18 Jun 2021

Different Kinds of Music Genre the French Listen To

French music

French music, as you might suspect, raises to the folk, contemporary, and traditional music genres that have developed in France. This music ranges from contemporary street hip-hop to medieval classical music and includes famous genres like Ballad and French House and many others.

Let’s talk about several other music genres that the French follow.

1. Ballad

The ballad genre is one of the oldest in universal music, with bibliographic reports, at least, dating back to the 14th century, in Europe. The most common, especially in modern ballads, is that they are romantic or spiteful songs, with a soft rhythm and with certain refrains.

Several popular artists sing Ballads such as Nuelfe Byron, Sandy Leah, Mary Juane Clair, Celine Dion, Mariah Carey, etc.

2. Bal-musette

This genre is one of the styles of French instrumental dance and music that became very famous in Paris in the 1880s. Bal-Musette is one of the many basic pieces that make up a suite. The term musette is applied to an instrument of the bagpipe family; to a small oboe without keys, usually in G; and a dance.

The musette style became a way of life and even today it is common to associate this type of ‘urban music’ with modern Paris.

Java, Tony Murena, Yvette Horner, Jean Corti, Gus Viseru, etc. are some of the great and popular music artists in the Bal-musette genre.

3. Chanson

A chanson genre is any lyric-driven French song, normally secular and polyphonic. A singer who is specialized in chansons music is called a ‘chanteur’ or, if a woman, a ‘chanteuse’; a collection of chansons, especially from the Middle Ages or Renaissance, is a chansonnier.

The French song is a style that has to do with the language, but also with a certain melancholy or joy. French melodies with the accordion as a conductor are recognizable all over the world. Beyond those songs with which tourists are overwhelmed in Paris there is a tradition that, although it is no longer so popular, it is still hegemonic in France.

Edith Piaf, the immense Belgian Jacques Brel, Georges Brassens, Leo Ferre, Charles Aznavour, Charles Trenet, etc. are some of the well-known artists in the Chanson music genre.

4. Zouk

Zouk is very popular in French and Portuguese-speaking countries. In Europe, it is very popular in France, as well as Africa and Canada, especially in the province of Quebec. Between the 70s and 80s, the Kassav group took up the Antillean rhythms and developed more commercial music with rhythms that were spreading at that time as disco music.

Here are some of the famous Zouk music genre artists – Kassav, Jocelyne Beroard, Suzanna Lubrano, Kaysha, etc.

5. French Pop Music

French Pop Music is one type of French music genre that is sung in the French language. Usually, it is performed by singers from Belgium, Canada, France, or Switzerland.

The first every distinct French pop music styles that emerged were the ye-ye and the French rock that was originated in France during the 1960s. This music was influenced by American rock and Roll of the 1950s.

Serge Gainsbourg, Julien Dore, Alizee, Stromae, etc are some of the great French Pop Music artists.

6. French House

French House music is also called French touch, tekfunk, and filter house. It is a music style of house music which is produced originally by French musicians in the 1990s.

Before the house, the record reigned, reaching its peak in the late 1970s. It set the standard for nightclub music with 110-130 beats per minute and stretched the rhythmic parts and stops in the songs. It marked the beginning of DJ culture, in New York City especially.

With the advent of the 1980s, synthesizers and drum machines began to replace bands and live orchestras, which until then had been used on traditional records. In the Paradise Garage and other underground clubs in New York City, electronic disco and proto-house originated.

Cassius, Bob Sinclar, Alan Braxe, David Guetta, etc are some of the greatest artists in this music genre.

7. Classical Music

Nowadays, French music is well-known for its classical music as well. Modern music styles like pop music, electronic, hip-hop genres have become French singer's international idols. However, French people love to listen to classical music also. Such music was composed roughly between 1750 and 1830 that covers the development of the classical symphony.

Undoubtedly, French music is known for its beauty and also by its legendary composers such as Roussel, Josquin de, Machaut, Perotin, Messiaen, and Poulenc.

Music can generate a deep physical reaction. It sends signals to our spine and makes us feel chills. From science, numerous studies seek to understand this organ to better understand the human being. Among these investigations, there is a side that seeks the relationship between music and brain development.

It has already been proven that people who study music tend to be better at math, reading comprehension, and confidence than those who don't play any instruments.

Musicians have also been shown to develop capacities for concentration, attention to detail, persistence, and self-discipline, elements that serve a person both in music and in any other aspect of life.

So, it is best to listen to different types of music as there are lots of special music genres around the world which you need to listen to!