The genealogy of musical genres is the pattern of musical genres that have contributed to the development of new genres.

Genealogical charts or family trees of musical genres show how new genres have emerged from existing genres and how multiple genres have contributed to a new genre. Since music can be endlessly broken down into smaller and smaller categories, a genealogical chart will usually focus on one major genre and its different strains. For instance, jazz is considered to be a genre with many sub-genres, including New Orleans jazz, ragtime, swing, bebop, free jazz, and Latin jazz. How these developed out of one another is shown in a genealogical chart, often with major figures or innovators of each sub-genre.

A genealogy of genres may also incorporate several major genres, such as jazz, rock and roll and folk music. The image accompanying this article shows how numerous Cuban musical styles have developed out of many other genres including some from Europe, Africa, the US, Latin America and other Caribbean countries. While focusing on Cuban music, the image also shows the genealogy of many popular music genres since the 18th century.

See also

List of music genres