Editing Rock and roll (section)

{{short description|Genre of popular music}}
{{hatnote group|{{about|the 1950s style of music|the general rock music genre|Rock music|other uses|Rock and roll (disambiguation)}}
{{redirect|RnR|3=RNR (disambiguation)}}}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=September 2016}}
{{Infobox music genre
| name              = Rock and roll
| image             = <!-- DO NOT ADD ANOTHER IMAGE OF ELVIS; THERE'S ALREADY ONE IN THE ROCKABILLY SECTION -->
| stylistic_origins = *[[Rhythm and blues]]
* [[gospel music|gospel]]
* [[boogie-woogie]]
* [[electric blues]]
* [[jazz]]
* [[Country music|country]]
* [[jump blues]]
| cultural_origins  = Late 1940s{{snd}}early 1950s, United States
| derivatives       = * [[Rock music|Rock]]
* [[Beat music|Beat]]
* [[Pop music|Pop]]
* [[Surf music|Surf]]
| regional_scenes   = [[British rock and roll|United Kingdom]]
| other_topics      = *[[Origins of rock and roll]]
* [[List of rock and roll artists|list of artists]]
* [[African-American music]]
}}
'''Rock and roll''' (often written as '''rock & roll''', '''rock-n-roll''', and '''rock 'n' roll''') is a [[Genre (music)|genre]] of [[popular music]] that evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s.<ref name=":0">{{cite magazine |author=Christopher John |first=Farley |author-link=Christopher John Farley |date=July 6, 2004 |title=Elvis Rocks. But He's Not the First |url=http://www.time.com/time/arts/article/0,8599,661084,00.html |url-status=dead |magazine=[[Time (magazine)|Time]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130817051714/http://www.time.com/time/arts/article/0,8599,661084,00.html |archive-date=August 17, 2013 |access-date=July 3, 2009}}</ref><ref name="dawson propes"/> It [[Origins of rock and roll|originated]] from African American music such as [[jazz]], [[rhythm and blues]], [[boogie-woogie]], [[electric blues]], [[gospel music|gospel]], and [[jump blues]],<ref>{{cite web |last=Considine |first=J.D. |date=December 5, 1993 |title=The missing link in the evolution of rock and roll JUMP BLUES |url=https://www.baltimoresun.com/news/bs-xpm-1993-12-05-1993339172-story.html |access-date=December 26, 2022 |work=The Baltimore Sun |quote=}}</ref> as well as from [[country music]].<ref>Larry Birnbaum, ''Before Elvis: The Prehistory of Rock 'n' Roll'', Scarecrow Press, 2013, p.vii-x.</ref> While rock and roll's formative elements can be heard in blues records from the 1920s<ref>Davis, Francis. ''[[iarchive:historyofblues00davi|The History of the Blues]]'' (New York: Hyperion, 1995), {{ISBN|0-7868-8124-0}}.</ref> and in country records of the 1930s,<ref name="Peterson">Peterson, Richard A. ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=J3zWpIOLB-MC&pg=PA9 Creating Country Music: Fabricating Authenticity]'' (1999), p. 9, {{ISBN|0-226-66285-3}}.</ref> the genre did not acquire its name until 1954.<ref>"The Roots of Rock 'n' Roll 1946–1954". 2004. Universal Music Enterprises.</ref><ref name="dawson propes"/>

According to the journalist [[Greg Kot]], "rock and roll" refers to a style of popular music originating in the United States in the 1950s. By the mid-1960s, rock and roll had developed into "the more encompassing international style known as [[rock music]], though the latter also continued to be known in many circles as rock and roll".<ref name="kot-eb">Kot, Greg, [https://www.britannica.com/art/rock-and-roll-early-style-of-rock-music "Rock and roll"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200417053348/https://www.britannica.com/art/rock-and-roll-early-style-of-rock-music |date=April 17, 2020 }}, in the ''[[Encyclopædia Britannica]]'', published [[Encyclopædia Britannica Online|online]] 17 June 2008 and also in print and in the ''Encyclopædia Britannica Ultimate Reference'' DVD; Chicago : Encyclopædia Britannica, 2010</ref> For the purpose of differentiation, this article deals with the first definition.

In the earliest rock and roll styles, either the [[piano]] or [[saxophone]] was typically the lead instrument. These instruments were generally replaced or supplemented by the [[electric guitar]] in the mid-to-late 1950s.<ref name=Evans2002/> The beat is essentially a dance rhythm<ref>Busnar, Gene, It's Rock 'n' Roll: A musical history of the fabulous fifties, Julian Messner, New York, 1979, p. 45</ref> with an accentuated [[backbeat]], almost always provided by a [[snare drum]].<ref>P. Hurry, M. Phillips, and M. Richards, ''Heinemann advanced music'' (Heinemann, 2001), pp. 153–4.</ref> Classic rock and roll is usually played with one or more [[electric guitar]]s (one [[lead guitar|lead]], one [[rhythm guitar|rhythm]]) and a [[double bass]] (string bass). After the mid-1950s, electric [[bass guitar]]s ("Fender bass") and [[Drum kit|drum kits]] became popular in classic rock.<ref name=Evans2002>S. Evans, "The development of the Blues" in A. F. Moore, ed., ''[[Cambridge Companions to Music|The Cambridge companion to blues and gospel music]]'' (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2002), pp. 40–42.</ref>

Rock and roll had a profound influence on contemporary American lifestyles, fashion, attitudes, and language, and is often portrayed in movies, fan magazines, and on television. Some people believe that the music had a positive influence on the [[civil rights movement]], because of its widespread appeal to both [[Black American]] and [[White American]] teenagers.<ref name=Altshuler2003p35>G. C. Altschuler, ''All shook up: how rock 'n' roll changed America'' (Oxford: Oxford University Press US, 2003), p. 35.</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=McNally |first=Dennis |date=2014-10-26 |title=How Rock and Roll Killed Jim Crow |language=en |work=The Daily Beast |url=https://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2014/10/26/how-rock-and-roll-killed-jim-crow |access-date=2022-09-06}}</ref>