Dropping up and down in volume during the piece the drum beat is constantly shifting it is often at a tempo above one hundred beats per minute which is very fast. It is at this speed because it is used in raves and other places when it is necessary to have a strong beat to dance to. The drum beat is made by the equivalent to a kick drum on a drum kick. House music used to be much slower but has now really speeded up.
This type of music uses alternating drum tracks which as well as kick drum (which is mentioned above) often feature high hat usage which drop in and out of the track to vary it. Disco drumming during the 1060′s and 1970′s are said to have influenced this drumming trend.
A technique called sampling is almost always used in this type of track. These are short instrumental or vocal sections of a piece that have been extracted from one piece and added in to another. This process can been done with any type of track as house musicians regularly take samples from soul, jazz and funk music as well as pop and other music played in clubs. The structure of the piece is usually very simple, with a verse chorus and middle eight. The chorus will be repeated several times and the verses are usually very short as the lyrics are not as important as in other songs.
Some styles that are very similar to House are trance and techno. Although they are more recent styles they do have the same influences and a lot of the same features. They also are used in the same places as dance music like clubs, raves and bars.
The title for this particular genre of track originated from the club where the in the mid twentieth century this style of song was first being played. The club in question was located in Chicago and called the ‘Warehouse’. It is quite a small leap of the imagination to see the link between the two names as the ‘Ware’ part was quickly dropped to create a much catchier name. This type of song caught on very quickly and soon was not only played in Chicago clubs but all around the world.
Although it originally had a very limited audience and was very cosmopolitan the influence of house music gradually infiltrated the suburbs and the pop culture of the masses. What often makes it less accessible for the wider audience is the lack of lyrics which makes it difficult to listen to on your own. But this simple structure is what makes it so good for dancing or raving to, which is why it sells so well.
Most twenty first century songs are unlikely to send a political message and are mainly centred on the things that are considered important in modern society such as money drugs and sex. It did however used to be political.
House music is now a common occurrence in everyday life as it is common that you will hear it not only in clubs but on television or on the radio. Having infiltrated the mainstream culture now has found a firm place in everybodys lives.
Get inside info on the history of House Music now in our comprehensive review of everything you need to know about how and where to find great dance music.