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Automatic Slim · 09-21-2009, 01:57 PM

What genres of music do you think have the most variety: lyrical, musical, etc? What genres have the least variety?

I don't mean 'which type of music has the most sub-genres'. A genre might have a lot of sub-genres, but if those sub-genres are just the result of hair-splitting, then it might actually have less variety.

I confess that I might be biased, as my favorite genres are metal and jazz. I am trying to expand my musical horizons.

Metal has a lot of variety: doom in all its flavors, upbeat power metal, folk metal, raw black metal, Christian metal, industrial, viking metal, stoner, glam (if it counts), nu metal, etc. There's quite a large stylistic range present in metal.

Lyrics are quite varied as well. How many single genres contain songs about: Moby ****, Oliver Cromwell (Reverend Bizarre), Vikings, love, dragons, politics, depression, monsters, saviors, gods, trolls, aliens, demons, suicide, partying, and marijuana?

Jazz has a fair amount of styles: ragtime, dixieland, swing, stride, cool jazz, bebop, hard bop, free jazz, fusion, smooth jazz, latin jazz, jazz mixed with classical, jazz mixed with world music, etc. On the other hand, jazz can't really be said to have lyrical themes, as most jazz doesn't have vocals.

I also know that classical has a lot of variety, but I am less familiar with it.

I would think that pop has the least variety. I don't think I've ever heard a pop song that wasn't about love or partying. (I take pop in small doses.) Is this a misconception?

I won't claim that the above is gospel. I'm sure there are other genres with much variety I don't know about, and pop might surprise me with it's variety.

If this has been done before, I apologize. I used the search function with various permutations of 'genres' and 'varied' and found nothing similar in the first few page results.

09-21-2009, 01:57 PM	#1 (permalink)
Automatic Slim Music Addict Join Date: Dec 2008 Posts: 92	Most Varied/Least Varied Music What genres of music do you think have the most variety: lyrical, musical, etc? What genres have the least variety? I don't mean 'which type of music has the most sub-genres'. A genre might have a lot of sub-genres, but if those sub-genres are just the result of hair-splitting, then it might actually have less variety. I confess that I might be biased, as my favorite genres are metal and jazz. I am trying to expand my musical horizons. Metal has a lot of variety: doom in all its flavors, upbeat power metal, folk metal, raw black metal, Christian metal, industrial, viking metal, stoner, glam (if it counts), nu metal, etc. There's quite a large stylistic range present in metal. Lyrics are quite varied as well. How many single genres contain songs about: Moby ****, Oliver Cromwell (Reverend Bizarre), Vikings, love, dragons, politics, depression, monsters, saviors, gods, trolls, aliens, demons, suicide, partying, and marijuana? Jazz has a fair amount of styles: ragtime, dixieland, swing, stride, cool jazz, bebop, hard bop, free jazz, fusion, smooth jazz, latin jazz, jazz mixed with classical, jazz mixed with world music, etc. On the other hand, jazz can't really be said to have lyrical themes, as most jazz doesn't have vocals. I also know that classical has a lot of variety, but I am less familiar with it. I would think that pop has the least variety. I don't think I've ever heard a pop song that wasn't about love or partying. (I take pop in small doses.) Is this a misconception? I won't claim that the above is gospel. I'm sure there are other genres with much variety I don't know about, and pop might surprise me with it's variety. If this has been done before, I apologize. I used the search function with various permutations of 'genres' and 'varied' and found nothing similar in the first few page results. __________________ "I say I can't but I really mean I won't."