ethnic music
Cultural musical heritage
Ethnic music is a loose term for traditional or folk music from cultures outside the Western mainstream, often carrying connotations of the exotic or unfamiliar.
The label is vague and sometimes criticized—all music is ethnic to someone.
It appears in record store categories and academic contexts: The station plays world music and ethnic music.
World music has largely replaced it in commercial usage.
Global folk-pop hybrid
- crossoverGenre-blending work or transition
- afrobeatNigerian funk-jazz fusion genre
- bhangraPunjabi folk music and dance
- reggaetonLatin urban genre from Puerto Rico
salsa · zouk · syncretism · hybridity · collaboration · blending · experimentation · dub
Music studied culturally
- preservationMaintaining something's condition
- rootsUnderground nutrient absorbers
- indigenousOriginating in a region
- ancestryFamily line of descent
lineage · identity · oral tradition · cultural revival · archive · documentation · diaspora · homeland
worldbeat
Global folk-pop hybrid
- crossoverGenre-blending work or transition
- afrobeatNigerian funk-jazz fusion genre
- bhangraPunjabi folk music and dance
reggaeton · salsa · zouk · syncretism · hybridity · collaboration · blending · experimentation · dub · remix
ethnomusicology
Music studied culturally
- preservationMaintaining something's condition
- rootsUnderground nutrient absorbers
- indigenousOriginating in a region
ancestry · lineage · identity · oral tradition · cultural revival · archive · documentation · diaspora · homeland · migration
ceremony
Formal event marking occasions
- chantingRhythmic repetitive vocalization
- drummingPercussive rhythm-making
- shamanIndigenous spiritual healer
sacred · incantation · mantra · spiritual · invocation · ancestors · rites · offerings · trance · prayer
ballad
Narrative poem or song
fiddle · accordion · banjo · mandolin · bluegrass · hoedown · ceilidh · sea shanty · lament · klezmer
- cultural heritagefolklore, traditions, customs, folk music revival, museum collections
- cultural diversitycultural diversity, Chinatown, Little Italy, international district, cultural district
- cultural presentationsfolk dance, traditional dance, cultural festival, folk music, traditional music
- tribal musicdidgeridoo, tribal songs, tribal chant, ceremonial music, drum circles
- world musicworld music, African music, Celtic music, Indian music, Brazilian music
- ethnic radiocommunity radio, minority languages
ethnic musicmainstream pop
Widely popular commercial music
Top 40 · pop music · chart music · radio pop · stadium rock
ethnic musicelectronic music
Synthesizer-based musical genre
EDM · computer-generated music · techno · digital music · industrial music
musical, ethnic, ethnicity, ethnically, multiethnic, ethnology, ethnocentric, ethnocentrism, ethnographic