Beach music may refer to two things: (1) a broad category of music that people associate with the beach, which may include genres such as surf rock, surf pop, reggae, calypso, traditional Hawaiian folk music, the "island escapism" music of Jimmy Buffett, etc.; or (2) a specific regional genre of music, also known as Carolina beach music.
Carolina beach music developed from various musical styles of the forties, fifties and sixties. These styles ranged from big band swing instrumentals to the more raucous sounds of blues/jump blues, jazz, doo-wop, boogie, rhythm and blues, reggae, rockabilly and old-time rock and roll. Beach music is closely associated with the style of swing dance known as the shag, or the Carolina shag, which is also the official state dance of both North Carolina and South Carolina. Recordings with a 4/4 "blues shuffle" rhythmic structure and moderate-to-fast tempo are the most popular music for the shag, and the vast majority of the music in this genre fits that description. .
