Genre is a mercurial thing. There are only so many notes, so many scales, so many grooves. The polka, for example, is nearly a universal dance rhythm. It shows up in the middle east, far east, Africa, and in rock and bluegrass.

One genre that's very specific is Blues. It's most common form is the twelve-bar shuffle beat. It usually goes a bar of the one chord, a bar of either four or one, then two bars of one followed by two bars of the four chord, two more of one, a bar of five, a bar of four , then two bars of one or a bar of one and a bar of five. The rest of Blues builds on this. It stays on the one chord longer or puts in stops in the first verse. Even "Stormy Monday" follows this formula but throws in some passing chords.

On the fringes of the Blues you'll get sixteen bar phrases, minor chord things like "the Thrill is Gone", and other extrapolations, but once you push on blues a little too hard, it becomes Jazz or Rock. The line moving back from Jazz and Rock to Blues blurrs even more.

I like styles and genres. It's fun playing different cultural grooves and trying to make it sound authentic.
As a sales tool, it's great. There are audiences for genres so if you can label your music it's easier to sell.


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Mike Dunbar Music

You've got to know your limitations. I don't know what your limitations are. I found out what mine were when I was twelve. I found out that there weren't too many limitations, if I did it my way. -Johnny Cash

It's only music.
-niteshift

Mike Dunbar Music