Samba – a form of Brazilian popular music and dance characterized by its 2/4 time signature varied with the conscious use of a sung chorus to a batucada rhythm. Considered a symbol of Brazil and the Brazilian Carnival.
Samba-canção – traditional samba in slow tempo and with romantic lyrics. influenced by bolero.
Shoegaze – a style of Neo-psychedelia characterized by an ethereal mixture of obscured vocals, guitar distortion and effects, feedback, and overwhelming volume.
Shōka – Japanese songs written during the Meiji Restoration to bring Western music to Japanese schools.
Ska – a Jamaican music genre that combined elements of Caribbean mento and calypso music with American jazz and rhythm and blues; characterized by a walking bass line accented with rhythms on the off beat.
Slowcore – a fusion of indie rock and sadcore. As its name applies, slowcore tends to deliver the bleak lyrics of sadcore with downbeat melodies and slow tempo.
Sludge metal – a subgenre of heavy metal with slow-tuned tempos, abrasive distortion and harsh vocals. Basically a fusion of doom metal and hardcore punk.
Sophisti-pop – British pop music made in the 1980s that incorporated elements of jazz and soul music (specifically their usage of the brass section); known for its extensive use of the synthesizer.
Soukous – various ensemble sizes may be used, with upwards of three guitars sometimes employed simultaneously. Prominent horn and vocal arrangements are occasionally incorporated as well.
Southern hip hop – hip hop music originating from the American South (especially Atlanta, New Orleans, Houston, Memphis, and Miami). The most popular form of hip hop as of late.
Space music – a subgenre of new-age music meant to evoke a feeling of contemplative spaciousness.
Space rock – an offshoot of psychedelic rock characterized by loose and lengthy song structures centered on instrumental textures that typically produce a hypnotic, otherworldly sound.
Sunshine pop – a style of pop music developed in California that combined the nostalgic moods of easy listening with an appreciation for the beauty of the world.
Swing – 1. a general "feel" of the rhythm within jazz musicians; 2. a specific rhythm pattern that involves alternately lengthening and shortening the pulse-divisions in a rhythm.
Swing music – a danceable form of jazz that places heavy emphasis on both definitions of swing, which is what the form is named after.
Synth-pop – a style of new wave music and a form of electronic music that centers on the synthesizer as the dominant musical instrument. Originally an intentionally cold-sounding genre, later synth-pop artists incorporated elements of pop music into it, resulting in a more upbeat sound.
Synthwave – a style of music that takes most of its inspiration from synth music and pop culture from the 1980s. Musically, synthwave is often instrumental and has a "futuristic" theme, with large, throbbing, retro synths.
Teen pop – a subgenre of pop music targeted towards pre-teen and teenage listeners.
Tejano music or "Tex-Mex" – an American form of Norteño originating among the Mexican-American populations of Central and Southern Texas; considered a part of American folk music.
Tin Pan Alley – a name given to the collection of New York City music publishers and songwriters who dominated the popular music of the United States in the late 19th century and early 20th century; one of the major sources for traditional pop.
Tinku – traditional music and dance from Potosi Bolivia.
Traditional pop – pop music that predates the existence of rock and roll; usually has a swing influence due to that genre's prominence at that time. Later classified as a form of easy listening.
Trance music – a style of electronic dance music characterized by a tempo lying between 110 and 150 bpm (BPM), repeating melodic phrases, and a musical form that distinctly builds tension and elements throughout a track often culminating in 1 to 2 "peaks" or "drops".
Trip hop – a hip hop-influenced genre of electronic music that is known for its melancholy sound and a bass-heavy drumbeat. Sometimes treated as a synonym for downtempo, it differs from that genre by having a more "earthy" sound.
Two-tone (usually spelled 2 Tone) – a style of ska that incorporates elements of punk rock and new wave music, particularly their high-paced tempo; produced by and named after the record label of the same name, most two-tone music tends to have lyrics that promotes racial harmony.
U
UK bass – club music that emerged in the United Kingdom during the mid-2000s under the influence of genres such as house, grime, dubstep, UK garage, R&B, and wonky.
UK garage – a style of electronic music and an offshoot of garage house that usually features a distinctive 4/4 percussive rhythm with chopped up vocal samples.
Unblack metal – black metal with lyrics that praise Christianity rather than criticizing it as opposed to black metal, which traditionally focuses on Satanism or anti-Christianity.
Underground music – music with practices perceived as outside, or somehow opposed to, mainstream popular music culture.
Vaudeville – a form of theatre featuring unrelated acts, including performers of popular and/or classical music, that became a popular form of entertainment in the United States until the rise of film.
Vocaloid – a singing/voice -synthesis- (or emulation) software, which as it implies does not just consist in sound banks but voice synthesis algorithms that can be used with different kinds of voice.
Walking bass – a style of bass accompaniment which creates a feeling of regular quarter note movement, akin to the regular alternation of feet while walking.
Wall of Sound – a music production technique developed by Phil Spector in which a large number of musicians (including an orchestra) perform the same parts in unison and the resulting sound is re-recorded in an echo chamber. Used mostly by Spector himself for artists signed to his pop music label, along with some rock acts inspired by this style of production (most notably Brian Wilson of the Beach Boys).
Wassoulou music – performed mostly by women. Some recurring themes in the lyrics are childbearing, fertility, and polygamy. Instrumentation includes soku, djembe drum, kamalen n'goni, karinyan and bolon.
Waulking song – Scottish folk songs, typically sung in Gaelic. These songs were often sung by women as they worked to soften woven tweed by hitting it against a solid surface, which would give the song rhythm.
West Coast hip hop – hip hop music originating from the western United States (largely Los Angeles); the first form of hip hop not to originate from the East Coast.
Worldbeat – a music genre that combines rock and pop music with music that is usually labeled as world music.
World music – music originating outside the Western world (although the term has occasionally been applied to various forms of Western folk music). This may also include Latin music, music from the Caribbean, and regional forms of Western popular music that are performed in non-Western languages but are otherwise nearly indistinguishable in style.
Wu-tang – a dance originating in Philadelphia before spreading throughout the surrounding region.
X
Xenomania – a music style created by Brian Higgins that has usually a strange and crazy feel to it.
Xoomii – a style of music which is produced by rolling the throat in ways to create an instrument-like sound to it.
Xote – is a Brazilian music genre and dance for pairs or groups of four.
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