Music & Pop Culture

Rock'n Roll

Time: 1940's and 1950's.

Place: USA

Origin: Combination of African-American genres such as blues, and country music. 

Instruments: piano, saxophone, drum set, double bass and electric guitar.

Lyrics: Easy to understand and a repetitive chorus.

Did you know...

• rock and roll, as seen in movies and on television, influenced lifestyles, fashion, attitudes, and language.

• Usually, rock'n roll lyrics were about have a good time, have fun, dance.

• Rock'n Roll songs are not to long, because of the media (vinyls could only include three minutes). 

Some bands and artists were:

Elvis Presley

Chuck Berry

Little Richard

Jerry Lee Lewis

Rock

Time: 1965

Place: USA and UK

Origin: Develope of Rock and Roll and beat music. 

Instruments: Electric guitar, electric bass and drum set.

Lyrics: Burning-up lyrics with inappropiate language.

Did you know...

• Guitar solos were very usual. 

• There was a psychedelic rock, with crazy lyrics that last for 20 minutes!!

• Also there was a more fancy rock, called progressive rock 

Some bands and artists were:

Rolling Stones

The Beatles

Led Zeppelin

Deep Purple

Hard Rock

Time: 1970's.

Place: USA

Origin: Evolution of rock music from psychedelic and blues. 

Instruments: Electric guitars, electric bass, drum set and piano or keyboard.

Lyrics: Agressive vocals, with a tendency to talk about violence, war or demons .

Did you know...

• guitar solos were the heart of this music.

• It was a massive popular music in the 70's.

• In this style, the singer always tried to cheer up the audience. 

Some bands and artists were:

AC/DC

Black Sabbath

Alice Cooper

KISS

Soft Rock

Time: Last years of the 60's and 70's

Place: USA

Origin: Folk music with elements of rock. 

Instruments: Folk instruments like the acoustic guitar, fiddle. Also used rock instruments like electric guitar, electric bass and drum set.

Lyrics: Deeper meaning, about life and death.

Did you know...

• Normally this styles used slow and mid tempos. 

• It used to be more sentimental.  

Some bands and artists were:

Bob Dylan

The Eagles

James Taylor

Queen

Punk

Time: 1970's and a revival in the 1990's.

Place: UK

Origin: Rock music with political and social ideas, specially anarchy. 

Instruments: Electric guitars, electric bass, drum set.

Lyrics: Agressive vocals, with violence, anarchy and antisystem messages. 

Did you know...

• guitars were so distorted than all musical notes were blured. 

• Punk fashion includes leather jackets, spiked bracelets and mohack haircut.

• Lyrics were really aggressive and with explicit sexual content.

Some bands and artists were:

Sex Pistols

The Clash

Green Day

The Offspring

METAL

Metallica

Iron Maiden

Time: Mid 70's and 80's

Place: USA

Origin: Rock music with virtuosistic elements.

Instruments: Mostly electric guitars, electric bass and drum set.

Lyrics: Against intolerance, wars and drugs. 

Did you know...

• Usually, the beginning of the song is soft and it becomes harder and faster.

• Guitar solos are insane and fastest. 

• It uses a lot of different dynamics and tempo changes.

Some bands and artists were:

Judas Priest

Motörhead

Grunge

Time: Last years of the 80's and 90's.

Place: USA

Origin: Rock music with political and social ideas, specially anarchy. 

Instruments: Electric guitars, electric bass, drum set.

Lyrics: Apathetic and against society. It focuses on personal issues, on the negative side

Did you know...

• heavily distorted electric guitars are often.

• this styles used great contrasting song dynamics

• Grunge musicians were noted for their unkempt appearances and rejection of theatrics.

Some bands and artists were:

Nirvana

Pearl Jam

Foo Fighters

3 Doors Down