Modern popular dance music initially emerged from late 19th century's Western
ballroom and
social dance music.
By genre Dance music works often bear the name of the corresponding dance, e.g.
waltzes, the
tango, the
bolero, the
can-can,
minuets,
salsa, various kinds of
jigs and the
breakdown. Other dance forms include
contradance, the
merengue (
Dominican Republic), and the
cha-cha-cha. Often it is difficult to know whether the name of the music came first or the name of the dance.
Ballads are commonly chosen for
slow-dance routines. However ballads have been commonly deemed the opposite of dance music in terms of their tempo. Originally, the ballad was a type of dance as well (hence the name "ballad", from the same root as "
ballroom" and "
ballet"). Ballads are still danced on the
Faeroe Islands.
Dansband "Dansband" ("Dance band") is a term in
Swedish for bands who play a kind of
popular music, "dansbandsmusik" ("Dance band music"), to
partner dance to. These terms came into use around 1970, and before that, many of the bands were classified as "
pop groups". This type of music is mostly popular in the
Nordic countries.
Disco Disco is a genre of dance music containing elements of
funk,
soul,
pop, and
salsa. It was most popular during the mid to late 1970s, though it has had brief resurgences afterwards. The first notable fully synthesized disco hit was "
I Feel Love" by
Donna Summer.
Looping inspired the
electronic dance music genre.
Electronic By 1981, a new form of dance music was developing. This music, made using electronics, is a style of
popular music commonly played in dance music
nightclubs,
radio stations,
shows and
raves. During its gradual decline in the late 1970s,
disco became influenced by electronic musical instruments such as synthesizers.
sampling and
segueing as found in disco continued to be used as creative techniques within
trance music,
techno music and especially
house music. Electronic dance music experienced a boom in the late 1980s. In the UK, this manifested itself in the dance element of
Tony Wilson's
Haçienda scene (in Manchester) and London clubs like Delirium, The Trip, and Shoom. The scene rapidly expanded to the Summer Of Love in
Ibiza, which became the European capital of house and trance. In 2018, the release of Fisher's "Losing It", a significant tech-house crossover by the Australian EDM producer, marked a notable shift in trends within the dance music landscape. Many music genres that made use of electronic instruments developed into contemporary styles mainly due to the
MIDI protocol, which enabled computers, synthesizers,
sound cards, samplers, and drum machines to interact with each other and achieve the full synchronization of sounds. Electronic dance music is typically composed using
synthesizers and
computers, and rarely has any physical
instruments. Instead, this is replaced by
analogue and
digital electronic sounds, with a 4/4 beat. Many producers of this kind of music however, such as
Darren Tate and
MJ Cole, were trained in classical music before they moved into the electronic medium. Associated with dance music are usually commercial tracks that may not easily be categorized, such as "
The Power" by
Snap!, "
No Limit" by
2 Unlimited, "
Gonna Make You Sweat (Everybody Dance Now)" by
C+C Music Factory, and the
Beatmasters' "
Rok da House" but the term "dance music" is applied to many forms of
electronic music, both commercial and non-commercial. Some of the most popular upbeat genres include
house,
techno,
gqom,
drum & bass,
jungle,
hardcore,
electronica,
industrial,
breakbeat,
trance,
psychedelic trance,
UK garage and
electro. There are also much slower styles, such as
downtempo,
chillout and
nu jazz. Many subgenres of electronic dance music have evolved. Subgenres of
house include
acid house,
kwaito,
electro house,
hard house,
funky house,
deep house,
afro house,
tribal house,
hip house,
tech house and
US garage. Subgenres of
drum & bass include
techstep,
hardstep,
jump-up,
intelligent D&B/atmospheric D&B,
liquid funk,
sambass,
drumfunk,
neurofunk and
ragga jungle. Subgenres of other styles include
progressive breaks,
booty bass,
Goa trance,
hard trance,
hardstyle,
minimal techno,
gabber techno,
breakcore,
broken beat,
trip hop,
folktronica and
glitch.
Speed garage,
breakstep,
2-step,
bassline,
grime,
UK funky,
future garage and the
reggae-inspired
dubstep are all subgenres of
UK garage.
By decade 1900s–1910s During the early 20th century,
ballroom dancing gained popularity among the
working class who attended public
dance halls.
1920s Dance music became enormously popular during the 1920s. Nightclubs were frequented by large numbers of people at which a form of
jazz, which was characterized by fancy
orchestras with strings instruments and complex arrangements, became the standard music at clubs. A particularly popular dance was the
fox-trot. At the time this music was simply called jazz, although today people refer to it as "white jazz" or
big band.
Marabi evolved in
South Africa in the 1920s, rooted in South African folk music,
ragtime,
jazz and
blues. People were able to dance endlessly without having to have been familiar with the songs being played, before.
1930s–1940s Genres:
Swing music,
mbube,
Congolese rumba,
Western swing. Duke Ellington, Benny Goodman and Glenn Miller gained
swing jazz hits.
1950s Genres:
Rock and roll,
kwela In 1952, the television showed that
American Bandstand switched to a format where teenagers dance along as records are played.
American Bandstand continued to be shown until 1989. Since the late 1950s,
disc jockeys (commonly known as DJs) played recorded music at nightclubs.
1960s Genres:
Rock and roll,
R&B,
funk,
mbaqanga In 1960,
Chubby Checker released his song "
The Twist" setting off a dance craze. The late 1960s saw the rise of
soul and
R&B music which used lavish orchestral arrangements.
1970s Genres:
Disco,
funk,
R&B,
hip hop In 1970, the television show
Soul Train premiered featuring famous soul artists who would play or lipsync their hits while the audience danced along. In the early '70s, Kool and the Gang,
Ohio Players, and B.T. Express were popular funk bands. By the mid-1970s,
disco had become one of the main genres featured. In 1974,
Billboard added a Disco Action chart of top hits to its other charts (see
List of Billboard number one dance club songs).
Donna Summer, the Bee Gees, the Village People and Gloria Gaynor gained pop hits. Disco was characterized by the use of real orchestral instruments, such as strings, which had largely been abandoned during the 1950s because of rock music. In contrast to the 1920s, however, the use of live orchestras in night clubs was extremely rare due to its expense. The disco craze reached its peak in the late 1970s when the word "disco" became synonymous with "dance music" and nightclubs were referred to as "discos".
1980s Genres:
Funk,
hip hop,
New jack swing,
R&B,
bounce,
Miami bass,
boogie,
disco,
jaiva,
contemporary R&B,
new wave,
dark wave,
Italo disco,
Euro disco,
post-disco,
synth-pop,
dance-pop,
dance-rock,
house,
kwaito,
acid house,
hip house,
techno,
freestyle,
electro,
hi-NRG,
EBM,
cosmic disco,
Balearic beat,
new beat 1990s Genres:
New jack swing,
contemporary R&B,
dancehall,
hip hop,
G-funk,
Miami bass,
house,
Italo dance,
Italo house,
Eurodance,
Europop,
hip house,
electro,
electroclash,
progressive house,
French house,
techno,
minimal techno,
trance,
alternative dance,
drum and bass,
jungle,
big beat,
breakbeat,
breakbeat hardcore,
rave,
hardcore,
happy hardcore,
speed garage,
UK garage,
soca,
reggaeton,
trance,
psytrance,
Goa trance,
Afro house 2000s Genres:
Electropop,
dance-pop,
snap,
crunk,
dancehall,
reggaeton,
dance-punk,
nu-disco,
electro house,
minimal techno,
dubstep,
grime,
bassline,
UK funky,
contemporary R&B,
hip hop,
drum and bass,
progressive house,
hardstyle,
funky house 2010s Genres:
Electropop,
synthpop,
gqom,
glitchpop,
hip house,
nu-disco,
new wave,
new rave,
trance,
house,
hi-NRG,
hard NRG,
dance-pop,
electro-industrial,
deep house,
drum and bass,
dubstep,
techstep,
liquid funk,
electro house,
progressive house,
breakbeat,
hardstyle,
dubstyle,
drumstep,
hip hop,
ghetto house,
Jersey club,
trap,
drill,
moombahton,
moombahcore,
dancehall,
tropical house,
UK garage,
Europop,
hyperpop ==Radio formats==