I decided to look deeper into these two specific genres. Acoustic and Country. In this analysis I wanted to go deeper within these two genres as people always confuse the two and I feel they have their own standings. I mean they have their own Genre so they must be different in some way, right?. By the end of this blog I want to highlight the similarities, but also touch on the differences they have within each genre.
What is Acoustic Music?
Acoustic music is essentially any music that is played or captured organically as it happens and with physical instruments, with little to no electronic instrument involvement or use of Daw generated/ acquired sampling. Live performances are often put into this genre category as long as it involves instruments such as; strings (guitar, violin, cello etc), Brass, Orchestral, Drums, Piano and Vocal to name some acoustic based instruments.
Acoustic music is often raw and human in the way that it sounds and flows. It isn't completely perfect and overly structured. Whether in a live or studio setting most acoustic music is recorded as it is played and is stylised to follow the performance of that artist allowing movement and room for signature expression. This is more organic rather then having audio that has been mixed and edited so much it begins to sound unnatural and rigid. Having no slight imperfections and elements of perfection. Here are some examples of acoustic music:
Acoustic/ Pop:
R&B/ Soul/ acoustic:
What is Country Music?
Country music can be defined in many ways and is different from person to person. The main characteristics of a country song is defined by the instrumentation and also defined by style of the vocalist and their diction throughout the song. Most country songs have a simple chord structure, memorable chorus and instruments such as Guitar, Guitar Steel Pedal, Banjo, Harmonicas and even the Fiddle.
Country music is laid back in nature and sounds relaxed and kind of like you are sitting around a fire and singing about the good old days. Country music can be characterised as fun and playful but also heartfelt and honest. Country music isn't heavy by nature and isn't the kind of music you would find at a house party. Unless of course you were living in the country. Here are some examples of country songs:
Similarities:
Characteristics:
I think that the overall laid back and intimate personal vibe of a country or acoustic track is something that can make it appear they are similar. Whether played on a stage or in an intimate set in front of supporters. Other things that are similar between these particular genres exist in the stripped back nature of the tracks. The only production element focusing on getting clean vocals and ensuring the instrumentation sounds happy, playful and bright throughout.
Instrumentation:
In both of these Genres the guitar, or the piano, and vocals are what is at the front of centre. These elements are often supported by either backing vocals or by drums and other acoustic instruments to emphasis key points and phrases throughout.
Differences:
So now lets get into the differences between country and acoustic music. First of all some country music will have the electric guitar and the banjo or harmonica to aid the dynamic balance of the song. Most country songs will have a medium to fast tempo whereas an acoustic stripped back version of a song will have a slow to medium tempo throughout.
Style:
With acoustic songs the style will also vary from a ballad to pop, to rock or even R&B or soul. Whereas with country music (although there is multiple sub-genres of country music such as country rock or country ballad.) if it doesn't contain some element that reminds you of western society or the countryside then it probably isn't considered a country song.
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