decades / genres / STYLES
GENRES QUIZ
the buttons above will take you through all the different genres and styles. Once you feel confident that you are able to recognise the different decades and styles/genres, complete the assessment below.
The audio for the Styles/Genres Quiz is on the left and the answer booklet for your responses is on the right, click on the large box on the right.
These are the National 3, 4 & 5 Styles and Genres. You need to be able to:
Recognise the sound of each genre and be able to correctly name it
Correctly identify the decade in which a recording originated
Be familiar with PRODUCTION FEATURES
Be familiar with PERFORMANCE FEATURES
This is an incredible site for learning more about music genres
FROM THE SAME SITE AS ABOVE, THIS IS AN INCREDIBLE LIBRARY OF MUSIC PLAYLISTS, on youtube and CATEGORIZED BY GENRE.
PRODUCTION AND PERFORMANCE FEATURES
Below are the PRODUCTION and PERFORMANCE FEATURES from SQA Past Papers. As well as learning these, you should also learn the features of the Genres/Styles in the National 3, 4 & 5 list (above) in case these come up in your exam.
Hip Hop
• Use of rap/spoken word poetry
• Double tracking/stressing certain words for emphasis
• Repeated drum loops/loops/hooks
• Drums and Bass heavy mixes
• Melodic chorus section
• Call and response with backing vocals
• Electronic beats/drum kit
• Use of samplers and synthesisers
Synth Pop
Drum Machine
Ostinato or riff
Repeated loops
Sampler or sampling
Bass synth
Synthesiser
Sequencer
MIDI Instruments
Jazz
Use of instruments e.g. piano, muted trumpet, double bass, saxophone, drum kit
Walking bass
Syncopation
Improvisation
Swing rhythms
Live sounding recordings with little post-production
Musical
prominent vocals in the mix
use of orchestral instruments with band
few effects if any (only reverb)
use of radio mics
use of shot gun mics
use of overhead mics
use of boundary mics
use of close mic technique for band instruments
use of direct injection for band instruments
live recording
Electronica / EDM /
Dance Music
Use of computers
Use of drum machines
Use of sequencers
Use of synthesisers
Use of loops
Sampling
Emphasised/Accented beats
Use of LFO
Virtual Instruments
Significant use of effects and processes
No acoustic/live instruments
Punk
Use of distorted electric guitar
Unrefined vocals
Studio recordings made to sound live with little post-production
Simple chord structure
Blues
Use of Blues scale
12 bar Blues structure
Glissando
Slide Guitar
7th chords
Blues notes
Pitch bend
Walking bass
Syncopation
Harmonica
Improvisation
Use of riff
Disco
use of reverb
rhythmic electric guitar
a style of popular music for dancing
recorded (not live)
amplified or electronic instrumentation
simple repetitive lyrics
prominent bass (groove or riff)
octave leaps on bass
drum machine
horn or string section
16th disco beat
The questions below are samples of SQA past paper questions that specifically relate to Genres and Styles.
For each of these questions, you should ask yourself how able are you to answer them.
