Big Blog #1 Rock and Roll

 

Rock and Roll

Hello class, welcome back to my blog.  Today we will be discussing Rock ‘n Roll. 

In the famous words of Elvis Presley, “Rock and roll music, if you like it, if you feel it, you can’t help but move to it. That’s what happens to me. I can’t help it.” 

What is rock and roll? 

Rock and Roll is a genre of music that developed from rhythm and blues, country, gospel, and jazz music. It uses electrical instruments. It usually has a 4/4 time signature, but is very diverse in modern times. Many performers of this genre performed with high energy. This is what made it popular with the youth.

Where it got started 

Rock ‘n Roll got started in Cleveland, Ohio at the end of the 1940’s and beginning of the 50’s. What happened was that the owner of Record Rendezvous, a record shop, Leo Mintz, noticed that big bands' records weren’t selling as much anymore. He saw that the youth that would come into his shop would dance when R & B was playing. Due to R & B having connections to African Americans and the racial discrimination of the time, he started calling this music Rock ‘n Roll. The owner of this store, Leo Mintz, met a DJ from a radio station in the area. His name was Alan Freed and he was intrigued by how his customers enjoyed Rock ‘n Roll. So what he did was make time during his show to play Rock ‘n Roll music. This radio show started gaining popularity because of this music and Rock ‘n Roll took off! The name Rock ‘n Roll was chosen from an old blue term hinting towards sex. Due to racial discrimination young white Americans went against their parents and grandparents by listening to this music, which explains its connections to rebelliousness. Because of it being the expression of rebelliousness, its lyrics had a lot to do with love, political, and social issues. 

What instruments are used 

One instrument that is commonly used in rock and roll is the electric keyboard/piano. The keyboard is considered an electrophone. The keyboard can be used to recreate a wide range of sounds and even to various instruments. A very popular song called ‘Great Balls of Fire”, written by Jerry Lee Lewis was made using the electric keyboard as one of the focal instruments.

Another pivotal instrument that is used is a percussion instrument like the drums. The drums are a membranophone. A standard drum set consists of a bass drum, two rack toms, a floor tom and a snare drum. The drummer then uses some sort of mallet to hit the various drums to make a beat and keep pace throughout the song.

The last two instruments that are used in rock and roll music are guitars. Specifically a bass guitar and an electric guitar. Both of these instruments are  chordophones. The bass guitar is essentially a larger guitar with heavier strings. The bass guitar only has four strings in comparison to traditional guitars with six. With the heavy strings attached the bass guitar is able to hit lower notes. The attached video below is of a very famous song called “Anesthesia Pulling Teeth” by Metallica. The video highlights the solo of the bass player, and you are able to see the four strings of his bass guitar. 

The electric guitar became very popular in the 20th century. It started getting popular with the blues and then got very popular with rock and roll in the 50s and 60s. The electric guitar is very similar to a traditional acoustic guitar but has its differences. The electric guitar is thinner and smaller than an acoustic guitar. It uses a transducer which amplifies the vibrations from the strings to create the sound people know and love. With the loud electric sound and feeling of the guitar, it's no wonder why it is a main focus of a lot of rock music.

Early musicians of Rock and Roll

There are many early musicians of rock and roll and I will list a few you may know 

Chuck Berry

Elvis Presley

Jerry Lee Lewis

Little Richard

Buddy Holly

 

With so many amazing rock and roll artists across the world, there was a rock and roll hall of fame founded. It celebrates the history and cultural significance of rock and roll. It also honors those who have made an impact through the music's creation and preservation. Somes names you might know from the hall of fame are: The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin, David Bowie, and many more.

The man known as the father of Rock and Roll is Chuck Berry. His music which mixed country and R&B, plus lyrics which connected with the youth was the map to rock ‘n roll and what the other artists used to create their music. John Lenon once said, “If you tried to give rock ‘n roll another name you might call it Chuck Berry.”  1955 - 1965 was considered his golden decade where he wrote these songs. Despite this only being a decade he has written and performed until he passed away in 2017. This legend is in the Rock and Roll hall of fame!

I personally have always loved rock and roll music since I was a kid. I remember always listening to it in the car with my dad whenever we would drive somewhere. Thank you for taking the time out of your day to read my blog. I will leave you with one of my all time favorite rock and roll songs, which I would think most of you would have heard at some point in your life. They even made a movie out of it, which you should totally go watch.

Citations:

    Chuck Berry: Father of Rock & Roll - Country Music Hall of ... https://countrymusichalloffame.org/content/uploads/2019/05/WM-7-12-Chuck-Berry-Bio.pdf. 

    Lexi Hotchkiss, Image courtesy of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. “Cleveland's Rock History: Cleveland, OH.” This Is Cleveland, Destination Cleveland, 1 Sept. 2021, https://www.thisiscleveland.com/blog/february-2020/clevelands-rock-history. 

    MasterClass. “Rock 'n' Roll Music Guide: 4 Characteristics of Rock 'n' Roll - 2022.” MasterClass, MasterClass, 26 Apr. 2021, https://www.masterclass.com/articles/rock-n-roll-music-guide#a-brief-history-of-rock-n-roll. 

    Robert, Nic. “Electric Guitar vs. Acoustic Guitar: A Comparison.” Guitar Aficionado, 15 Mar. 2021, https://www.guitaraficionado.com/electric-guitar-vs-acoustic-guitar-comparison-difference/#:~:text=The%20biggest%20difference%20between%20an,vibration%20by%20strumming%20the%20strings. 

    “Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum.” Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., https://www.britannica.com/topic/Rock-and-Roll-Hall-of-Fame-and-Museum. 

    “Rock Music.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 2 Apr. 2022, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rock_music. 

    “Rock 'n' Roll: Encyclopedia of Cleveland History: Case Western Reserve University.” Encyclopedia of Cleveland History | Case Western Reserve University, 22 May 2018, https://case.edu/ech/articles/r/rock-n-roll. 

    “Ultimate List of Rock Music Instruments (2022 Updated).” Gemtracks Beats, https://www.gemtracks.com/guides/view.php?title=list-of-rock-music-instruments&id=540#:~:text=The%20instruments%20used%20to%20create,and%20polyphonic%20tape%20playback%20keyboard.