Vocal Bop Desk
Music is one of the most important aspect of life. It is, however, divided into many genres, and Rock genre is one of the most famous one. The genre originated in the early 1950s and continued to enthrall people with its magic. It managed to win over the heart of thousands along the way and now, more than a million people are its fan. As it developed it came across other genres and some blends happened. As a result Rock is broad genre now, which has a number of variations and subgenres. The music had influenced the life of American people in more than one way. It is believed that the Rock music genre had a considerable amount of contribution in the American Civil Rights movement. The music genre has grasped the heart of people in its thrall and changed their lives.
Origin and It’s Journey
The core of Rock music is the Rock and Roll. The later formed gradually as a mixture of few other genres back in the 1940s in USA. But it gained its name in mid 1950. The genre was new and gained its popularity fast. People of all ages could feel its allure. As it gained more popularity, more music genres started to blend with it. As a result, more and more subgenre formed. Those genres and subgenres, however, are and always will always be part of Rock music.
The Rock and Roll style came into being from music style like Gospel, Jump Blues, Jazz, Boogie Woogie, and Rhythm and Blues, and Country music. It is heavily influenced by the Blue genre and Country genre. That is why the Blue music from 1920s and the Country songs from 1930s have some strong Rock elements.
Guitar is considered as the most important Rock instrument. But, that has not been so, always. Saxophone and Piano was the lead instrument of Rock music in its earliest phase. Gradually the guitar took the lead role by 1950s. The rock music has its own distinct rhythm. It contains a beat and an accentuated backbeat. The beat is essentially, a dance rhythm which also contained that accentuated backbeat. That backbeat is often produced with Snare-drum. The drum is a must in Rock and Roll. Variations of guitars are usually presented in Rock music. There are one or two electric guitars. One is for rhythm and the other is for lead. A double bass and string bass were always present in rock music. Electric bass guitars joined the club after mid 1950s.
There is a huge debate regarding its exact place of origin. However, Historians strongly believes that the music may have formed in the southern parts of America where the white and black music was mixing. African-american music like Jazz and Swing was spreading through the white people. And it was highly influenced by white music like Country, Blues and Gospel. The Rhythm and Blue was another mixed music of African-americans which had a serious influence on Rock and Roll. The former blended with Country music and gave birth to the root of Rock and Roll. As the seed of a new genre developed, it continued to be influenced by other genres of that time. Finally it gained its own identity in mid 1950s. Famous singers like Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, Carl Perkins, and Jerry Lee Lewis were already experimenting with this music in 1950s. These later came to be known as Rockabilly. Elvis Presley and his music were highly influenced by the African-american musician of that time. He recorded his famous song “That’s all right” in mid 1954. The song, which is basically Rock and Roll music, had a special blend of genres. The song became a hit next year and Rock and Roll surged in motion.
The Rock and Roll continued to make more space in people’s hearts. But, the genre had to face a devastating blow in late 1950 and early 1960. Famous Rock and Roll singers started to depart from music industry. Buddy Holly and The Big Bopper both passed away and Ritchie Valens died in a plane crash. Elvis departed for his service in the United States Army in 1958. Little Richard retired from his carrier to become a preacher in 1957. A scandal about Jerry Lee Lewis’s marriage to his almost thirteen-year-old cousin came to light in 1958. This created huge uproar. Chuck Berry was arrested by police for a serious allegation in December 1959. Payola scandal broke out in 1959. It implicated major figures, including infamous Alan Freed. Alan was accused of bribery and corruption in promoting individual acts or songs. This created the impression that the initial phase of Rock Music had finished. This came to be known as The Decline of Rock and Roll.
However, Rock and Roll had already given birth to a lot of other hybrid genres. Those subgenres and genres continued its journey. Few of those genres and subgenres later become famous in their own right. Such are Heavy Metal, Psychedelic Rock, Punk Rock, Alternative Rock and Glam Rock. By the early 1960s, Rock music had begun its progress as the Pop Rock and Instrumental Rock. The instrumental rock was later modified and formed into a new genre of Rock music. Dick Dale took the Instrumental rock music, and added distinctive “wet” reverb and rapid alternate picking. He then went on to add slight Mexican and Middle Eastern influences. Thus he created what he later called Surf music. The British part of the rock music had developed drastically by then. And it entered into USA through the British Cultural Invasion. The combination showed path to a new form of Rock music, The Garage rock.
The rock music changed more as it went through Psychedelic Rock and Jazz rock phases. The 1970s, however, brought new genres and subgenres like Roots Rocks, Glam Rocks and Christian Rock formed. Hard Rock, Soft Rock and Heavy metal also emerged in this period. The Punk Rock formed in the 1970s, which gradually gave ground to New Wave, which resulted in the formation of Post Punk Rock. The Heartland Rock came into being as straight forward and for the working class people.
The Alternative Rock emerged in the early 1980s. Genres and Subgenres like Grunge, Emo Britpop, Post Grunge Pop Punk, Post Britpop and Indie Rock emerged after that. Subgenres related to Heavy Metals like Alternative Metal, Rap Rock and NU Metal also become more prominent. After 2000, a few Rock genres have emerged. Post-Hardcore is one of them. There is also the revival of Post Punk and Garage Rock. The one other form of Rock music to emerge is the Digital Electronic Rock.
The Rock music has a large history enriched with music and incidents The shortened history has been presented here to give you a glimpse into its past.. The Rock had changed the course of lot of events and the life of a huge number of people. It’s influence and impact on people’s life is huge and it will continue to be so.
