Rock and roll

Rock and roll (also known as rock 'n' roll), is a defined supergenre of music that originated in the United States in the

Rock and roll (also known as rock 'n' roll), is a defined supergenre of music that originated in the United States in the 1950s, and quickly spread to the rest of the world. It later evolved into the various sub-genres of what is now called simply 'rock'. From the mid 1950s to the current time, rock has been one of the most popular forms of music in the western world. The heart of rock and roll is the rhythm, which is basically a boogie woogie blues rhythm with an accentuated backbeat, almost always on snare drum. Rock and roll is typically played with two electric guitars (one lead, one rhythm), an electric bass guitar, and a drum kit. Keyboards are a common addition to the mix. In the rock and roll style of the early 1950s, the saxophone was often the lead instrument, replaced by guitar in the mid 1950s. In the earliest form of rock and roll, the late 1940s, the piano was the lead instrument, and indeed, rock and roll was a direct outgrowth of boogie woogie piano.

Rock and roll emerged as a defined musical style in America in the late 1940s, when it was called R&B, and, with the present name, in the early 1950s, though elements of rock and roll can be heard in blues records as far back as the 1920s. An early form of rock and roll, though not the earliest, was rockabilly, which combined elements of blues, boogie woogie, and jazz with influences from traditional Appalachian folk music, gospel, and country and western. Going back even further, rock and roll can trace one lineage to the old Five Points district of mid-19th century New York City, the scene of the first fusion of heavily rhythmic African shuffles and sand dances with melody-driven European genres, particularly the Irish jig.