# Soul — Genre

> Emotional vocal music. African-American gospel + R&B roots. Powerful, expressive.

## Defining elements

- Powerful vocals (often gospel-influenced)
- Mid tempo (75-110 BPM)
- Major and minor with 7th chords
- Live instrumentation traditionally
- Emotional delivery
- Call-and-response often

## Sub-types

- **Classic soul** — 60s-70s (Aretha Franklin, Otis Redding, Stax)
- **Motown** — Detroit sound (Stevie Wonder, Marvin Gaye)
- **Northern soul** — UK collector culture
- **Neo-soul** — 90s revival (D'Angelo, Erykah Badu, Lauryn Hill)
- **Modern soul** — current (Adele, Sam Smith, Leon Bridges)

## Typical instrumentation

Hammond organ + electric piano + bass (rich) + drums + horns + lead vocal + backing vocals

## Production characteristics

- Live band feel
- Hammond organ signature
- Brass section accents
- Vocal at center
- Compression but warm
- Vintage equipment often

## Lyrics direction

- Love (deeply expressed)
- Heartbreak (deeply felt)
- Faith
- Empowerment
- Social justice (Marvin Gaye "What's Going On")
- Vulnerability + power

## For Suno

```
[Style: classic soul, 90 BPM, Bb major with 7th chords, Hammond organ + 
electric piano + bass + drums + horn section + female alto lead vocal 
powerful with melisma + male backing harmonies, vintage warm production]
```

## Examples

- Aretha Franklin, Otis Redding, Sam Cooke, Marvin Gaye
- Modern: Adele, Sam Smith, Leon Bridges, Brittany Howard

## Avoid

- Auto-tune
- Synthetic instruments dominant
- Whisper vocals
- Lifeless delivery
- Cold modern production