Shaking the Tree

So after careful consideration, I have yet to answer the question that I posed in my last entry. It remains unclear to me just what form the finished product will take. But what I decided is that there is one aspect of UMC that I can go ahead and work on, and that’s the “term tree,” the hierarchical structure of style names that shows the relationships among the various genres. I have a feeling that as I develop that, the form of project will take shape; something useful will present itself in the process.

So here’s what I need help with right at the moment: I need genre terms and subdivisions to put into the “term tree.” Pick a style you’re familiar with and tell me what sub-genres go with it. For example, sub-genres of jazz include big band, small combo, free jazz, avant garde, cool jazz, funk jazz, smooth jazz, and so on. Sub-genres of rock include classic rock, alternative, heavy metal, etc. Sub-genres of blues include Memphis, Chicago, Delta, etc. Don’t be afraid to list styles that could be considered subdivisions of more than one larger style. For example, fusion could be a sub-genre of both rock and jazz. Texas blues-rock fits under both blues and rock (not surprisingly).

I’ll stress that this is the part where I’m going to need lots of help. The goal here is to fill in the “tree” with every possible musical style known to humanity (!). I’m an expert on some of those. But I need the help of those who are familiar with the styles I don’t know, whether you’re an expert, enthusiast or casual fan. All I need right now is a list. Your contributions can be posted to Comments.