Rock due to its rebellious reputation created by its begins as Blues music, Raw attitude and strong connection to youth culture in every generation since it's invention. this music has always been used to assert independence and rejection of the status quo, Invoking rock's listeners to take their own path and depending on the subgenre or specific artist, that message can be whatever the artist's like. Starting in the 1940s and 1950s in the USA and the term before it's popularization as a musical genre it was used as slang for 'sex' and was incredibly jarring for older generations hearing the music for the first time. Rock N' Roll broke down racial barriers in America and had it's hold and dominance in western culture for the rest of the 20th century. The Rhythm section, are as a rule to Rock music, are tight and create a strong foundation. But guitar has always been the star of Rock and is it's most recognizable elements.

Full Body Rock

Primarily using diatonic chord progressions, Syncopation, Sliding notes and bending strings. Country and Western, derived from the blues and originating from the American south and southwest. Also derived from American and Appalachian Folk singing stories of working class Americans, making use of instruments like the Fiddle, Banjo, Bass, Drums (since the 1940s), Harmonica and all kinds of Guitar (Acoustic , Electric, Steel and Resonator). Mixed with Vocals on top and revolving around the 'Star' with their tight and foundation band with every kind of country music instrument present on stage. Tracing it's origins to the 1920s and know as 'Hillbilly Music' until the 1940s, then it's popular adoption following the success of the young artist 'Hank Williams' bringing in the fresh and dance based 'Honky Tonk' sub genre in the 1950s but Vernon Dalhart was the first 'Hill Bily' Country star to have a major hit record with  'The Wreck of the Old 97' and 'The Prisoner's Song' in 1924. The USA congress recognizes Bristol, Tennessee as the 'Birthplace of Country Music', Nashville Tennessee turned country music into the multi-million dollar industry it is today and Austin, Texas known as the 'live music capital of the world' and is the scene for the Outlaw country movement, challenging the conventions of Nashville and known for it’s rebellious, raw and deeply inspired roots. Cowboy and frontier values of integrity, loyalty and self-reliance born as a way of survival in a yet unsettled and devilishly unforgiving environment persist in country music even down to western wear like western shirts with snap fasteners, cowboy hats and cowboy boots which were tools of survival west of the Mississippi River and rightly becoming being a staple of country artists keeping the spirit of the western frontier alive. Outlaw country music was inspired by western, Texas country and honky tonk sub genres. The fire in their eyes coming from their alienated community of fellow 'outlaws' who never fit in our found their feet in Nashville but the prominent artists associated with this revolutionary new form of country had never fully accepted the label, Willie Nelson saying ''After I left Nashville, I wanted to relax and play the music I wanted to play and just stay around Texas maybe Oklahoma. Waylon (Jennings) and I had that outlaw image going and when it caught on at the colleges and we started selling records, we were ok. The outlaw thing it had nothing to do with the music, it was something that got written in an article and the young people said, 'Well, that's pretty cool'. And started listening.'' it was encapsulated in the 1976 album 'Wanted! The Outlaws'. Waylon Jennings famously saying in 1978 that it had gotten out of hand and led to a reputation with the law and legal battles but it was mostly to do with his drug use. The outlaw movement died down in the 1980s but led to the formation of several supergroups to keep the music and community they had built alive, my favorite being 'The Highwaymen' which was my introduction to the whole country music genre with the 1990 live album in the Nassau coliseum, With the legends Johnny Cash, Kris Kristofferson, Waylon Jennings and Willie Nelson. 

Country Peter

The Blues is based on the 12-bar Blues chord progression and is the I, IV, and V chords of a key, This is what makes it distinct from other genres. Originating from passed down oral traditions in the African-American community between the 1860s and 1890s. Blues can also be recognized by its lyrics, bass lines and instrumentation. The lyrics are where the Blues name came from, It tackles the hardships, misery and oppression after the Emancipation Act of 1863 and the phrase is basically used to describe a depressed mood but can also be humorous and dirty. The Blues often uses the 'AAB' lyrical structure, This means a line is sung over the first four bars, then repeated over the next four and then a longer line concluding over the last bars. They are sung in a rhythmic talking style. For bass lines Blues shuffles, a pushed 'shuffled' 8th note groove and is played 1 & 2 & 3 & 4 so on and so forth alternating between your two fingers on the '1' and the '&' etc. then move the same feel/pattern to all the notes in the 12-bar blues chord progression with the root note. 1 3 4 6 flat 7. Also Walking bass lines, good to play over a minor blues. originating in Baroque music in the 17th and 18th centuries, and then used by African-American communities it in the 19th century for the origins of Jazz, Ragtime and the Blues. We played 12 bar blues in A, and I went for a simple yet foundational bass line to maintain a rhythm section without drums in the instrumentation, Tobey came up with the guitar chords which were bluesy and dancey while Imani came up with powerfully written and performed lyrics. 

The Blues


The most boiled down definition is Raw, DIY and Politically charged. A musical revolver to be pointed at the statis quo, pointed to the sky and a warning shot fired. A truer and more audience orientated take on rock and roll preformed by the youth of the 1970s. Simple song structures, fast tempo's, a few chords used and power chords which had been invented by Link Wray and surf rockers, to be the foundation of Punk and other heavy music genres. There is contention on where or who started punk in the 1970s whether it was the Ramones and New York Dolls in New York City or whether it was the Sex Pistols in London, Malcom Maclaren was the visionary, manager  and agent for both the New York Dolls and Sex Pistols. The New York Dolls (1971) predates the Sex Pistols (1974) by a few years, he dressed them up in provocative outfits like ' Hammer and Sickle' imagery in the USA during the height of the cold war to scare and provoke the American public but ended up falling out with them because of their gender non conforming appearance which gave them their anti establishment reputation. He moved back home to England with his partner Vivan Westwood and met Steve jones while he was shop lifting in her shop 'Sex' an outlet for clothes that looked like a combination of homeless attire and bondage gear, The Sex Pistols were known for their anti monarchy and pro anarchism politics and began a movement that had been brewing since the world wide attitude change of the 1960s towards the statis quo. The Ramones (1974) weren't working class like The New York Dolls and The Sex Pistols, they met in high school in Queens, New York City. Their fashion was inspired by New York rent boys and they wore crop tops and tight jeans which gave them their signature look. Punk as always been an instrument for political commentary and speaks to a new demographic of kids born on the world after World War 2, Documenting and criticizing America's rise and Britain's decline in the decades after and the beginning of 20th century ideals and ideologies continuing to brew in the minds of the new youth. The New York Dolls fought for the acceptance and awareness of gay and gender non-conforming people who had inhabited the city since the 1920s. The Sex Pistols were experiencing Britain's economic and cultural decline after the country's dominance in the 19th century, The country had changed and the existence of a monarchy and the class system evidently didn't work anymore. 

Punk

‘All for me grog’, ‘Good brown Ale and Tobacco’, ‘The Nobby Hat’, ‘This old hat of mine’ or ‘Across the Western plains/ocean’
 Grog is the affectionate nickname for watered down navy rum. This song was originally sung by sailors but the adapted to Irish folk and as all good sea shanty’s, it’s about which Is a sailor’s vice to get through the long voyage and what they’ll do when they get on shore. Basically, glorifying the life of a drinking, smoking, partying sea farer. ‘Noggin’ has several meanings, but in this context, it refers to a small mug or tankard and But it seems the sailors boots are being sacrificed to drink there grog from. Despite its many draw backs which are sang about in this song are sung with pride, because they are having too much fun and the tough life of a sailor deserves reward. The life of a sailor often means that when you get on shore and you get your pay, most of it is spent celebrating your survival from the harsh conditions, with the lassies of the public houses of the port town you happen to have landed in, drinking expensive gin after months of your rationed grog on deck.  It was collected by George Gardiner in 1906 from a sailor he knew and was then titled 'The Nobby Hat', Then James Madison Carpenter collected the version in 1928 as ' All for the Grog' And became a staple of Irish folk and pub music. In 1961, A L. Lloyd and Alf Edwards recorded the song on an ep under Topic Records. Then my personal favorite, the Irish rovers released it on their 'Drunken sailor' album And my first exposure to the song was a part of the assassins creed black flag sea shanties soundtrack released in 2013. When Britain captured Jamaica in 1655 the navy switched its sailor’s daily ration of French brandy to rum. Vice Admiral Sir Edward Vernon, Fought In the War of Jenkin's Ear on the side of the English against Spain. He was nicknames Old Grog because of an impressive grogram cloak he work in all weather (which was a coarse loosely woven fabric of silk and goat hair). In 1740 half the punishment dished out by the British Navy to their sailors involved drunkenness. 'Old Grog' issued an order that rum would be diluted with water, ½ pint rations, 6 hours apart. 

Folk PIrates

This sketch came about from my… respectful dislike of electronic music but ironically I had a big smile throughout creating this beat. I had a surprising amount of fun with these almost whimsical and silly noises with the midi instruments 'Blooming Bass' and 'After Party' drums which had a dancey light feel which let me use many notes and noises with the drums without it becoming too heavy creating that 'silly' feeling I already mentioned. What a fun track! If I were to continue this sketch id let it repeat a lot more on the drums really milk it and come in with the bass, creating variations each time. I could 100% see myself carelessly dancing to this track although for some it would take a lot of confidence because it is so silly, maybe for a computer game nightclub or rave it would fit perfectly. By the end as an outro it slowly ticks out, inspired by the sound of a Geiger counter to trickle out then hit the listener with one last taste of the 'hook' of the song.

The Blues

Jake Mehaffey

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