- Sandy Cheng 🇨🇳
- Posts
- Music Genres in Chinese
Music Genres in Chinese
Sandy Cheng
July 08, 2025
For today’s newsletter, I thought it was about time I talked about Chinese music again. Chinese-language music is still pretty underrated in the Western world, and apart from sharing a few of my (and my husband’s) favorite songs last year, I haven’t really covered the topic much.
So today, I put together a Chinese vocabulary list of music genres, along with some popular Chinese or Taiwanese artists in each category. I did have to do a bit of research for this one, and to be honest, I don’t personally listen to most of these singers or bands myself. But if you’re into any of these genres, you might enjoy checking out the names I mention, or even better, just search the genre on YouTube and see what you discover!
MUSIC GENRE | CHINESE NAME | POPULAR ARTISTS |
|---|---|---|
Pop | 流行音乐 (liúxíng yīnyuè) | Jay Chou (周杰伦), Jolin Tsai (蔡依林), A-Lin (黄丽玲) |
Hip-Hop/Rap | 嘻哈/说唱 (xīhā/shuōchàng) | Higher Brothers（更高兄弟）, VAVA, MC Hot Dog (热狗) |
Rock | 摇滚 (yáogǔn) | Mayday (五月天), Tang Dynasty (唐朝乐队), TRASH |
R&B/Soul | R&B/灵魂乐 (línghún yuè) | Khalil Fong (方大同), David Tao (陶喆) |
Electronic Dance Music (EDM) | 电子舞曲 (diànzǐ wǔqǔ) | Corsak |
Jazz | 爵士乐 (juéshìyuè) | Joanna Wang (王若琳) |
Classical | 古典音乐 (gǔdiǎn yīnyuè) | Lang Lang (郎朗), Yuja Wang (王羽佳) |
Indie | 独立音乐 (dúlì yīnyuè) | Carsick Cars, Midnight Ping Pong (午夜乒乓), EggPlantEgg (茄子蛋) |
Metal | 金属音乐 (jīnshǔ yīnyuè) | CHTHONIC (閃靈), Voodoo Kungfu |
Punk | 朋克 (péngkè) | Brain Failure, Fire EX. (滅火器) |
Folk | 民谣 (mínyáo) | Song Dongye (宋冬野), Ma Di (马頔) |
Reggae | 雷鬼乐 (léiguǐ yuè) | Long Shen Dao (龙神道) |
Blues | 蓝调 (lándiào) | Zhang Ling (张岭) |
World Music | 世界音乐 (shìjiè yīnyuè) | Sa Dingding (萨顶顶), Hanggai (杭盖) |
Metalcore | 金属核 (jīnshǔ hé) | Awake Mountains (醒山) |
Emo | Emo | Chinese Football |
Post Hardcore | 后硬核 (hòu yìnghé) | Instinct of Sight (目光本能) |
Ska | 斯卡 (sī kǎ) | The Trouble (热超波) |
K-pop | K-pop/韩国流行音乐 (hánguó liúxíng yīnyuè) | Lay Zhang (张艺兴) |
If you'd like to practice these words, you can find this flashcard set on my Quizlet page too.
Sandy
Reply