Rock History

Front 1

• ostinato

Back 1

> a motive, phrase or theme that is constantly repeated while other musical elements change; a riff. Ostinato is a principal feature of boogie woogie

Front 2

• boogie woogie

Back 2

popular in the 1920’s- 1945. A jazz piano style that is characterized by a left hand ostinato; uses barrelhouse rhythm

Front 3

• barrelhouse rhythm

Back 3

used in boogie woogie; steady even eight note pulse, but more often it is played in a bouncy, long note/short rhythm

Front 4

• “Doowop” progression

Back 4

present in many songs sung by the vocal groups of the 1950’s and early 1960’s. the chord pattern of the doowop progression is tonic, submediant, sub dominant, dominant, and ends on tonic.

Front 5

• “Bo Diddley” rhythm

Back 5

> a persistent rhythm also known as the hambone or juba rhythm. The rhythm has a hard blues edge and tend to be chat-like and rhythmic oriented. The juba rhythm is played by multiple instruments in unison.

Front 6

• String band

Back 6

music ensemble associated with southern country music 1920’s consist of acoustic guitars, a strong base, fiddles, and a grass/folk ensemble

Front 7

• Norman Petty

Back 7

served as Buddy Holly’s recording engineer and manager in 1958. Experimented with double tracking the voice and lead guitar

Front 8

• Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller

Back 8

writers and producers of major hits “Hound Dog” for Big Mama Thorton and “Jailhouse Rock” for Elvis Presley.

Front 9

• Sam Philips

Back 9

discovered Elvis Presley and worked with Sun Records; associated with rhythm and blues period

Front 10

• Jackie Brenston

Back 10

first rock ‘n’ roll song was Rocket 88 recorded at Sun Studios; sang one of the first songs about car because there was time and money after the war ended; associated with rhythm and blues period

Front 11

• Dave Bartholomew

Back 11

a trumpet player, a ranger, manager and band leader. Was in Artist and Repertoire company; associated with rhythm and blues period and with the development of New Orleans sound

Front 12

• Charley Patton

Back 12

known as “father of the delta blues”; associated with development of Mississippi delta blues

Front 13

• Alan Freed

Back 13

radio disk jockey and was the first to define rock ‘n’ roll. He saw rock ‘n’ roll equivalent to rhythm and blues but with an addition of a white teen audience

Front 14

• Scotty Moore

Back 14

lead electric guitar for Elvis; very country with blues

Front 15

• Big Mama Thornton

Back 15

Sang “Hound Dog” and was one of the few people associated with rhythm and blues

Front 16

• Carl Perkins

Back 16

sang “Blue suede shoes”; began playing country and western music and the blues developing his own style in 1950’s known as rockabilly guitar. Associated with Memphis country rock

Front 17

• Cosimo Matassa

Back 17

> owner of record studio, recording engineer, used two microphones and other high pitch absorbing materials. with J and M Studios. Associated with New Orleans dance blues

Front 18

• Phil & Leonard Chess

Back 18

founded Chess records in Chicago. Pioneered echo effect to make fuller sound

Front 19

• Col. Tom Parker

Back 19

manager of Elvis and still released Elvis’ songs when Elvis was drafted

Front 20

• Eddie Cochran

Back 20

has an importance influence on the rockabilly style; used overdubbing

Front 21

• The Ventures

Back 21

earliest instrumental group to become popular with the surf culture was this Seattle based group. Considered to be the most influential rock group.

Front 22

• The Blues

Back 22

o 12 bar blues progression
o Call and response performance from work songs
o Descending melody from field holders
o Use of blue notes: lowered 3rd, 7th scale degrees
o Strophic song form

Front 23

• Country Western

Back 23

o String bands
• Lead vocalist
• 2-4 backup singers
• fiddles
• acoustic guitars
• acoustic bass
• possible banjos, mandolins
o simple, good time, have fun type of music
o Saturday night-bar dances

Front 24

o Southern Country

Back 24

• Simple melodies (narrow range, uncomplicated surface rhythms)
• Simple harmonic structures
• Simple rhythms, clear meters
• Use of two beat bass
• Little elaborate instrumental improvisation
• Vocalists often have a nasal quality, slide from pitch to pitch (use yodeling technique)
• Texts often about unrequited love, jilted lovers

Front 25

o Southwestern Swing

Back 25

• To country string band, added
 Drums
 Piano
 Steel guitar
 Often horn selection
• Performed same repertoire as country band but also included popular jazz and pop songs, and blues songs and blues songs
• Players encouraged to improvise
• Influenced mainstream country with use of drums, piano, electric instruments

Front 26

• Boogie Woogie

Back 26

o Eight quick pulses per measure (8 to the bar)
o Uses the barrelhouse rhythm (bounced)
o Improvises right hand part
o Uses 12-bar blues progression
o Complex polyrhythm between the two hands:
• Three pulses in right against two in left

Front 27

• Rhythm and Blues (Blues elements)

Back 27

• Strophic song form
• aab blues text form
• Melodic style (descending from melody, blue notes)
• 12-bar blues progression

Front 28

• Rhythm and Blues (boogie woogie elements)

Back 28

• obstinate bass line
• 8 pulse rhythm
• barrelhouse rhythm

Front 29

• Rhythm and Blues (big band swing elements)

Back 29

• performance style
• instrumentation-piano, guitar, bass drums (rhythmic section)
• horns, vocalist: “smooch tenor” (ballads)
• “shouter” or “screamer” (adult quality lyrics)
• soloists usually a saxophone

Front 30

• Rural Texas Blues

Back 30

o Single-notes bass strong runs
o Appreciated chords
o Repeated chords
o Repeated melodic rhythmic figures
o (riffs) on base strings
o alternate playing on bass and treble strings
o single-strong melody fills

Front 31

• Rural Mississippi Blues

Back 31

o Frequent sliding from note to note
o Play slide guitar
o Wailing style of singing (forlorn)
o Small melodic range
o Intricate ployrhythms
o Rhythmic, chordal fills (rather than melodic)
o Percussive playing style

Front 32

• Urban Chicago Blues

Back 32

o Use of slide guitar
o Frequent slides between notes
o Frequent used of bent notes
o Frequent use of double-stopped strings, bent double strings
o Intricate rhythm patterns, polyrhthms

Front 33

• Northern Band Rock ‘n’ Roll

Back 33

o a steady, mechanical meter
o fast tempos
o quick and even surface rhythms
o staccato guitar chords on the backseat
o a slapped walking bass line
o a boogie woogie ostinato (often, not always)

Front 34

• New Orleans Dance Rock

Back 34

o an overall bass foundation
o boogie woogie barrelhouse rhythm
o the basic beat is often subdivided into three quick pulses (triolet feel) stiff, mechanical meters of Bill Haley and the Memphis country rock style
o surface rhythms vary from a lively, bouncy beat to a slow, intense shuffle beat
o lead vocalists featured prominently
o rarely any backup singing
o rhythm and blues band: lead vocal, piano, acoustic bass, drums, guitar, tenor saxophone

Front 35

• Memphis Country Rock

Back 35

An overall treble tone quality.
Bands consisting principally of the country string band.
Nasally vocal styles that frequently use yelps, stutters, and hiccups.
Generally fast tempos.
A strict approach to the beat

Front 36

• Chicago Rock ‘n’ Roll

Back 36

o time
• generally fast tempos
• hard driving beat
• even beat subdivisions
o sound
• guitar based bands
• soloists are guitarists
• instrumentation like R&B band
 ex: lead vocal, electric guitar, piano
 may use horns for background riffing
 generally no backup singers
• guitar style derived from Chicago blues
 slide guitar
 finger sliding on strings
 multiple stopped strings (and bends)
 hard, percussive picking style

Front 37

• Elvis Presley

Back 37

o clear pronunciation
o bass sonds stringy/country
o no precussion
o 2 beat bass
o slapping style
o bass goes to a walking bass line
o sounds like a steel guitar, though its not

Front 38

• Chuck Berry

Back 38

o Strong use of syncopated rhythms
o Use of repeated rhythmic melodic figures (riffs)
o Guitar accompaniment from boogie woogie accompaniment
o Use of double and multiple stops
o Use of bent notes, bent double stops
o Finger slides, singe and double stops
o Finger slides, single and double notes
o Cliché introductory figure

Front 39

• Bo Diddley

Back 39

o Heavy use of reverb in amplifier
o Raw=edged blues sound
o Chant= life, rhythmic solos
o Rhythms based on “juba” rhythm (“Bo diddley beat” or hambone rhythm)