Acid Trance
Acid trance came from acid house and is one of the earliest forms of trance, combining the hard, abrasive sound of that acid house with the hypnotic pulsing beats of early trance. While most trance is often described as uplifting and melodic, acid trance is little of either. Instead, it's more beat-driven and less emphasis is placed on the vocals, creating a darker and heavier sound.
Progressive Trance
Progressive trance is the opposite of acid, which is a little surprising, considering it's an offshoot of that genre. Everything is smoother and more melodic, the rhythm is further back in the mix and the beat is less constant and pounding. Of all the trance subgenres, progressive is one of the most pop-friendly. While it is still created for the dance floor, many progressive trance artists are more focused on creating solid albums of music than dance singles.
Uplifting Trance
Also called "anthem trance" (although some would say the two are different genres), uplifting trance is just that--inspiring. While other subgenres of trance build their songs slowly to create a climactic peak at the end designed to get everyone moving, uplifting trance is almost nothing but peaks.
Vocal Trance
Vocal trance is kind of self-explanatory. While other trance subgenres may have vocals, the emphasis here is solely on the singing. Vocal trance almost has the same structure as pop music, and even some pop songs have been covered by vocal trance artists to wide mainstream appeal.
Goa Trance
Goa trance takes its name from a region of India known for its intense drug-heavy club scene. It has a strong psychedelic bent, no doubt because of the heavy usage of LSD in the scene from which it came. Because of its region of origin, it's not uncommon to hear Indian instruments such as the sitar mixed in with the electronic sounds and samples.
Psychedelic Trance
Related to Goa but still a genre of its own, psychedelic trance is less melodic than goa and features a harder sound reminiscent of acid trance. However, the beats in psychedelic trance tend to be faster than in acid, and the sound can be described as more "sci-fi," with space-themed tracks not uncommon.
Euro Trance
A central, neutral form of trance which is probably the simplest to understand. Euro trance is often very uplifting, it is usually around 140 - 145 bpm and has a lot of big rifts. The bass is generally quite heavy and it will often have a female vocal. Due to the big rifts, breakdowns and vocals this style of trance can also be referred to as commercial trance. This form of trance definitely falls into the instant "feel good" category - for many trance-heads, this is how it all started. Currently much harder edged Euro Trance is being referred to as "Hard Trance", in many ways it is similar to Euro, with big, but usually not so "euphoric", rifts and a bit faster, usually around 145 - 150 bpm, often using acid lines.
Hard Trance
Hard Trance, as the title suggests, blends traditional trance sounds and structure with harder elements more reminiscent of Acid and Techno. The tempo is generally increased to between 145 and 155 and the kick drum and bass is usually a focus for a clubbing audience.
Ambient Trance
The precursor to Progressive Trance, Ambient Trance is a dreamy, hypnotic and intelligent style of trance, mostly German, that utilizes atmospheric pads, epic melodic progressions and occasionally symphonic arrangements. It is not to be confused with commercial, mainstream trance from artists such as ATB or Darude. At times borrowing elements from the earlier acid movement, such as rezzy 303 leads and minimal percussion, but based more on the spiritual experience that Goa Trance has since trademarked, Ambient Trance is an often-forgotten but extremely influential style that took rave music to a higher and more profound level. Sometimes called "Oldschool Trance" because it has since been left behind for the harder styles popular today.
Tech Trance
Tech-Trance is a sub-genre within Electronic Dance Music that draws upon the Techno and Trance genres as the name suggests. Tech-Trance focuses more on the Techno elements, incorporates traditional elements of Techno, with its repetitive nature and strong 4/4 beat, while deriving the melodic elements from Trance. Tech-Trance compositions tend to have a tempo of around 135-150 Beats per minute. Tech-Trance tends to utilize a more driving sound while commonly using distortion as an effect on the melodies. Commonly, the melody containing strings and pads will begin once the beat has completely stopped, playing by itself much like a Trance breakdown. This melody will suddenly stop, leaving the drums and a completely different synth to begin, whereas Trance songs would generally continue with the same melody. The synths are short, repetitive and contain less note changes than Trance, often having the same note played in an interesting sequence. For an example, see Sam Sharp's "Deep". While breakdowns and builds within a song are important elements of many electronic genres, they are less prevalent in Tech-Trance. As a result, more abrupt stops and starts are used to increase the effect of sudden changes within the music. Vocals are also quite rare within the Tech-Trance genre, with only short phrases or single words normally incorporated. Tech-Trance is currently quite an underground genre, but is growing in popularity due to its hard-edged nature and growing list of producers.
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