This is a partial list of music genres and styles, covering entries from the letters G to M.
For the other sections, see Section A–F, Section N–R and Section S–Z.
G Gaa-Gal G-funk – a style of gangsta rap that heavily uses P-Funk samples (largely recreated and not directly taken from P-funk records) in their music. Gaana – upbeat Tamil dance song performed at celebrations. Gabber – a faster, more anarchistic, style of house music designed to counter the pretentious Dutch house scene of the 1980s. Gagaku – any Japanese classical music played for the Imperial Court. Ghana – counterpoint guitar music from Malta, with improvised lyrics. Gaita Zuliana – diverse style of Venezuelan folk. Galant – intentionally simplistic style of Western classical music designed to counter the increasingly complex Baroque music of the 18th century. Gallican chant – plainsong used during the Gallican rite.
Gam-Gan Gamelan – Indonesian classical music. Gamelan bebonangan – Balinese style of gamelan that utilizes a 7-tone scale and cymbals. Gamelan degung – Sundanese style of gamelan that uses the pegog scale. Gamelan gong kebyar – Balinese style of gamelan known for its explosive changes in tempo. Gamelan salendro – West Javan gamelan. Gamelan selunding – Balinese style of gamelan. Gamelan semar pegulingan – Balinese style of gamelan. Gammaldans – wide variety of traditional Nordic dance music, and modernized versions created by Nordic-Americans. Gandrung – traditional Indonesian dance music. Gangsta rap – a West Coast offshoot of hardcore hip-hop characterized by themes and lyrics that generally emphasize the "gangsta" lifestyle.
Gar-Gav Gar – Tibetan chanting and dancing. Garba – Gujarati music and dance. Garage house – heavily polished style of American house. Garage rock – a raw and energetic style of rock and roll, often practiced by high school bands in garages. Garage rock revival – a music revival of garage rock that occurred in the early 2000s. Gato – style of music folk dance popular in Argentina and Uruguay. Gavotte – traditional French dance music.
Ge-Gn Gender wayang – Balinese style of gamelan. Geek rock – alternative rock with geeky themes. Gelineau psalmody – a style of plainsong developed by Joseph Gelineau that uses regular metre unlike other plainsongs. Ghazal – Arabic (particularly Pakistani) angst-ridden poetry, often accompanied by music. Ghettotech – fusion of Chicago house, Miami bass, electro, glitch, and techno. Girl group – any all-female pop or rock group. Glam metal – a style of heavy metal music popular in the 1980s characterized by its pop music hooks, hard rock-inspired guitar riffs, and glam rock-influenced fashion; pejoratively labeled as hair metal. Glam punk – fusion of glam and punk rock. Glam rock – a style of rock music which included heavy themes of gender-bending and androgyny. Glitch – style of EDM based around samples of malfunctioning technology in order to create an intentionally harsh sound. Gnawa music – Islamic African religious music.
Go-Gr Go-go – style of funk known for its syncopated rhythms and call-and-response vocals. Goa trance – fusion of trance music and traditional Indian styles. Gong chime – any music performed with high-pitched pot gongs, usually Southeast Asian styles. Goombay – Bahamian drum music. Goregrind – style of grindcore known for its lyrical focus on gore and forensics. Goshu ondo – traditional Japanese dance music from the Meiji era. Gospel music – a style of music derived from spirituals that is known for its strong use of harmony and its usage of call and response. Gospel blues – a fusion of gospel music and blues. Gothic country – a style of country music rooted in early jazz, gospel, Americana, gothic rock and post-punk. Gothic metal – fusion of gothic rock and heavy metal. Gothic rock – an offshoot of post-punk that is heavily inspired by Gothic art. Gothabilly – a music style influenced by rockabilly and goth subculture. Gqom – style of house music from South Africa. Gqom trap - a fusion of gqom and trap music elements, emerged in the 2010s through the innovation of Durban hip-hop group Witness The Funk. Grebo – a short-lived British style of alternative rock from the 1990s. Gregorian chant – the central plainsong used by the Roman Catholic Church that is said to have been developed by Pope Gregory I; sung in monophonic voices. Grime – fusion of hip-hop and UK garage. Grindcore – fusion of death metal and hardcore punk. Grindie – a fusion of indie rock or alternative rock and grime music. Griot – music performed by West African storytellers. Groove metal – a style of heavy metal music that took elements of thrash, but played at mid-tempo, making a slower, groovier sound. Group Sounds – Japanese pop from the 1960s, inspired heavily by British beat and American bubblegum pop. Grunge – a style of alternative rock that is heavily influenced by punk rock and heavy metal music and is known for its heavily distorted guitars and angst-ridden lyrics. Grupera – American rock-inspired Mexican rock.
Gu-Gy Guarania – Paraguayan music style also popular in Brazil. Guajira – Cuban country music, performed in rural communities. Gumbe – Guinea-Bissaun folk music. Gunchei – Central American music played to accompany the garifauna dance of the same name. Gunka – Japanese military music. Guoyue – modernized Chinese traditional music. Gwo ka – Guadaloupean drum music. Gwo ka moderne – modernized style of gwo ka. Gypsy jazz – Roma-French style of jazz. Gypsy punk – Romani style of punk rock.
H Ha Habanera – African-American style based on Cuban contradanza. Halling – Norwegian folk music made to accompany the dance of the same name. Hambo – Swedish folk music made to accompany the dance of the same name. Hamburger Schule – style of alternative rock based in Hamburg, Germany. Happy hardcore – incredibly fast, upbeat, and optimistic style of hardcore techno. Haqibah – Sudanese a capella music. Harawi Hard bop – a style of bebop that contains gospel music harmonies, rhythm and blues (as in the blues style) rhythms, and regular blues melodies. Hard house – fusion of hardstyle and house music. Hard rock – a loud, distorted style and an offshoot of blues rock. hard rock usually maintains the bluesy elements of rock music. Hard trance – a heavy, reverberating style of trance music. Hardcore hip-hop – an aggressive and confrontational style of hip-hop that originated from the East Coast. Hardcore punk – aggressive and confrontational style of punk music. Hardcore – a style of electronic dance music that originated from techno known for distorted, industrial-esque beats. Hardstep – gritty, heavy style of drum & bass. Hardstyle – intense, heavy style of EDM known for its heavy kick-drums and reversed basslines. Hardvapour - an Internet-based microgenre of music that emerged in late 2015 as a tongue-in-cheek response to vaporwave, departing from the calm, muzak-sampling capitalist utopia concept of the latter in favor of a gabber- and punk-influenced sound. Hardwave - a fusion of wave music with trance and hardstyle Hasapiko – Greek folk dance music, originating in Constantinople. Hát tuồng (Hát bôi) – Vietnamese opera.
He-Ho Heartland rock – a style of roots rock known for its straightforward rock and roll sound and its concern with the American working class. Heavy hardcore – a mix of hardcore punk and heavy metal. Heavy metal music – a technically proficient, aggressive style of music similar to metal except not very smooth, heavy metal music usually abandons the bluesy elements of rock music. Hi-NRG – an electronic, uptempo style of disco known for a reverberating, four-on-the-floor rhythm. Hill country blues – a style of country blues developed in Northern Mississippi which puts strong emphasis on rhythm and percussion, steady guitar riffs, few chord changes, unconventional song structures, and heavy emphasis on the "groove". Highlife – Ghanaian style that married traditional African forms with Western pop. Hiplife – a style of music influenced by Highlife and other Ghanaian musical traditions. Hip-hop production – music production for hip-hop. Hip-hop – a popular music genre where lyrics are rapped rather than sung and are musically backed by a sampled loop provided by a DJ. Hip house – fusion of hip-hop and house music. Hip-hop soul – a subgenre of contemporary R&B music, most popular during the early and mid 1990s, which fuses R&B or soul singing with hip-hop musical production. Hindustani classical music – Northern Indian classical music. Hiragasy – style of music and dance performed by troupes of relatives for day-long periods by the Merina people of Madagascar. Hoerspiel – music scores from original German radio dramas. Honky-tonk – a crisp, clean style of country music that is usually played in honky-tonks. Hokum – a comedic version of blues where lyrics are centered on making sexual innuendos. Honkyoku – religious music performed by Japanese Zen Buddhists. Hookah rap - a genre of Russian rap or Russian pop which originated in Russia during the mid-2010s and popularized across the post-Soviet countries in the late 2010s. Hora – Romani folk music. Hora lungă – improvisational Romani folk music. Hornpipe – music played to accompany the British naval dance of the same name. Horrorcore – hip-hop known for dark, horror-inspired lyrics. Horror punk – punk that is lyrically inspired by 1950s horror B-movies, often in an ironic way. House music – a relaxed, electronic dance music offshoot of disco characterized by repetitive 4/4 beats, rhythms provided by drum machines, off-beat hi-hat cymbals, and synthesized basslines.
Hu-Hy Huayño – Peruvian folk music. Hula – Hawaiian folk music made to accompany the dance of the same name. Humppa – Finnish jazz style. Hunguhungu – folk music performed by Garifuna women. Hyangak – Korean court music from the Three Kingdoms period. Hymn – any religious song. Hyperpop - a loosely defined electronic music movement and microgenre that predominantly originated in the United Kingdom during the early 2010s. Hyphy – fast-paced style of hip-hop from the San Francisco Bay Area.
I Icaro – music sung in healing ceremonies of the Shipibo-Conibo people of Peru. IDM – more experimental and intellectual style of electronica so called to distinguish itself from the commercialist trends in rave music. Igbo music – any music performed by the Igbo people of Nigeria. Illbient – style of music inspired by dub music in its use of layering and hip-hop in its use of sampling. Impressionist music – style of Western art music inspired by the visual arts movement of the same name. Improvised – any music that is made impromptu. Incidental music – music played in the background of a film or play. Indian rock – rock music performed by Indians that usually incorporates elements of Indian music into it; related to raga rock, the term Indian rock is usually only applied to Indian rock musicians currently living in India. Indietronica – a fusion of indie rock and EDM. Indie folk – a fusion of indie rock and folk music. Independent music – any music made outside of major record labels. Independent music that is specifically formed around an idea of remaining on the underground and a DIY ethic is referred to as indie music. Indie pop – a melodic, often angst-free and optimistic, style of pop music associated with the indie music scene; related with indie rock. Indie rock – an alternative rock style linked to the indie music scene. Indigenous music of North America – any music made by the Indigenous peoples of North America. Indigenous rock – a style of music which mixes rock music with the instrumentation and singing styles of Indigenous peoples. Indo jazz – fusion of jazz and traditional Indian music.