Music / Styles A–Z / Guitars · 11 of 35
Rock and roll
Rock and roll took shape in the United States in the late 1940s and early 1950s, mainly from rhythm and blues. Listen for the hard backbeat and, from the mid-1950s, the electric guitar.
- Where and when
- United States, late 1940s to early 1950s
- Tempo
- Faster than the R&B it grew from, with a heavy backbeat
- Played on
- Piano or saxophone at first, then electric guitars, double bass or electric bass, drums
- Lesson
- Guitars →
What it is
Rock and roll took shape in the United States in the late 1940s and early 1950s, mainly from rhythm and blues, with gospel, jazz, boogie-woogie, electric blues and swing in the mix. It got its name in 1954. In the earliest records the piano or the saxophone led; the electric guitar took over in the mid-to-late 1950s.
For the producer. The classic line-up is one lead and one rhythm electric guitar over a double bass; electric bass, first mass-produced by Fender in the early 1950s, and the drum kit followed. The energy is in the backbeat: R&B players such as Fats Domino and Johnny Otis had already sped up the tempo and pushed it harder.
The records that made it
From the lesson Guitars, where the sources are listed · links open a search
- 1951Rocket 88Jackie Brenston and his Delta Cats · Often cited as the first rock and roll record.
- Rock Around the ClockBill Haley and His Comets · Set off the boom once it opened Blackboard Jungle.
Rock and roll in this month’s records
New releases the press we read wrote about, tagged rock and roll on MusicBrainz · updated with every build