Texts that discuss early rock and roll have singled these years out.9 The five year span has often been refered to being rock and roll's formative years.10 Songs from the years 1955 through 1959 will be used for this project. To undertake a study of early rock and roll music it is important to denote why certain years were chosen and exactly what will be termed rock and roll. That sound is made up from the above mentioned melody, time signature, and chordal progressions of the song.8 This paper will research those three items. The overall musical sound of a song may be more important to the listener than the lyrics. Influential features of a song are, in order, the melody, rhythm, mood, and then the lyrics.7 LeBlanc noted that it was the overall sound and beat that made a song attractive to a teen listener.6 Boyle, Hosterman, and Ramsey upheld these findings by writing that the most Stuessy points out that lyrics are not technically part of a song's music.5 Some studies go as far as suggesting that the music, apart from the lyrics, may be the most important part of the song. Rock and roll melody lines are termed, "minimal", while the musical progressions are dismissed as being only three chords.4Įven so, the music of early rock and roll, however minimal, is still part of the song and can be studied independently of the lyrics. The actual music behind the lyrics is usually written of in broad terms with little explanation. To a great extent, research into rock and roll music has focused on the lyrics.2 They are often studied as a form of poetry implying that the music is not required for the words to have an impact.3 The purpose of this paper is to offer some insight into what were the defining qualities of the music of early rock and roll. Although the early musical patterns were often similar, the sound of the songs was not.ĭiscussions involving early rock and roll music, 1955 through 1959, include stories about Elvis, screaming young girls, parental outrage, and lyrics laden with teenage angst.1 However, it is important to remember that rock and roll is, first and foremost, music. The music of early rock and roll is seen as a basic skeletal structure upon which performance aspects were hung. The music of early rock and roll is almost formula employing familiar structures across all five years, yet these similar structures create familiarity rather than tedium. Two basic chordal patterns dominated the sample and melodies tended to stay within small, half-octave intervals. The Music Matters: An Analysis of Early Rock and Roll Abstract A sample of 100 rock and roll songs, from the years 1955 through 1959, was analyzed on chord progressions, time signatures, and melody lines. Paper presented at the American Culture Association/Popular Culture Association annual convention, Las Vegas, NV. The music matters: A content analysis of early rock and roll. The Music Matters: An Analysis of Early Rock and Rollīurns, J.
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