What actually is the difference between House and Techno?

Tempo

A fairly simple one to start, house tends to be in the 115 - 130 BPM range whereas techno is more typically 120 - 140 BPM.

Counter examples come in the form of hard house and hard techno, whose BPMs usually go higher than 140 and are more or less equivalent. Purists might not count these however as they are subgenres.

Groove, Drums & Percussion

Stepping up the difficulty in identification is differences in groove.

House uses more syncopation (off-beat rhythms), wide varieties of synthesized and sampled percussion, and has a big emphasis on a consistent snare on the 2 and 4 of the bar. There is also a tendency towards using warm and human sounding percussion and rhythms.

Techno tends to be more rigid and mechanical as well as more minimal in drums and percussion. Although snares on the 2 and 4 are still fairly common it's also common to have them omitted, with perhaps small off beat snares or no snares at all. There is a tendency to harsher and metallic sounds, and synthesised rather than sampled drums and percussion.

Melody, Hooks and Vocals

Use of melody, hooks and vocals can be quite distinguishing.

House is built more fundamentally on the use of vocals, hooks and melodies, with a lot of classic and genre defining tracks having vocals throughout and somewhat resembling songs in format. Catchy lead synths often make appearances and overall house tracks are much more likely to leave you singing something after listening than techno.

Use of vocals, hooks and melodies tends to be more sparse in techno. Vocals, when they do appear, tend to be small samples used as part of a groove or for effect during a breakdown. Melody sometimes comes in the form of synth chords, often in short and repetitive loops.

Harmony

Harmony, that is to say the use of chords and chord progressions, also tends to differ heavily.

House is, as you may expect from more song-like forms, much more built around harmony than techno, especially in the historical context. Chord progressions and instruments like piano and organ are quite typical.

Techno varies quite heavily in use of harmony, with synth chord progressions featuring prominently in some tracks but others can be completely missing, often to the point of being atonal. The note of the bass from the kick could be the only identifiable note you hear in the track.

Counter example: progressive techno is often rather musical, but telling the difference between that and progressive house or progressive trance is quite honestly beyond the abilities of the author and in fact I'm not entirely convinced they even are different genres.

Arrangement and Structure

Track structure was a much more defining feature, but in modern examples there isn't much to distinguish as both tend towards a long form electronic dance music structure of drops and breakdowns.

Earlier house had more of a tendency towards song like structures, with verses and choruses. This may still be found in soulful house or other vocal driven house tracks.

Techno has more consistently shown long form dance music structures but is also quite a broad and experimental genre generally so you may also see odd features like additional sections or unexpected twists and turns. There's also a very large emphasis on slowly evolving tracks and building and releasing of tension.

Examples - Classics

Move Your Body - Marshall Jefferson

A classic house tune, perhaps the classic example of house music. Here we see a song like format with vocals front and centre, prominent use of complex lead piano and catchy riff chords, a super wide off beat hihat very reminiscent of the disco origins. Oh, and another very obvious marker, if the vocals are talking about house music, it's probably a house track. Sadly doesn't allow embeds from youtube so you'll have to click the link

The Bells - Jeff Mills

Another absolute class tune, this time it's techno by another pioneer and master of the genre. Another great example, we see a faster tempo, driving and more industrial sound, tight loops, lack of snare on the 2 and 4 and a building and evolving feel driven by modulation and modification of the elements of the track. Another one that doesn't allow embeds but it's too much of a classic to not include.

Examples - Modern

Dragon - Andrea Giudice

Maybe a little more tricky of an example, given that I would definitely call this tech house, but to me, it still has the hallmarks of house music whilst clearly also taking influence from techno. In the intro we have syncopated rhythms with quite a few subtle elements. Then we're hit with a catchy and bouncy bassline, the drums and bassline providing the ever present foundation of the track. We do see the obvious techno influences in the lead sound and darker feel, as well as the use of small vocal samples for emphasis. A nice example for some variety and perhaps one that will be a bit more controversial in the votes!

Rave Me - Jay Lumen

A great example of modern techno. Focused around a big kick drum, we get small synthesised hi-hats followed by a small loop of a single chord which develops and is modulated. Snares and other percussion used as accents, the kick provides the only bass. Overall effect is hypnotic and spooky. After a breakdown we get a throwback to a classic 303 style sound bass/lead. Eventually we finally get the snares on the 2 and 4 that were missing for the entire first 3/4 of the track for a peak in energy.

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