Difference Between House Music and Trance Music

House Music vs Trance Music

House music and trance music are two different genres of electronic dance music. Both are upbeat music we usually hear in clubs and party gatherings. Someone unfamiliar with this type of music normally thinks that there is not much difference between the two, but if you are a real electronic music lover, the difference is obvious.

House Music

House genre entered the music industry in the US during early 1980s. Initially, discotheques cater this type of music, but came a point when it reached Europe and was incorporated in the mainstream pop and dance music in the mid 90s. It is up-tempo for early year standards and generally mid-tempo in today’s standards, around 120 bpm, which makes it quite danceable. House music has 4/4 measure which means that by listening to it, you can actually count to four and repeats after four beats.

Trance Music

Trance entered the music world a little later than house music, sometime in the 90s. It’s not certain where the term “trance” was coined from, but the name clearly linked to the music’s ability to bring on an altered state of consciousness known as trance. This music has a much faster beat compared to house with 16 to 32 beat measure and a tempo of around 140bpm. This makes trance more complicated than house music.

Difference between house music and trance music

Real electronic dance music fans know how the sound differs between house and trance music. House is made of simple, bouncing beat while trance is more melodic and catchy usually accompanied with vocals. House music is very common in clubs whereas trance can be difficult when in discos because of its complexities. House and trance music build and release energy, the difference lies to the timing of the release. Trance tends to build longer that house before releasing, unlike house which basically builds and releases. This keeps the tension building and building until the beat drops.

Electronic dance music aficionados appreciate easily the uniqueness of both house and trance music. Although different in certain aspects, they’re still part of the electronic dance music family that naturally aims in providing dance and pop music to their avid fans.