The dominant genre or style
1964 was the Beatles' biggest year for new musical genres since they began recording: 8 debuts that hadn't appeared on a Beatles record before – including Folk, Folk rock, and Blues.
| # | Value | Songs | % of total |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Rock Guitar-driven popular music with electric instrumentation and a backbeat. | 166 | 23.2% |
| 2 | Pop Catchy, melodic music aimed at the broadest commercial audience. | 104 | 14.5% |
| 3 | Rock and roll Mid-1950s American style – backbeat, 12-bar blues, and verse-chorus-verse. | 48 | 6.7% |
| 4 | Psychedelic Characterized by surreal lyrics, distorted sounds, studio experimentation, and mind-expanding sonic ambition | 41 | 5.7% |
| 5 | Ballad A slow, melodically expressive song typically focused on emotional or romantic themes | 39 | 5.4% |
| 6 | Folk Acoustic-led, melodically direct, with structural and thematic influences from traditional folk music | 37 | 5.2% |
| 7 | Folk rock Folk-song structures and themes amplified with rock-band instrumentation. | 32 | 4.5% |
| 8 | Merseybeat Liverpool guitar-band style of the early 1960s – the Beatles' own milieu. | 29 | 4.0% |
| 9 | R&B Rooted in American rhythm and blues – driving rhythm section, soulful vocal delivery, and blues inflections | 26 | 3.6% |
| 10 | Hard rock Loud, aggressive rock with heavy guitar distortion and powerful drums. | 21 | 2.9% |
| 11 | Blues Rooted in the 12-bar blues tradition with blues-scale phrasing and call-and-response vocabulary | 18 | 2.5% |
| 12 | Blues rock 12-bar blues forms played with rock-band intensity and electric guitars. | 15 | 2.1% |
| 13 | Baroque pop Pop music incorporating harpsichord, strings, and other Baroque-classical textures. | 14 | 2.0% |
| 14 | Music hall British pub entertainment tradition – theatrical, comedic, and crowd-pleasing in the Victorian/Edwardian style | 14 | 2.0% |
| 15 | Country American rural music built on twang, pedal steel, and storytelling. | 13 | 1.8% |
| 16 | Avant-garde Experimental and non-conventional in structure, sound design, or conceptual intent – pushing beyond pop norms | 9 | 1.3% |
| 17 | Country rock Country song forms and instrumentation merged with rock energy. | 8 | 1.1% |
| 18 | Novelty song A light-hearted, comedic, or deliberately silly track not intended to be taken seriously | 8 | 1.1% |
| 19 | Doo-wop Late-1950s vocal-group style featuring close harmonies over a four-chord progression. | 7 | 1.0% |
| 20 | Rockabilly 1950s fusion of country and R&B – slapback bass, electric guitar twang. | 7 | 1.0% |
| 21 | Raga rock Rock incorporating Indian classical scales, drones, and instruments like sitar and tabla. | 7 | 1.0% |
| 22 | Soul Black American music combining gospel, R&B, and emotional vocal delivery. | 7 | 1.0% |
| 23 | Vaudeville Early-20th-century variety-show style – music hall sentimentality, comic novelty. | 6 | 0.8% |
| 24 | Art rock Rock incorporating experimental composition, classical elements, or conceptual ambition. | 6 | 0.8% |
| 25 | Indian classical Rooted in North Indian classical music – raga scales, drone foundations, and tabla rhythm patterns | 5 | 0.7% |
| 26 | Jangle pop Bright, chiming twelve-string guitars over melodic pop songcraft. | 4 | 0.6% |
| 27 | Children's song Written or performed in the style of a children's song – simple melody, playful imagery, nursery rhyme feel | 4 | 0.6% |
| 28 | Gospel Influenced by American gospel – communal singing, call-and-response, or a spirit of collective uplift | 3 | 0.4% |
| 29 | Skiffle The British DIY folk-jazz hybrid that first inspired teenage Lennon and McCartney before the Beatles formed | 3 | 0.4% |
| 30 | Ska Up-tempo Jamaican precursor to reggae with horn lines and walking bass. | 3 | 0.4% |
| 31 | Progressive rock Rock with extended forms, complex meters, and conceptual scope. | 2 | 0.3% |
| 32 | Proto-metal Heavy, distorted guitar tones and aggressive dynamics that anticipate the hard rock and heavy metal genres | 2 | 0.3% |
| 33 | Ragtime Syncopated early-20th-century piano style over a steady march-like bass. | 2 | 0.3% |
| 34 | Acid rock Heavy, distorted psychedelic rock with extended improvisations and overt drug imagery. | 2 | 0.3% |
| 35 | Boogie-woogie Up-tempo blues piano style driven by a rolling left-hand ostinato bass. | 2 | 0.3% |
| 36 | Swamp rock Bluesy, dark, slowed-down rock with a Southern Gothic atmosphere. | 1 | 0.1% |
| 37 | Bluegrass Up-tempo Appalachian string-band music with banjo, mandolin and close harmony. | 1 | 0.1% |
| 38 | Bolero Slow Latin ballad form with characteristic guitar rhythm. | 1 | 0.1% |
Book
All the Songs
Margotin & Guesdon
Book
The Beatles: Complete Scores
Hal Leonard
Sheet music
Musicnotes – Beatles Piano/Vocal/Guitar
Musicnotes
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