樂種在音樂論述中已是一個普遍的用詞，但卻仍是一個未被充分探討的觀念，多數時候人們對它的了解與音樂分類沒什麼區別，甚至學術著作中也有此現象，所以樂種的觀念必須重新審視，雖然可找到的定義不多，但作者做了一些闡釋並對其個人過去發表的相關文字重新審視。此外，作者也剖析了音樂分類與樂種列舉的關聯，特別指出兩者之不同，使樂種觀念終能跳脫邏輯思考的困窘。樂種的鑑別則是以一些西方樂種為例，提出樂種的成立與歸屬的論點，以免觀念上之混亂。在西方音樂文化中，樂種的名稱，以及場所與樂種的發展關聯，具有一些可資清楚觀察的特點，而樂種與創作、樂種與文化、樂種與美學、樂種與經濟、社會、政治等的關聯性思維，則可提供音樂研究者看待樂種的態度和想法。

Musical genre is a widely used term in musical discourse, but it remains a concept that has not yet been fully explored. People usually do not make any distinction between it and musical classifications, and this even appears in some scholarly writing. Hence the concept of musical genre needs to be reexamined. Although not many definitions can be found, the present writer has interpreted some of them and conducted a review of relevant texts he has published in the past. In addition, the writer dissected the particular connections between musical genre and musical classification, especially pointing out the differences between the two, so that the concept of musical genre can finally escape its difficult position in logical thought. When identifying a musical genre, one raises an argument on the establishment and classification of musical genre, based on a few examples of Western musical genres, in order to avoid conceptual confusion. In Western musical culture, the names of musical genres, as well as their connections with certain places in their development, can offer clarification. Moreover, the connections between musical genre on the one hand and thought on creativity, culture, esthetics, economics, society, and politics on the other can provide musical researchers attitudes and ways of thinking with regard to musical genre.