Music / Styles A–Z / Groove and the dance floor · 07 of 35
Disco
Disco grew from the nightlife of Philadelphia, Baltimore and New York in the late 1960s, out of Philadelphia soul and funk. You know it by the four-on-the-floor beat.
- Where and when
- Philadelphia, Baltimore and New York, late 1960s to early 1970s
- Tempo
- Not stated in our sources; a steady four-on-the-floor
- Played on
- Bass, drums, strings, horns, electric piano, rhythm guitar, later synths
What it is
Disco emerged from American urban nightlife in the late 1960s, in Philadelphia, Baltimore and New York, growing out of Philadelphia soul and funk. Its sound is the four-on-the-floor beat, syncopated bass lines, strings, brass, electric piano, synthesizers and rhythm guitar.
For the producer. A bass drum on every beat, a quaver or semiquaver hi-hat with an open hat hissing on the off-beat, and a heavy syncopated bass line, often in broken octaves. Vocals soar and are usually drenched in reverb, often doubled by horns, over a pad of electric piano and "chicken-scratch" guitar.
The records that made it
From the lesson Groove and the dance floor, where the sources are listed · links open a search
- 1975Love to Love You BabyDonna Summer
- 1977I Feel LoveDonna Summer · Produced by Giorgio Moroder, with a Moog on the beat.
Disco in this month’s records
New releases the press we read wrote about, tagged disco on MusicBrainz · updated with every build