Heavy metal originated in the late 1960s from genres like blues rock and psychedelic rock. It is characterized by loud, amplified guitar sounds featuring extended solos, thick rhythm sections, and forceful vocals. Early influential bands included Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath, and Deep Purple. Black Sabbath developed a particularly heavy sound influenced by guitarist Tony Iommi's finger injury. Heavy metal diversified in the 1970s and 1980s, spawning genres like speed metal and glam metal, while bands like Judas Priest discarded blues influences to further develop the genre.

1. SESSION STYLES & MUSIC PERFORMANCE
HEAVY METAL
CHRISTOPHER BAKER
MUSICSTUDENTINFO.COM

2. HEAVY METAL
WHAT IMMEDIATELY
SPRINGS TO MIND
WHEN YOU THINK
OF THE TERM?
HEAVY METAL!

3. HEAVY
METAL
GENERAL
Heavy Metal aka ‘Metal’ is a genre of rock music
Developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s
In the United Kingdom and the United States
Roots in blues rock, psychedelic rock, and acid rock
Distinct thick, massive sound, characterized by highly
amplified distortion, extended guitar solos, emphatic beats

4. HEAVY
METAL
GENERAL
Loud, very Loud!
Associated with aggression and machismo
Definition: Machismo is the sense of being manly and self-reliant, the
concept associated with "a strong sense of masculine pride: an exaggerated
masculinity." It is associated with "a man's responsibility to provide for,
protect, and defend his family. The term is popular In both Spain and
Portugal as well as in Spanish and Portuguese languages.

5. HEAVY METAL ORIGINS OF THE TERM ‘HEAVY
METAL’
Origin is unclear Used in Chemistry and Metallurgy
William S. Burroughs 1962 novel
The Soft Machine, character known
as "Uranian Willy, the Heavy Metal
Kid".
Ian Christie (Rock Historian) states
"heavy" is roughly synonymous with
"potent" or "profound," and "metal"
designates a certain type of mood,
grinding and weighted as with
metal.
Critic Lester Bangs popularized the
term via essays on bands Led
Zeppelin and Black Sabbath.
New York Times critic John Rockwell
stated "heavy-metal rock" as
"brutally aggressive music played
mostly for minds clouded by drugs"

6. MUSICAL ORIGINS OF ‘METAL’
Distinctive guitar style
Distortion-heavy riffs and
power chords
Roots to early 1950s
Memphis blues guitarists;
Joe Hill Louis & Willie
Johnson,
Key Influence Pat Hare
"grittier, nastier, more
ferocious electric guitar
sound" on records such as
James Cotton's "Cotton Crop
Blues" (1954)

7. GUITARIST
PAT HARE

8. GUITARIST PAT HARE ON JAMES COTTON'S "COTTON
CROP BLUES" (1954) & I’M GONNA MURDER MY BABY
(1954)

9. • 1950S INSTRUMENTALS
OF LINK WRAY "RUMBLE"
(1958)
• 1960S SURF ROCK OF
DICK DALE "LET'S GO
TRIPPIN'" (1961)
"MISIRLOU" (1962)
• THE KINGSMAN'S VERSION
OF "LOUIE LOUIE" (1963)
1950’S & 60’S
INFLUENCES
GUITARIST DICK
DALE

10. 1960’S INFLUENCES
American Blues
influence on the early
British Rock Bands.
(Blues artists visit UK)
The Rolling Stones and
The Yardbirds record
covers & developed
classic blues songs
This Influenced US
bands. (British
Invasion)
Developed hallmarks of
heavy metal (loud,
distorted guitar sound
The Kinks popularized
this sound with "You
Really Got Me”1964

11. DEVELOPMEN
TS IN SOUND
Guitarists Pete Townshend (The Who) and Jeff
Beck (The Yardbirds) experiment with feedback.
Drummers use a more muscular, complex,
approach with much bigger kits
Vocalists modify their technique, become more
stylized and dramatic.
The competition to be loudest begins

12. JIM
MARSHALL
THE WHO

13. OTHER INFLUENCES ON HEAVY METAL
Blues Rock with Psychedelic
Rock and Acid Rock original
basis for Heavy Metal.
British power trio Cream
(Ginger Baker, Eric Clapton &
Jack Bruce) with unison
RIFFING & Double Bass
Drumming were a huge
influence
Jimi Hendrix's virtuosic
technique influenced many
metal guitarists.

14. DOUBLE BASS DRUMMING &
RIFFING

15. EARLY
METAL
BANDS
LED
ZEPPELIN
Led Zeppelin or Black Sabbath credited as the
first.
Americans favour Led Zeppelin from the
Midlands
Led Zeppelin defined the genre, with Page's
distorted guitar style and singer Robert Plant's
dramatic, wailing vocals

16. LED
ZEPPELIN

17. BLACK SABBATH & BIRMINGHAM
British favour Black Sabbath from
the Midlands
Black Sabbath developed a heavy
sound
Industrial accident guitarist Tony
Iommi lost fingertip
Unable to play normally, had to
tune his guitar down for easier
fretting and rely on power chords
Birmingham History Bleak,
industrial, working class
environment, a manufacturing city,
noisy factories and metalworking,
credited with influencing Black
Sabbath & others
Deep Purple are the third band in
the "unholy trinity”
Jeff Beck Group huge early influence
on metal guitarists

18. BLACK
SABBATH

19. INDUSTRIAL BIRMINGHAM

20. INSTRUMENTATIO
N
& SOUNDS
GUITARS
KEYBOARDS &
VOCALS
Line-up Drums, Bass, Rhythm Guitar, Lead Guitar & Vocals
Keyboard instruments are sometimes used: Hammond Organs & Moog
Synthesisers were popular
Loud distorted guitars (heavy metal guitar sound comes from use of high
volumes and heavy distortion) Guitar are essential!
Rhythm guitar parts-’crunch’ sounds created by palm muting
Dense bass-and-drum sound, and vigorous vocals
"explicit display of emotion" is required for authenticity

21. INSTRUMENTATION & SOUNDS
BASS & DRUMS
Bass is prominent,
interplay of bass and
guitar is a central
element
Some bands feature the
bass as a lead
instrument
Heavy metal Drumming
focuses on speed,
power, and precision
HM drumming "requires
exceptional endurance,
speed, coordination,
and dexterity .

22. HISTORY
GENERAL
1 OF 2
Heavy metal music also known as metal, is a genre of rock music
developing in the late 1960s and early 1970s mainly in the United Kingdom
and United States.
Heavy metal supposedly contained influences from blues rock and
psychedelic rock but created its own sound with conventions exclusive to
that genre.
Some of these included: extended guitar solos, emphatic beats and general
loudness.
As well as the lyrics often described as being masculine, aggressive,
controversial and also containing “violent or fantastic imagery”.
The new genre attracted large audiences for the first big heavy metal bands
like Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple and Black Sabbath despite the controversial
manner of the genre and critics dislike of the altering of rock music.

23. HISTORY
GENERAL
2 OF 2
During the 1970s and 1980s, the new genre gained sub-genres. In the
mid-1970s, Judas Priest discarded the blues influence of the genre
which prompted other heavy metal bands to develop the genre
themselves.
Motörhead introduced a punk rock influence to the genre and focused
on the speed of the music which some British metal bands followed in
such as Iron Maiden and Saxon. By the end of the decade, heavy metal
fans were known as “metalheads” or “headbangers”.
During the 1980s, more subgenres became popular. Mötley Crüe and
Poison made glam metal a commercial force while other extreme
subgenres were thriving in the underground scene. For example,
thrash metal which eventually became more mainstream thanks to
bands like Metallica and Slayer.