1.+The+Early+Rock+1950s


 * Rock & Roll **

The first two internationally famous Rock & Roll stars, Bill Haley and Elvis Presley, were both responsible for helping to combine Rhythm & Blues and Country and Western music to produce Rock & Roll in America in the 1950’s.

media type="youtube" key="7CXFXB4uknI" height="251" width="336" Bill Haley was originally a country music singer, but when he recorded the song **‘Shake Rattle and Roll’**. This combination of a country singers voice with a Rhythm & Blues song soon became a hit.
 * Bill Haley [[image:http://userserve-ak.last.fm/serve/_/49171757/Bill+Haley+And+The+Comets+BillHaleyComets_l.jpg width="280" height="280" align="right"]] **

___ ___  ___  ___  ___  ___  ___  ___  ___
 * ‘Shake Rattle and Roll’ Questions **
 * 1) Name the instruments playing in this song.
 * 1) Which Instrument plays the introduction?
 * 1) What is the form of the song?
 * 1) How many lyric lines are there in the verse?
 * 1) Which of these lines repeats?
 * 1) Which instrument plays the solo?
 * 1) When do the backing vocalists sing?
 * 1) What is the tempo of the song?
 * 1) What is the time signature of the song?

Rock Around The Clock At that time he also recorded **‘Rock Around the Clock’**. The song appeared in movie Blackboard Jungle and in 1955 this record was No. 1 on the British and American charts. The next year Bill Haley starred in the Rock & Roll film ‘Rock Around the Clock’ which caused a sensation in those two countries with teenagers dancing in the aisles at the cinema.


 * ‘Rock Around the Clock’ Questions **

__ __  __  __  __  __  __  __  ___
 * 1) Name the instruments playing in this song.
 * 1) Which Instrument plays the introduction?
 * 1) What is the form of the song?
 * 1) Which instrument plays the solo?
 * 1) When do the backing vocalists sing?
 * 1) What is the tempo of the song?
 * 1) What is the time signature of the song?
 * 1) What are similarities with Shake Rattle and Roll?
 * 1) What are the differences?

If you look at the picture of **‘Bill Haley and the Comets’** you might wonder why someone who now seems so old fashioned caused such a sensation with people of your age in the 1950’s. Some of the reasons are:
 * 1) Compared to other white singers, who were middle aged and sang ‘respectable’ and less exciting songs, Bill Haley was very modern.
 * 2) He happened to make his first records at a time when American teenagers were ready for a pop music ‘idol’. They wanted their own music and they had money to buy their own records.
 * 3) His music was a rather mild version of Rhythm & Blues, which teenagers could not hear on the radio stations. Haley was the first white singer to use this style.
 * 4) Pop music newspapers like Melody Maker and new Musical Express also helped to build up Haley’s image and make him popular.


 * Bill Haley Questions **

___ ___  ___  ___
 * 1) Name two records by Bill Haley.
 * 1) Which film did Bill Haley Star in?
 * 1) What effect did this film have?
 * 1) Give three reasons why Bill Haley was so popular in the 1950’s.

Study example

Jerry Lee Lewis Whole Lotta Shaking Going on
media type="youtube" key="8cgKIGu1QqY" height="251" width="336" align="right"The early Rock n Roll songs use very simple Chord Progressions Please study the song below and can you find out what chord progression was used? code #1. Well, come on over baby, whole lotta shakin' goin' on. **F**                                   **C** I said, a come on over baby, baby you can't go wrong. **G**                                **C** We ain't fakin', whole lotta shakin' goin' on.
 * C**

CHORUS: Well, I said shake, baby, shake..I said shake, baby, shake. **F**                            **C** Awwww, let it shake baby shake..well, let's shake, baby, shake. **G**                              **C** Come on over, whole lotta shakin' goin' on.
 * C**

Aww let's go now!

(INTERLUDE:) **C** **F** **C** **G** **F** **C** **G**

code =download the analysis chart=

The 12-Bar Blues Form
== The most common form of the blues is a 12-bar pattern of chord changes. That is, a repeated twelve-bar chord progression. This is called “12-Bar Blues”. == == You should remember a //bar// is the same as a //measure//. Most often in blues you will count 4 beats to each bar – 4/4 time. == == In a blues song this 12-bar cycle gets repeated over and over through the course of the tune. A blues song might play through it 20 times. It will depend on the specific song. == == The blues can be played in any key. In whatever key you are in, 12-bar blues uses the same basic sequence of I, IV, and V chords. It is most easily thought of as three 4-bar sections – the first 4, the middle 4, and the last 4 bars. ==

So, the basic 12-bar sequence looks like this:

 * [[image:http://www.studybass.com/lessons/images/blues-bass/the-blues-form.jpg align="center" caption="The blues form - I-I-I-I-IV-IV-I-I-V-IV-I-V"]] ||
 * The blues form - I-I-I-I-IV-IV-I-I-V-IV-I-V ||

Walking Bass line

another feature of the early rock songs are walking bass line, it is not just for Rock and Roll, it has the origin of Blues and Jazz.

media type="file" key="12 bar blues.mid" width="300" height="50"

= Your task: Compose a 12-bar blues based melody with chord progression and walking bass line =