for a different, modern genre called contemporary R&B.
Commercially recorded African-American popular music from the early 20th century, including blues and jazz.
Words like blues and jazz were in flux until the mid-20th century, when they acquired their modern range of meanings. Race music was used as a catchall for any kind of African American music that was commercially recorded for African American audiences. It was primarily a marketing category.
A form of popular music emphasizing spoken rhymes over heavily rhythmic backing tracks.
Hip-hop purists and aficionados dislike the term rap music as it is seen to promote the rapper over the DJ though they are both equally relevant to the music. Others use it only for popular rap, not any style of alternative hip hop. In general parlance, however, it may be used for any kind of hip-hop, except perhaps instrumental hip hop.
A technique of Christian religious singing (psalmody) developed in 1720s New England, focused on using musical notation to ensure participants sang hymns in an exactly correct manner, as anything else was seen as barbarous and sinful.
A guitar modified with a resonator, initially for the purpose of making it louder to compete with large dance-band orchestras, but later chosen for a particular sound that lended itself to the blues and other genres of American roots music.
A genre of popular dance-oriented blues music influenced by rock and roll, most popular in the United States in the 1950s.
Rhythm and blues was originally a marketing category designating all African American music. It replaced the term race music.
The abbreviation R&B comes from this genre but is more often used in reference to contemporary R&B, a genre that is not closely related to rhythm and blues.
A style of music combining elements of jazz and blues having syncopated rhythms and a strong backbeat; it was developed by African Americans in the late 1940s.
A genre of popular music that evolved in the 1950s from a combination of rhythm and blues and country music, characterized by electric guitars, strong rhythms, and youth-oriented lyrics.
Sometimes taken to encompass a strictly delineated genre of music in the middle of the 20th century, but otherwise taken as essentially synonymous with rock music, encompassing a much wider web of related genres.
The term rock and roll was originally (1920s) slang, a verb meaning to have sex in African American Vernacular English. It was frequently used as a euphemism in popular songs, eventually lending itself to the genre of music.
The act of vocalizing, using nonsense syllables or sounds (e.g. "dool-yuh doot-n dwee-dah") to create an improvised melodic solo, often imitative of other musical instruments.
A technique mainly known in jazz (originally associated with swing), in which certain notes that are written to have equal time values are performed inequally.
A comparatively unaggressive, melodic rock music genre in which the arrangement and lyrics are emphasized more than the beat; a reaction against hard rock.
A genre of music that originated in black American gospel singing, is closely related to rhythm and blues, and is characterized by intensity of feeling, and earthiness.
A valved brass instrument with the same length as a tuba, but shaped differently so that the bell is above the head, that the valves are situated directly in front of the musical instruments and a few inches above the waist, and that most of the weight rests on one shoulder.
Invented at the request of march composer John Phillips Sousa, after whom the instrument is named.
A type of dance in which eight dancers are arranged in a square as four couples, with a caller calling or singing out the movements that the dancers are to perform.
Though there is no clear distinction, stoner metal may be more commonly used in reference to stoner rock bands with a strong heavy metal influence. But all stoner rock is, despite its name, considered a type of metal, not rock.
A jazz piano style of the 1920s and 1930s. The left hand characteristically plays a four-beat pulse with a single bass note, octave, seventh or tenth interval on the first and third beats, and a chord on the second and fourth beats.
The genre now known as jazz was then marketed as either hot music or sweet music. Hot music was for young people and African Americans, while sweet music was more sedate and respectable music for listening.
A style of music characterized by repetitive instrumental music produced for use in a continuous DJ set. The central rhythmic component is most often in common time (4/4), where time is marked with a bass drum on each quarter note pulse, a backbeat played by snare or clap on the second and fourth pulses of the bar, and an open hi-hat sounding every second eighth note.
An aggressive and intense form of heavy metal music with a focus on speed, technical precision, and alternate picking, and often having violent lyrics.
The songwriting and publishing industry which was built around the songs produced by the legion of songwriters who lived in an area around 28th Street in New York City in the late 19th and early 20th century; the area itself; the style of popular music produced by this industry.
A radio format (no longer officially used) referring to a set playlist of the most popular forty songs on the charts at the time; also pop music in general.
The term two-step can refer to several different dances and dance moves.
The two-step is a dance move that can be used in any style of dance.
The country-western two-step is a specific dance also known as the Texas two-step; the modern form is in 4/4 time. It is most commonly paired with country music and is a part of some ballroom dancing repertoires.
The nightclub two-step is a specific dance also known as the California two-step. It is in 4/4 time. This is the dance most often referred to as two-step in the context of ballroom dancing.
A style of multi-act theatrical entertainment originated from France and which flourished in Europe and North America from the 1880s through the 1920s.
A musical four-string instrument, generally played with a bow or by plucking the string. Pitch is set by pressing the strings at the appropriate place with the fingers.
A style of bass accompaniment or line, common in baroque music and jazz, which creates a feeling of regular quarter note movement, akin to the regular alternation of feet while walking.
A style of gangsta rap associated with 1990s Los Angeles and nearby urban areas; largely synonymous with G-funk.
While the term West Coast hip hop can rarely be used in reference to any hip hop from the West Coast, it is mainly used in reference to the G-funk style and the East Coast-West Coast hip hop rivalry.
A style of jazz, meshing string bands with other instrumentation - especially drums, saxophones, pianos and the steel guitar - that evolved into a subgenre of country music during the early 1940s.
A form of Louisiana Creole music, characteristically performed by accordion and washboard bands, that combines Cajun and Creole roots music with elements of African American music.
Zydeco was a word for both a Creole house party at which music was played and the style of music played therein. The word la la occupied the same function for a different genre of dance music.
