Research into rock music

1. RESEARCH INTO ROCK
MUSIC

2. Rock music, is a popular genre of music amongst millions around the world; it evolved from rock ‘n’ roll
and pop music during the mid and late 1960’s developing later into various styles as the years went on,
particularly in the United States and UK. Other genres influenced the making of the genre, these genres
are; electric blues, folk and incorporated influences from jazz, classical and other sources of music.
Rock music had a huge influence on fashion in the world and the ways in which music videos were made. It
is seen by many that it had a positive impact due to worldwide events that have come out of it such as Live
Aid and numerous other music events that take place. Funk rock is the combination of rock and funk with
many instruments being incorporated into the music that is produced; the music is mainly heard with the
use of drums, electric guitars and bass guitars. The drums and bass get their sounds from funk but have
been intensified giving it the rock music feel to it.

3. Audience
• Majority of the music is listened to by the younger generation, with a lot of these people being white
people both male and female.
• The music has always emphasises masculinity with a large majority of bands in this genre being male
based with few female rock bands.
• The audience often seem to be interested in the same style of clothing, linking them all together and
giving them their own identity around the world with people referring to them as moshers, emos, goths
etc.
• In a recent survey of 100 people, it showed that out of the 100 people that took part in the survey, 63
people liked rock music making it an extremely popular genre of music around the world.

4. Bands
The Beatles;
• An English rock band from Liverpool in the 1960’s.
• John Lennon, Paul McCartney, Ringo Star and George Harrison the four members that were in the band
• They were given credit for influencing and the developing a new style of rock music that changed rock
music forever, making them one of the most recognised bands in history.
• The music produced was unique with the lyrics of their songs being very easy to follow and were catchy
making it hard not to sing along to.
Nirvana;
• An American rock band formed in 1987 by lead singer and guitarist, Kurt Cobain.
• After the death of Cobain in 1994, the band went their separate ways with drummer Dave Grohl forming
one of the biggest bands known, Foo Fighters.
• Before the death of Kurt Cobain, Nirvana headlined the Reading Festival in 1992 showing the success
they had made in the 5 years they had been together when reaching this point.

5. Genres
Alternative rock;
• A genre of rock music that has come from the independent music underground, 1980’s and has since
become very popular in the 1990’s-2000’s.
• Alternative rock came appeared in the wake of the genre punk rock since the mid 1980’s.
• It has been defined by its rejection of commercialism of mainstream culture, however, since contested,
many alternative artists have achieved mainstream success or co-opted with major labels from 1990’s
onwards.
Dance rock;
• Dance rock is a post disco genre that has been linked with electronic and pop rock just with fewer
rhythms and blues.
• It developed in the early 80’s after the ‘death’ of disco and punk. Spandau Ballet being the most
recognised band in the genre.

6. Genres Continued…
Electronic rock;
• Electronic rock, a genre that is produced by the use of electronic instruments. It is also highly dependent
on technological developments.
• Late 1960’s rock music began to use electronic instruments with the use of musical synthesizers
becoming available for musicians in the mid 60’s.
• Bands that are associated with this genre; Linkin Park, Muse, The Prodigy and Pendulum.
Funk Rock;
• A genre of music that blends funk and rock elements together. The earliest experience on record was in
the late 1960’s right through to the mid 1970’s, by bands such as; Jimi Hendrix Experience.
• During the 80’s and 90’s funk rock experienced an increase in popularity with bands such as Red Hot
Chilli Peppers mixing funk rock with different genres such as; heavy metal, hip hop, experimental rock
and punk rock and this lead to the development of funk rock sub genre funk metal.

7. Genres Continued…
Glam Rock;
• A genre of music developed in the UK in the early 70’s combining rock and pop music, it was performed
by artists who wore outrageous clothing, make up and hairstyles.
• It peaked during the mid 70’s with artists such as; David Bowie in the UK and the Alice Cooper group.
• It declined in the mid 70’s but influenced other genres including punk, gothic rock, glam metal and new
romantics and has since been revived in the 90’s.
Hard Rock;
• Hard rock, a sub genre of rock music that came around in the mid 60’s with the garage, psychedelic and
blues rock movements.
• Uses aggressive rock vocals, distorted electric guitars, bass guitar, drums and is often accompanied with
the use of pianos and keyboards.
• Was developed into a major form of popular music in the 70’s with bands along the lines of Led Zepplin,
The Who, Deep Purple, Aerosmith and ACDC.
• During the 80’s, some hard rock bands turned towards pop rock while others began to return to hard
rock.

8. Genres Continued…
Indie Rock;
• A genre of alternative rock that originated in the UK in the 80’s. it was diverse with sub genres including
indie pop, jangle pop and lo-fi.
• Originally used to describe record labels, the term was associated with the music they produced and was
initially used with alternative rock.
Pop Rock;
• A genre of music that has a catchy pop style and light lyrics, guitar based rock songs.
• The term pop rock has been used to describe more commercially successful music that used elements
from rock music.
• Pop rock is often deride as a slick, commercial product and is less authentic than rock music.
Punk rock;
• Punk rock is a genre of music that was developed between 1974-76 in the US, UK and Australia.
• Punk bands often use short or fast paced songs, with hard edged melodies and singing styles, stripped
down instruments and often political lyrics.