Important points about Rock & Roll!
- Rock and roll came about in the 1950’s. Rock was a combination of blues, jazz and gospel music.
- Rock ‘n’ Roll is based on the Blues, with a heavy backbeat. Rock kicked up the blues tempo, faster than Early R&B and Jump Blues
- Rock connected white cultures (especially the average middle class white American young family) with black cultures (particularly exciting black R&B musicians).
- The British invasion was key in bringing rock and roll to America and directing attention to African- American blues artists.
- Skiffle was the UK’s “Country” music, highlighting acoustic instrumentation, Folk like story telling, eventually led to UK Rock musicians as they pulled from American influences (Heavily African-American, Blues, R&B etc).
- Rock provided a new “sound for the youth” at the time, promoting rebellion.
- Rock and roll lyrical topics: love/relationships, drugs & rebellion, everyday relatable topics and heartbreak.
- Rock and roll helped shape various other genres, and dominated the pop scene through the 80’s and 90’s. Rock & roll has various sub genres, a few include: rockabilly, hard rock, grunge, metal, punk, experimental.
- Instruments consist of “Rock band” set up: (bass, drums, guitar, vocals), sometimes horns (trumpets, saxophones, etc), piano.
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