| Style | Description |
|---|
| Bachata | Bachata, a form of music and dance that originated in the countryside and the rural neighborhoods of Dominican Republic. Its subjects are often romantic; especially prevalent are tales of heartbreak and sadness. In fact, the original term used to name the genre was "amargue" ("bitterness," or "bitter music"), until the rather ambiguous (and mood-neutral) term bachata became popular. It has been compared to the blues. |
| Baião | The baião is a Northeast Brazilian rhythmic formula that became the basis of a wide range of music. Forró, côco, and embolada are clear examples. The main baião instrument is the zabumba, a flat, double-headed bass drum played with a mallet in one hand and stick in the other, each striking the opposite head of the drum. |
| Bakersfield sound | The Bakersfield sound was a genre of country music developed in the mid- to late 1950s in and around Bakersfield, California. |
| Bakshy | The bakshy are traditional Turkmen musicians. Historically they have been traveling singers and shamans, acting as healers and spiritual figures, and also providing the folk music for celebrations of weddings, births and other important life events. |
| Baiáo | Baiáo was a dance music created by a trio of triangle, bass drum and accordion. |
| Baila | Baila is the term used to describe a form of dance music popular on the island of Sri Lanka. The genre originated centuries ago among the 'kaffir' communities (mixed communities consisting of Portuguese, African and native Sri Lankan people), and was later amalgamated with European instruments and rhythms. |
| Baile Funk | Funk Carioca ("Funk from Rio" in Brazilian Portuguese), also known as Brazilian Funk (which also relates to a 1970's musical style), Favela Funk and, elsewhere in the world, Baile Funk, is a type of dance music from Rio de Janeiro, derived from and superficially similar to Miami Bass, with deep rapid beats and aggressive vocals. In Rio it is most often simply known as Funk, although it is very different musically from what Funk means in most other places — including Brazil itself. |
| Baisha xiyue | Baisha xiyue (Chinese: 白沙细乐, literally "Baisha fine music") is one of the two surviving forms of traditional music of the Naxi (also spelled Nakhi or Nahi) people of Lijiang, Yunnan Province, China, known as "Naxi ancient music". |
| Bajourou | Bajourou (meaning 'big strings' or 'big tune') is the name given to a strain of Malian (Mali) pop music usually played at weddings and social gatherings. |
| Bakou | trilling vocals that accompany Wolof wrestling |
| Bagad | A bagad is a Breton band, composed of bagpipes (Breton: biniou, French: Cornemuse), bombardes and percussion (made up of snare, tenor and bass drums). The pipe band tradition in Brittany was inspired by the Scottish example and has developed since the mid-20th century. |
| Bal-musette | Bal-musette is a style of French popular music which arose in 1880s Paris especially the 5th, 11th and 12th districts. It was in these districts that Auvergnats settled in large numbers in the 19th century, opening cafés and bars where patrons danced the bourrée to the accompaniment of musette (a bellows-powered bagpipe) and grelottière. |
| Balakadri | Balakadri (called balkadri or kadri) is a traditional quadrille music that was performed for balls on the Caribbean island of Guadeloupe. |
| Ballad | A ballad is a narrative poem, usually set to music; thus, it often is a story told in a song. Any story form may be told as a ballad, such as historical accounts or fairy tales in verse form. It usually has foreshortened, alternating four-stress lines ("ballad meter") and simple repeating rhymes, often with a refrain. |
| Ballata | The ballata (plural: ballate) is an Italian poetic and musical form, which was in use from the late 13th to the 15th century. It has the musical structure AbbaA, with the first and last stanzas having the same texts. |
| Ballet (music) | 'Ballet' as a musical form is a musical composition intended for ballet performance. The same music can be used for several different ballet choreographies. |
| Bamboo band | Bamboo is a Filipino alternative rock band founded in 2002 by the former vocalist of Rivermaya, Bamboo Mañalac. It was originally from the Solomon Islands, music played by hitting bamboo tubes with sandals. |
| Bambuco | Bambuco is sometimes said to be the unofficial music of Colombia. It has a beat structure similar to the European waltz or polska (not polka). Typically a bambuco piece is a folk music song accompanied by a stylized group dance in either a 6/8 or 3/4 meter. |
| Banda | Banda is a brass-based form of traditional Mexican music. Bandas play a wide variety of songs, including rancheras, corridos, cumbias, and boleros. Bandas are more widely known for their rancheras, but they also play modern pop, rock, and cumbias. |
| Bangsawan | Bangsawan is a type of traditional Malay opera. It was known to have developed from a sort of Indian theatre performance during the 19th century by visiting Indian travellers. |
| Bantowbol | Bantowbol or bantubol is a style of music from Cameroon. The genre is derived from Cameroonian folk music. The name bantowbol is partially derived from bal, a term for accordion playing. The principal musicians of bantowbol are Gibraltar Drakus and Nkondo Si Tony. |
| Barbarian black metal | extreme black metal about paganism and barbarism |
| Barbershop music | Barbershop harmony, as codified during the barbershop revival era (1940s-present), is a style of a cappella, or unaccompanied vocal music characterized by consonant four-part chords for every melody note in a predominantly homophonic texture. |
| Baroque music | Baroque music describes an era and a set of styles of European classical music which were in widespread use between approximately 1600 and 1750. This era is said to begin in music after the Renaissance and was followed by the Classical music era. |
| Bass music (Miami bass) | Miami bass (also known as booty music, a term that may also include other genres, such as dirty rap), is a type of hip hop music that became popular in the 1980s and 1990s. It is known for applying the Roland TR-808 sustained kick drum, slightly higher dance tempos, and occasionally sexually explicit lyrical content. |
| Bastard Pop | A mashup or bootleg[1] is a song or composition created from the combination of the music from one song with the a cappella from another (also mash up and mash-up). These songs may be considered part of the bastard pop musical genre. Ideally, the music and vocals belong to completely different styles/genres generally considered to be incompatible, yet skillfully and artfully combined into a pleasurably euphonic hybrid. |
| Batá | A Batá drum is a double-headed drum shaped like an hourglass with one cone larger than the other. The percussion instrument is used primarily for the use of religious or semi-religious purposes for the native culture from the land of Yoruba, located in Nigeria, as well as by worshippers of Santería in Cuba, Puerto Rico, and in the United States. |
| Batá-rumba | Batá-rumba is a form of Rumba music popular mainly in Cuba. Only very recently developed as a sub-genre, it incorporates Caribbean Batá drum styles with more traditional African Rumba music. Its popularity is largely attributed to the group Afro-Cuba De Matanzas. |
