Paper Example on History of Rock Music

Rock music is a type of music that is characterized by many singers, and the use of drums, bass, and guitar. It originated in the United States of America (Robins, 2016). The music was first played in the 1950s. It originates from several music styles like blues, folk, and rhythm. Rock music is a vast genre of music with different other types emerging from it. It has a long history and background. This paper discusses the history of rock music.

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The 1950s

Rock music was first recognized in the 1950s as a genre. The music was corded as rock and roll. It was this period when rock music had just been discarded, and there was still a small popularity of it. The music was played in churches and places with mixed races since it was considered to cover cultures of different sports. It is also during this period when the music was spread to other various parts of the world (Friedlander, 2018). Rock music spread all over the world as soon as it was discovered, and by then, it was quickly spreading. In the 1950s, there was a dispute between the people playing, and recording, and those who loved it as to how it should be differentiated from rock and roll. The pioneers of rock music, like Bill Haley, recorded their music from Sam Philips studios. It became the first rock music to be featured on magazine billboards and banners.it is in this period when there was new popularity of drums, guitars, and bass, which were usually used to accompany the music.

The 1960s

In 1960srock music had been fully differentiated from the other types of music, which were referred to as pop. Rock music was more concerned in cultures in their production. It was also getting popularity, especially with its live performance. It was also during the early 1960s when rock music has been produced in albums. Although pop and rock music was similar in many ways, rock music was different in the values that were associated with it. Unlike pop music, which was concerned with reflecting on the trends, rock was progressively developing in its values and cultures. Though it was barely 20 years since its introduction to the music industry, it had improved in its lyrics, vocals, and instruments. Towards the end of the year, there was influence from British rock and roll. British groups playing rock and roll competed with rock music and were played in local dances and clubs. It is also in the period when rock and roll and R&B were disintegrating from rock music.

The 1970s

The 1970s was the period when rock music had a breakthrough and became a multi-billion industry. After gaining popularity in the 1950s and 1960s.In the 1970s, rock music had spread all over the world, and its reputation had risen to be one of the top music of the era. It is in this period that many rock musicians became popular and rose to fame and money. Many theories were formed about the future of rock music, and many people believed that it would change the world shortly. Rock influenced the market of entertainment and reduced the potent music popularity.

The 1980s

Rock splintered in the 1980s, and many sub-genres had emerged and were becoming popular too. Innovations on instruments and production saw music change into different versions. The subgenres were growing the popularity of the users of electric devices like pianos, which altered the taste of rock music. There was also a different songwriting style and lyrics. The splintering of rock music to different sub-genres made the music to lose stability in the market. Some liked the new versions and others loved the original versions. This led rock music to lose its commercial command in the industry. There was a significant influence on the latest alternative of rock music, which offered competitions appearing on different billboards and other marketing strategies in the United States of America, Britain, and some other parts of the world.

The 1990S

The 1990S was another era of rock music full of ups and downs. After splintering into different subgenres and losing financial stream in the 1980s, it re-emerged in the 1990s in the form of alternative rock music. It is this decade which was considered as the comeback of rock music. Alternative rock music also diapered after competing with themselves, like in the contest between hard rock and punk music. It also emerged the new brand like rap and rock, which took off the stage for a while before entering the 21st century, where rock music continued to with is successful style. It was in the 21st century when metal rock music was fused with the hard rock music of the past, which did quite well.

In conclusion, rock music has had a long journey since it was discovered, leading to the emergence of subgenres taking over the industry for decades. The common subgenres of rock were soft rock, hard rock, metal, rock and roll, and acid rock, among others. There was a transformation in the lyrics and the use of instruments. Despite the emergence and presence of other musical strengths, rock music does exist until now. It is, however, not as popular as in the 1970s.

Work Cited

Robins, Wayne. A brief history of rock, off the record. Routledge, 2016.

Friedlander, Paul. Rock and roll: A social history. Routledge, 2018.