Minimalist Music looks critically into the music’s past, shows how the genre thrives across styles, and points the way toward minimalism’s ongoing future.
Minimalism as a genre is best defined not by any style or flavor but by its means. Certain rhythms and chords in other music may identify things like jazz or bossa nova or reggae; take those same elements and put them through the processes of minimalism and you have minimalism with the hues of other musics.
A still young genre with ancient roots, minimalism is much less any kind of style than a practice, a manner of making music. Reviving those means and applying them to contemporary sounds and experiences, the pioneers of minimalism created a new and avant-garde music that immediately communicated its power to listeners of all kinds. The global appeal of minimalism and the way the methods adapt to myriad styles open up a view into how music actually works as an art and an experience, how through time it connects in a fundamental way to how we as humans listen.
Minimalist Music is also available in audiobook format from audiobook retailers.
Minimalist Music
George Grella, Jr.
Looks critically into the music’s past, shows how the genre thrives across styles, and points the way toward minimalism’s ongoing future.Rights Sold
All Rights AvailableBook Details
Imprint: Bloomsbury Academic
Publication Date: 30-04-2026
Format: Paperback | 5 x 7 3/4 | 152 pagesAbout the Author
George Grella, Jr. has written about music and culture for over thirty years for print and online publications, and has contributed to the Grove Dictionary of Music and the Library of Congress’ National Recording Registry. He is Music Editor at The Brooklyn Rail, publishes the Kill Yr Idols newsletter, and is the author of Miles Davis' Bitches Brew (Bloomsbury 2015). He has played jazz, classical, and improvised music from CBGB to Carnegie Hall.
Material Available

















