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Styles, Genres & Eras

Rock

Definition

Rock is a genre of popular music that grew out of 1950s rock and roll, built on electric guitar, bass and drums, a strong backbeat on beats 2 and 4, and riffs, with roots in blues, R&B and country.

Rock grew out of rock and roll, the music that took over American radio in the mid-1950s. Rock and roll combined African American rhythm and blues and blues with country and gospel influences. Chuck Berry, Little Richard, Fats Domino and Elvis Presley were among its early stars. In the 1960s, British bands such as the Beatles and the Rolling Stones, along with American artists including Bob Dylan and Jimi Hendrix, turned rock and roll into "rock": louder, more varied and more ambitious.

The sound of rock

  • The band: electric guitar, bass guitar, drums and vocals, often with keyboards.
  • A strong backbeat: the snare drum hits beats 2 and 4 of a 4/4 bar.
  • Riffs: short, repeated guitar or bass figures that define a song.
  • Power chords (root and fifth) and distortion, which gives the electric guitar its thick, sustained sound.
  • Blues-based harmony: I, IV and V chords, the 12-bar blues, and the ♭VII chord (in C, a B♭ major chord), along with the minor pentatonic scale for guitar solos.
  • Verse–chorus form with a guitar solo, often in place of a bridge.

Main styles

Rock split into many styles: hard rock and heavy metal (heavier, louder, riff-driven), progressive rock (longer songs, complex forms and meters), punk (fast, short and raw, from the mid-1970s), new wave, alternative and grunge (Nirvana in the early 1990s), indie rock, and many more. Rock also met folk (folk rock), jazz (fusion) and soul.

Rock and other genres

The line between rock and pop is blurry. Rock usually means guitar-based bands that write their own songs and emphasize live playing. It also shaped much of 20th-century popular culture, from fashion to youth movements.

Playing rock

  • Drummers and bassists: lock in together. Most rock grooves depend on the kick drum and bass playing the same rhythm.
  • Guitarists: learn power chords, palm muting and the minor pentatonic scale.
  • Keyboard players: think in rhythmic patterns rather than full chords on every beat, and leave space for the guitars.

The Drum Patterns worksheet shows the backbeat on a 16-step grid, and The 12-Bar Blues is the progression behind many early rock songs.

Common questions

What is the difference between rock and rock and roll?

Rock and roll is the 1950s style of Chuck Berry, Little Richard and Elvis Presley. "Rock" usually refers to the broader, more varied music that developed from it from the mid-1960s on.

What instruments are in a rock band?

Typically electric guitar, bass guitar, drums and vocals, often with a second guitar or keyboards.

Practice it: free worksheets