Where Did Rock Go?

What used to be rock in the 1950s has changed in itself over the years. Rock used to basically just be 2 guitars one playing rythm and the other playing the melody. Along with a base and drums. The classic rock sound was not has hardcore as it is today.

Even though rock has essentially stayed true to its general instruments. Its sound has changed drasticly. Using more electric and syncronized sounds. Distortion has become one of the most popular styles of guitar in todays rock. Changing the sound of the guitar to give it a rougher edge and tone.

The most hardcore form of rock today would probably have to be Heavy or Death Metal. Where the chords are usually so distorted that you can barely even tell the difference between chords. And the singers usually scream the lyrics into the microphones. This is supposed to show the emotion behind the words.

Chuck Berry

Even though you can't honestly say that anyone inparticular started rock and roll. Chuck Berry would be the closest thing to it. Like Elvis and Dylan he grew up in the church starting young in music. He was one of the first people to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

He didn't have the greatest childhood. He was arrested at the age of 18 right before graduating highschool. He served 3 years for commandeering a man's car and joyriding. Before he became a Rock and Roll Hall of Famer though he persued other avenues. He took on many jobs such as a beauticionist, assembly worker and even a janitor. He also considered a career as a photographer.

During this period he started playing for different local groups to try and bring in some more income. He had playing guitar sinse he was a teen and had mainly played blues. But when he started to play more proffessionally he altered his blues style to create what today we call rock and roll.

Bob Dylan

Bob Dylan started his career as a folk singer. Using lyrics to promote his beliefs on subjects such as the Vietnam War and politics. But later on he evolved more into rock.

He became one of the most influential rock stars in history. His message was what set him apart. He became especially popular during the hippie era where all the hippies shared the same views as him. This made him very popular making his audience grow more and more.

He was also a Christian for a time. So he wrote many songs about faith. Including "you gotta serve somebody" and "man gave names to all the animals". Which just increased his fan base including a lot of people in the Jesus movement.

The Positives

Rock has many negative connotations associated with it. But I would argue that it has also brought about many positive things. Maybe not as many as the negative but positive none the less.

I believe the greatest thing it did was help dissolve segregation. By bringing in a diverse audience of black and white kids it helped them realize how similar they were. They had a common intrest in the form of listening to rock music. And sinse most artists at the time were black. It forced the whites to come to the black neighborhoods and start mixing with each other more. Leading to the less and less racial environment that we have today. Even to the point of finally having a black President. Which I think rock deserves some credit for bringing that about.

Stories

I have never been personally affected by rock and roll. I love listening to it but its lifestyle has never really affected my life yet. But when I was interviewing my dad about his experiences with the life that rock promoted he told me a little story.

He told me about how for college he decided to go down to FL. He went to a Bible college studying to become a minister. He got a job to help pay for college and he said it was a really good paying job at the time. He rose to management position and was doing well. At the time he also had a girlfriend who was going to marry him. So he was sending her money to get by while he went to college and worked. But because of the lifestyle that rock and roll brought into America he started drinking and partying. Even in Bible college they found ways to get beer. This just shows how a lifestyle that is born out of rock and roll has grown to influence every part of America. So needless to say he wound up losing his job. This lead to him losing his ability to go to college. Which lead to his girlfriend dumping him after he had already spent thousands of dollars on her and provided for her for years. 

This is one of the negative things that rock and roll has brought to America. It made sex and drugs cool and acceptable to a very young audience. This has ruined many lives over the years and I'm sure will continue to do so. But as far as I'm concerned I say ROCK ON!

Tabs

Tabs have revolutionized music in general but especially Rock music due to the fact that it mainly uses guitar. What it has done is taking anybody with any base knowledge of how a guitar works can now learn any song they want. Using the internet to search your favorite artist and song you can simply copy the tabs and then play.

In order to play well known songs in the past you had to be able to read music. Or have someone teach you from first hand. Both ways can be a pain in the ass. Music takes a while to learn. Almost like an entirely new language. Even if you decide to stick with learning it it is always slow at first. Playing one note at a time and sounding like a two year old trying to talk. 

Tabs on the other hand is like a visual grid of the guitar. With just numbers instead of notes. Telling you which frets to place your fingers on. This allows people to quickly pick up and memorize songs. And on top of it you can play any of your favorite solos just by reading tabs.

This is an example of Tabs. They might not make sense but to a person that plays guitar they make all the sense in the world.

These in particular just show how to play some basic chords for a song.

Sheet music looks more like this and would take months of studying to be able to even guess what it means on a guitar

GuitarSheetMusicHighlighted.png

Music has always taking steps through society. As we change so does our music. (or is it the other way around?) For example, it is hard to overlook the fact that people used to be far more conservative.  Beethoven is the greatest

classical writer in history. And if you look at his time period from the late 1700's to the early 1800's you can see the extreme differences from our society today. Children actually obeyed their parents. If they didn't they were ostracized. Rebellion was met with strict punishment and was not tolerated. 

As we move on in History we see people becoming more and more rebellious. I believe one of the main reasons for this is due to adding words to our music. Now we have gradually grown to giving every artist out there the ability to say whatever they want in music. But this was not always the case. What they would say used to be censored. Keeping the conservative mind. But as we evolve our music, so do our morals. Rock jump started this evolution of moral de-solving propaganda. All of the sudden sex and drugs were being thrown out to the public through music. And on top of that influential people in the rock world were being found out for doing drugs and having sex...a lot. So this became cool promoting more rebellion and more drugs. Which as years go by they always come up with new and creative ways to add more sexual and drug orientated topics in music. For example, todays step forward would be rap.

Rock Legends

Elvis Presley was one of the most influential people in rock music. But by no means did he star

it. It was started by African Americans who were finding new ways of relating their pain to the world. He fell in love with this music and decided to make it his own. 

He added a new twist to the new culture of rock. Singing about women and moving his hips very suggestively making his female fans go crazy. They came from a more sheltered/conservative society and this hip shaking rock singer was the outlet they were looking for. This new fan base is what got Elvis started. He grew from this foundation until he became known as the king of Rock N Roll. Until now he is the most downloaded dead man in history. He shall forever be known as the King of Rock.

The Guitar

Rock and Roll can be played with almost any instrument. People have expressed themselves in rock using pianos, violins, and even harps. Using today's technology you can give almost any instrument a rock and roll sound. But the instrument that most people associate with rock is the guitar. With its hardcore sound and easy manipulation capabilities makes it a favorite of rock artists. 

Since I play guitar and I'm studying rock music I thought I might tell you a little bit about the guitar. Different styles of guitars have been around since ancient times. But the true electric guitar has only been around since the 1930's. Guitars are also not restricted by 6 strings. There are 4, 7, 8, 10 ,11, 12, 13 and even 18 string guitars. But the most common is the 6 string. Consisting of a low E, A, D, G, B, and high E string. And by placing your fingers at different intervals and patterns across the frets which are used for spacing. You can make different tones which make chords and then music. There are typically around 22 frets along the board. Going down by full and half steps. And repeating after the 12th. This gives the artist an extensive option of pitches and sounds.  

A Little History

Rock and Roll didn't just appear out of nowhere. It gradually came into being through our culture changing and in turn our style of music changing too. It all started with the blues. Rock is more or less a rabbit trail of the blues. Evolving from the feeling of sorrow felt by African Americans during the early 1900's. They were feeling oppressed and rightly so. The white man said they were free and yet still cut them off from freedom. So they had the privilege of living in and around freedom. Looking in through a pain glass and yet never truly tasting it. What this did was induce a "blue" feeling in African American men and women. The way they chose to express this feeling was through music. Singing about their troubles and then having the guitar answer them was one of the most efficient ways they could find to vent. Little did they know it would evolve into the greatest music sensation of our time. 

Basically what happened was white people started to hear this music. And being the rebels they were due to a society that believed in perfection. They started listening to the "colored" music. Until eventually it exploded when Elvis Presley came on the scene with his suggestive hips and influential music. Black and white children started mingling together just because they both wanted to enjoy this new style of music which helped them realize how similar they were. So in one way Rock N' Roll really helped end segregation in America.