Genres & Subgenres

Influenced by blues, folk, gospel, and jazz, rock music began in the 1940s. Rock music branched into many subgenres. Those subgenres have even more subgenres. Rock music is always evolving. Below are lists of keywords and subject headings to use while researching. Each heading serves as an anotation. 

Library of Congress Subject Headings: 

Genre Keywords: 

• Heavy metal (Music) 
• Heavy metal (Music) - History and Criticism 
• Punk rock (Music) 
• Punk rock musicians 
• Punk culture 
• Punk (Music)- History and Criticism 
• Rock-n-Roll (Music) 

Subgenres: 

• Crust (Music) 
• Emo (Music) 
• Hardcore (Music) 
• Heavy metal (Music)--Alternative metal (Music)
• Heavy metal (Music)--Black metal (Music)
• Heavy metal (Music)--Death metal (Music)
• Heavy metal (Music)--Doom metal (Music)
• Heavy metal (Music)--Drone metal (Music)
• Heavy metal (Music)--Extreme metal (Music)
• Heavy metal (Music)--Glam metal (Music)
• Heavy metal (Music)--Power metal (Muisc)
• Heavy metal (Music)--Progressive metal (Music)
• Heavy metal (Music)--Sludge metal (Music)
• Heavy Metal (Music)--Thrash metal (Music) 
• New Wave (Music) 
• Oi (Music) 
• Post-punk (Music) 

Search Keywords: 

           Genres: 

• Alternative Rock 
• Avant-garde Metal 
• Black Metal 
• British Wave of Heavy Metal 
• Death Metal
• Doom Metal 
• Folk Metal 
• Glam/Hair Metal 
• Glam Rock 
• Grindcore
• Hard rock
• Heavy Metal 
• Indie Rock 
• Industrial Metal 
• Power Metal 
• Progessive Metal 
• Progressive Rock 
• Psychedelic Rock 
• Punk 
• Southern Rock
• Speed Metal 
• Symphonic Metal
• Thrash Metal

         Subgenres: 

  Black Metal: 

• Atmospheric 
• Black 'n' roll 
• Depressive 
• Pagan 
• Raw Black 
• Symphonic 
• Post-Black 
• War Metal 

 Death Metal:

• Brutal 
• Blackened 
• Death Doom 
• Death 'n' Roll 
• Deathgrind
• Goregrind 
• Melodic 
• Progressive 
• Slam  
• Symphonic 
• Technical 

Doom Metal: 

• Death 
• Drone 
• Epic 
• Funeral 
• Gothic 
• Sludge 
• Stoner 
• Traditional 

Grindcore: 

• Cybergrind 
• Deathgrind 
• Goregrind 
• Noisegrind 
• Pornogrind 

 Punk: 

• Afro 
• Anarcho 
• Celtic 
• Cross-over
• Crust 
• D-beat 
• Deathrock 
• Emo 
• Garage 
• Glam 
• Hardcore 
• Horror 
• Oi! 
• Riot Grrl 
• Pop
• Powerviolence 
• Skate