Quick background: A form of music that originated with the blues (which I've written about here), rock music has been around since the 1950s and 60s, and has been one of the most popular forms of music since. Often filled with loud guitars, drums, bass, and singers with attitude, though many other instruments can be found in rock music.
Who should learn about rock? Do you like your music loud? Have you got an attitude? Do you want to turn up your amp and really pack a musical punch? If so, then rock is for you!
What makes rock unique? Rock music does an excellent job of taking a little bit from just about every other genre, and blending it together with distorted guitars and emotional singing. Rock music also makes extensive use of the power chord (which I'll show you how to play below).
Popular rock artists: Led Zeppelin, Nirvana, AC/DC
How to rock on guitar: This is a power chord:
How to rock on guitar: This is a power chord:
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| Rock on!!! |
Learn this chord (the 4th finger is optional, but only play the strings you're fretting). Learn to love this chord, because you're going to see it, a lot. The power chord can be played starting at any fret, so you can move this shape up and down the fretboard and get some pretty rockin' riffs. For example:
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| Turn up amp as needed. |
Now, on to soloing. In the blues we saw the blues scale, which I think every rock guitarist should know (and so check out my intro to the blues here, if you haven't already). Today we're going to look at the pentatonic scale:
Much like with our blues scales in A, the A note in the minor pentatonic scale is the strongest sounding note, and the best one to build your riffs around. If you don't know your fretboard yet (I've posted about it here), the A is on the 5th fret of your 6th string (low E), the 7th fret of the 4th string (D), and the 5th fret of the 1st string (high E).
How to rock on bass:
Much like with our blues scales in A, the A note in the minor pentatonic scale is the strongest sounding note, and the best one to build your riffs around. If you don't know your fretboard yet (I've posted about it here), the A is on the 5th fret of your 6th string (low E), the 7th fret of the 4th string (D), and the 5th fret of the 1st string (high E).
How to rock on bass:
The easiest way to rock on the bass is by playing the root note (the lowest sounding note) of the chords being played by the guitar. Play the same riff as above, but only play the notes on the E string. To add a bit of variety, occasionally play the note two frets (and two strings) higher on the D string (this is an "octave").
Here's what it would look like without the octave notes:
And with the octaves it might look something like this:
There are many other cool ways to play rock on bass, but this is a good starting point.
Rock n roll!!!
There's a lot more to rock music, and there's always more to learn. But that's no reason you can't start rocking right here and right now. Rock on!
Here's what it would look like without the octave notes:
And with the octaves it might look something like this:
There are many other cool ways to play rock on bass, but this is a good starting point.
Rock n roll!!!
There's a lot more to rock music, and there's always more to learn. But that's no reason you can't start rocking right here and right now. Rock on!
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