| Name | Description | Began | Popularized | Major early figures | Locations | Remarks |
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| bebop | a style of jazz with fast tempo, complex chord progressions, rapid chord changes, instrumental virtuosity, and improvisation | early to mid-1940s | early to mid-1940s | Charlie Parker, Sonny Rollins, Dizzy Gillespie, Thelonius Monk | The classic bebop group was a small combo that consisted of saxophone, trumpet, piano, guitar, double bass, and drums. |
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| blues | melancholic style from rural south, typically a 12-bar sequence. occurrence of blue notes in melody and harmony | 1860}}s | 1910}}s–{{dts|1920}}s | W.C. Handy, Jellyroll Morton, Bessie Smith | Mississippi, Memphis, St. Louis, Chicago | Urban blues gave rise to rhythm and blues and rock and roll. |
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| boogie-woogie | an upbeat, danceable piano style which can be extended to other instruments | mid 1870s | late 1920s | George W. Thomas, Pinetop Smith | northeast Texas | The origin of the term is unknown but various African origins have been proposed. |
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| gospel | a type of Christian music that grew out of spirituals with roots in the black oral tradition | 1600}}s | 1920}}s– | Mahalia Jackson, Aretha Franklin | South | often sung a cappella; hymns and sacred songs were often repeated in a call and response. |
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| jazz | improvisational genre that originated in New Orleans and developed from blues and ragtime; characterized by swing and blue notes, call and response vocals, and polyrhythms. | late 1800s | 1910}}s–1930s | Jellyroll Morton | New Orleans | New Orleans jazz began in the late 1910s |
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