Music Genres

Ed Sheeran is a very versatile artist; Although his music can vary in many genres, the ones that protrude the most in his work are:

• Indie Folk
• Hip hop
• Acoustic 

    Indie Folk

1. “Indie-folk” refers to the genre crossover between “folk” music and “Indie/rock”.
2. While there is no solid definition of what defines ‘traditional folk’ music, there are certain characteristics that are prominent throughout folk songs:

• Non-commercial
• Transmission through word-of-mouth
• No copyright
• Relative to national culture
• They always include social message

- Not all of this characteristics are fullfilled by the music Sheeran plays. There is a       distinction between "traditional folk" and "indie-folk". By referring to the music we know as indie-folk, there is the understanding that this type of music is influenced by both folk music and indie-rock.  

-  Rhythm plays a role of abiding agent. Rhythms add the liveliness in songs and also encourage one to repeat or hum it for long time. Folk rhythms have a natural meter.

• Typical Instruments: Acoustic guitar, double bass, piano, harmonium, mandolin,drums, banjo, violin and electric guitar.

  

Hip Hop:

1. It is a music genre consisting of a stylized rhythmic music that commonly accompanies rapping, a rhythmic and rhyming speech that is chanted, though rapping is not a required component of hip hop music.

2. Typical intruments: Drums, guitar, bass guitar, piano, beatboxing,  and vocals.

3. It manages a very fast tempo: somewhere around 92 bpm.

Acoustic Music:

1. Primarily uses instruments which produce sound through entirely acoustic means, as opposed to electric or electronic means.

2. Typical instruments: Any instrument recognized as acoustic, such as acoustic guitar and the piano. It is most commonly played with guitar and it doesn't include any electric instruments.

3. Almost all Ed Sheeran acoustic songs manage a very slow tempo and dynamics usually range only from a very soft tone to not loud enough (dynamics don't indicate specific volume levels), although the pitch in his voice can achieve high overnotes.