Celebratory songs included Kingdom Coming and Oh we'll hang Jeff Davis from a sour apple tree.
Records in the hi-NRG style of the late 1970s to early 1980s would typically use a pronounced percussive element, such as a drum fill, to cover the transition.
Later dance genres typically reach the breakdown section by a gradual reduction of elements, though a wide variety of styles have been employed since the mid-2000s.
In all genres, the stripping away of other instruments and vocals ("breaking-down" the arrangement) helps create intense contrast, with breakdowns usually preceding or following heightened musical climaxes.
This noise then typically cuts to a beat of silence, creating extra tension on the dance floor, before the drop – the sudden (and often percussive and volume-enhanced) return to the musical part of the track.
The guitars play a set of rhythmically oriented riffs, usually on lightly palm-muted strings to achieve a very high attack noise that decays slowly, making the overall sound more thick and "heavy".
In punk, breakdowns tend to be more upbeat, using the floor toms and snare to create a faster, "rolling" rhythm.
As in modern metal genres and in other punk subgenres, breakdowns in metalcore and deathcore are signals for moshing at live shows.