A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U
V W X
Y Z
Bachata – a type of music and dance that originated in the countryside and rural marginal neighborhoods of the Dominican Republic. It is played with
guitars and percussion. The lyrics usually focus on love, treachery, jealousy
and desperation. The music is in 4/4.
Baion – a slow samba rhythm from Brazil.
Ballad – 1. A simple song. 2. A song that tells a story.Bamba – an old Mexican air from the province of Veracruz, Mexico.
Bambera – a flamenco singing style known as swing songs. The name comes from
bamba (swing).
Bandari – Dancelike instrumental music. Bandari means from the harbors and it
is thought to represent Bushehrs’ oldest instrumental musical form (Iran).
Batucada – a samba or Afro-Brazilian jam session.
Batuque – Afro-Brazilian jam sessions.
Beguine – a type of rumba in which the accent is on the
second eighth note of the first beat. Its roots come from the islands of
Martinique and Cuba.
Bèlè – Folk music of Martinique.
Bembe – 1. Sacred Afro-Cuban ceremony in which saints are
praised. 2. A popular Afro-Cuban 6/8 beat.
Benga – Kenyan Luo pop music.
Bhajan – Indian devotional song.
Bhangra (Punjab and South Asian
diaspora). Read more.
Bikutsi – a rhythmic style which originated with the Beti people of present day Cameroon. Literally it means to “thump the earth.” Originally, the bikutsi rhythms were war and blood affirming. The music would call the people together by resounding through the forest. Such calls were made for requisite vengeance against other groups. These heavily energetic rhythms were meant to enjoin one’s blood to boil — in the figurative sense — for the cause of war. Rhythmic dances of the bikutsi were preserved by the women as a response to Christian missionaries who attempted to “save” the people from their own “sinful” expressions. Story telling occurred followed by dances in which the shaking of the shoulders, back and buttocks were followed by a series of clapping. The dances are still performed and the fighting concepts have been removed. Sexual underpinnings and fantasies as told in the stories of the women clearly remain in the bikutsi rhythms.
Bis – encore in Spanish.
Bluegrass – an American style performed primarily by white Americans that combines old time, blues music and jazz to
create music that is generally faster than old time music. It is characterized
by the use of fiddles, banjo, and guitar.
-
http://www.ezFolk.com, a
resource featuring mostly folk music, bluegrass, and an assortment of acoustic
music.
Blues – a type of folk song from the Southern United States. It was developed by Black Americans at the beginning of the 20th century. It has a passionate feel, with elements of melancholy and pain, and a repeated use of blue notes.
Bolero – traditional Spanish musical air
and dance at 3/4. In Cuba, Spanish influences mixed with African ones to create
the Cuban bolero, a very slow 4/4 rhythm, accompanied by maracas and bongos.
Boleros are popular in Spain and Spanish America.
Bolivian Music
Bomba (Puerto Rico)
Bossa Nova – a Brazilian popular music style developed in the
late 1950s and early 1960s. It is based on the samba, combining Brazilian
rhythms and American jazz.
Bougarabou – See Bugarabu.
Breakbeat – The basic rhythm of hip hop. It is also an electronic
music style developed in Great Britain, which is the precursor of of Jungle
music.
Bressol – Catalan lullaby (Spain).
Bugarabu – a rhythm adopted by the
Mandinka from the Jola (West Africa).
Bulerías – A lively type of flamenco song and that originated in
Jerez de la Frontera.
Bullerengue – an Afro Colombian song
and dance from the Bolívar and Córdoba departments. Women play an important role
in both song and dance.
Bushehr – See Busher.
Busher – a unique blend of Persian, Arabic, African and Indian
traditions that have met over centuries at this cultural crossroads in southern
provinces of Iran on the Persian Gulf.
Read more.