While scanning through the radio, one might hear samples of songs by Florida Georgia Line, Eminem, Bob Marley, and Led Zeppelin in quick succession. Not surprisingly, we are able to easily identify what type of radio station we are listening to after only a few seconds (just enough time for a few lyrics and chords to be played). To help provide deeper insight as to why this is possible, Jennifer C. Lena extensively studied the idea of musical genres as a way to help organize and understand the relationship between different pieces of music. In her book entitled Banding Together, she defines a genre as a “system of orientations, expectations, and conventions that bind together industry, performers, critics, and fans in making what they identify as a distinctive sort of music” (6). Each type of
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Country music has been an integral part of American culture for many decades, having its roots in folk music (Errey). It has developed into a well-defined genre community whose participants “believe themselves to be involved in a collective project” (Lena 6). Although there are many streams within the country music style, common themes and key features associated with country music unite these variants. Country music has clear and understandable lyrics, a simple chord progression, a powerful and emotional chorus, and touches on themes of loneliness, family, the hard life of the common man, patriotism, rural life, good times, love, drinking (especially beer), vehicles (especially trucks), and women. Typically, the songs are written in the form of a story, and the singers voice has a prominent Southern accent and twang that matches the strong ringing sound that many of the instruments make. The instruments most commonly used are the acoustic guitar, banjo, bass, fiddle, mandolin, and steel guitar (Jensen). A good example of a song that exemplifies the qualities typically found in this genre is “This Is How We Roll” by Florida Georgia Line. This
Country music has been an integral part of American culture for many decades, having its roots in folk music (Errey). It has developed into a well-defined genre community whose participants “believe themselves to be involved in a collective project” (Lena 6). Although there are many streams within the country music style, common themes and key features associated with country music unite these variants. Country music has clear and understandable lyrics, a simple chord progression, a powerful and emotional chorus, and touches on themes of loneliness, family, the hard life of the common man, patriotism, rural life, good times, love, drinking (especially beer), vehicles (especially trucks), and women. Typically, the songs are written in the form of a story, and the singers voice has a prominent Southern accent and twang that matches the strong ringing sound that many of the instruments make. The instruments most commonly used are the acoustic guitar, banjo, bass, fiddle, mandolin, and steel guitar (Jensen). A good example of a song that exemplifies the qualities typically found in this genre is “This Is How We Roll” by Florida Georgia Line. This