House music is the four-on-the-floor dance genre that emerged in early-1980s Chicago, named after the Warehouse club where DJ Frankie Knuckles cut and looped disco records over drum-machine patterns. Built on a steady kick, off-beat hi-hats, and soulful vocal samples, it became the foundation of nearly every modern dance subgenre. Classic house typically sits between 118 and 128 BPM, draws from disco, soul, and gospel, and prizes warmth and groove over technical complexity. From Chicago it spread to New York (where it informed garage), Detroit (techno), and Europe (where Italian and UK producers expanded it into countless offshoots). Today "house" most often refers to the classic Chicago/New York lineage and its melodic, vocal-led descendants.