Rock music
A music style in the 1950s that includes guitars, drums, vocals and double bass. Often orientates around the 12-bar blues. became a popular genre of music in the UK during the 1960s thanks to bands like The Beatles. More guitar bands formed and started to get louder; the subgenre then went on to become rock music. Large-scale live sound could now be produced so musicians could play to and be heard by thousands of people at rock concerts.
As rock music developed, more instruments were added to the ensemble, such as keyboards, string sections, saxophones and brass sections, but the bands still centred on guitars.
The 1970s saw a huge variety in music with many different styles emerging - funk, soul, pop, different types of rock music and disco were all popular during this decade. Hard rock is a subgenre of rock music that developed in the mid-60s and became more popular in the 1970s. It typically has aggressive vocals, distorted guitars, a drum kit and often the use of a keyboard.
Below is a slideshow showcasing the significant artists in Music which has general appeal and is often linked to styles of the 1950s. Driven by a strong rhythmic element. from the decade of 1970 to 2010.
Image caption, 1970
Significant artists in popular music from 1970 include: (clockwise) Queen, Gloria Gaynor, Rainbow, The Clash
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Instrument effects
Guitarists started to use effects on their instruments such as An electrified setting that can create a more fuzzy or gritty tone., delay, echo, harmonisation, pitch-shifting, The noise you get when to stand too close to a speaker with microphone or guitar. Often used on purpose in rock music. and Adding multiple echoes to make a sound appear to be coming from different spaces. - reverb. They also started to use the An electric guitar effects pedal that changes the tone and frequencies of the guitar signal to create a sound that mimics the human voice. and A vibrato system on a guitar that temporarily changes the pitch of the strings..
The impact of technology
Technology developed significantly in the 70s and this had a big impact on music production. Musicians could now record more than four tracks of music at any one time, so rock music became much more experimental and some rock bands - such as Pink Floyd - wrote very long and complex pieces. The style became known as progressive rock. Advancements in technology enabled rock musicians to invent unusual techniques.
A device for generating a unique sound or imitating an acoustic instrument. were popular in the 70s, especially the Moog analogue synthesiser, and towards the end of the decade the first digital synthesisers were sold including the legendary Yamaha DX7. Echo effects were also popular and used by Pink Floyd and David Bowie, among others.
Rock songs became longer and often had themes, moving away from the verse-chorus structure. However, many popular rock songs from the 70s are written in verse-chorus structure.