Rock Music Styles

Catalog description

This class will survey the history of, or the genre known as, rock n roll. Students will explore trends and styles in rock, focusing first on the artists and groups who gave rise to this hybrid form of music from its country and blues roots. The explosive rise of rock and roll will be explored, starting in the 1950's, as it struggles again the corporate, political, and social aftershocks that were created. The 1960s will also be examined and its focus on music as an expression and extension of the social, cultural, and political changes. The repackaging of rock as a loud, brash, confrontational medium that helped spawn punk/grunge/rap genres by the end of the 1970s, throughout the 1980s and well into the 1990s, will be covered. This dissection of the musical eras will also examine the technical innovations/and developments of the introduction of music videos. Ultimately, the class will examine and explain the symbiotic relationship among our societal, business, and personal connections which helped cement rock's position in he global popular culture.