Making Music with Marshall

Playing styles

rock

Posted: 16th May 2023

Rock is a genre with origins that can be traced back to Jazz and Blues in the 1920’s. It is a sound that is at the core of Marshall. Rock music has taken on many different shapes and sizes, and has a deep and complex history. In this article, we look into the roots of the rock genre, playing styles, and the equipment that is commonly used.

Read time - 5 mins

History

Rock music is a broad genre with many influences, one of which is from African-American rhythm and blues music in the late 1940's and 50's.

Music from artists such as Chuck Berry and Little Richard used the structures of classic blues which was then adapted to include a looser drum beat and faster guitar sounds that people could dance to. From this rock as a genre, became the foundation of numerous subgenres that all had attitude and style, and did things slightly differently, to appeal to their own audience. Alt rock, punk, and various metal genres have all stemmed from rock. This sound soon became the backbone of rock ‘n’ roll and the future of the genre. By the 1960’s, all differing and emerging variations of rock ‘n’ roll had started to slow down - it was also at this time that the genre underwent a rebrand to just be called ‘Rock’. 

From this rock, as a genre, became the foundation of numerous subgenres that all had attitudes and styles which meant that they all did things slightly differently, to appeal to their own audience. Alt rock, punk, and various metal genres have all stemmed from rock as the genre continues to grow into the 21st century. 

gear

Guitar

Depending on what era of rock music you’re aiming to sound like there is a range of equipment you have to choose, with all sorts of configurations and varying price ranges. 

In this example, we will talk through what you're going to need to sound like a classic British rock musician from the 1960's and 70's.

If you’re at the stage where you’re thinking about guitars, you’ll see that the most common type for this genre is the Les Paul - we suggest anything loaded with vintage-style pickups to get you started.  Artists like Slash, Jimmy Page, Keith Richards, Ronnie Wood and Gary Moore have all played Les Paul's to help achieve their tones for some of their most famous and influential rock songs. However, if a Les Paul doesn't take your fancy, nearly all guitars with any pickup configurations can help you to achieve a great rock tone.

Amps

When we’re talking about amps,  to achieve that classic rock tone you’re going to want to look for something that can give you a vintage tone. Something that can handle both clean and overdriven sounds. Rock musicians over the years have played through all sorts of amps, to achieve their own sounds. As a starting point to create your own sound we think an Origin is a good place to start. 

The Origin has a classic voice, all-valve, rich and harmonic Marshall tone. This amp range has classic styling and contains contemporary features. Perfect for players that are looking to achieve a range of tones on a classic rock-style amp for an affordable price. 

Find out more about our Origin range here.

Pedals

Using an overdrive pedal can take your amp's gain to the next level and add new dynamics to your sounds. There is a wide range of overdrive types out there, the best way to find your sound is to try out a range so that you can hear what you prefer.

For a class rock sound, we recommend you find an overdrive that has the ability to sharpen up your mid-range and harmonic tones. This will give you more aggressive lead tones that have the ability to cut through the mix.

The final piece you’ll need to complete your clean tone and give your gain a true arena feel is reverb. Reverb leaves an ambient feel to your playing like if you were playing in a great hall or an arena. The most common types of reverb are hall, spring and plate. Hall is a natural more air tone. Spring reverb gives you a bouncy feel that might seem more potent and aggressive. The plate style of reverb has a much wider-space feeling. All of these would work well in a rock setting, and again, it's purely down to your preference and what sound you’re after.

Technique

When it comes to focussing on the rock genre, power chords are the essential building blocks that you need - they form the foundations for rock songs from any era. Power chords are made up of the root note and the 5th in the major scale and can be played all over the fretboard. When it comes to focussing on the rock genre, power chords are the essential building blocks that you need - they form the foundations for rock songs from any era. Power chords are made up of the root note and the 5th in the major scale and can be played all over the fretboard.

Once you've mastered some of the basic rock chords, you're going to want to learn the riffs of your favourite songs. A riff is a short rhythmic, figure, or chord progression that sets the main rhythm theme, and base of the song. Riffs are seen throughout all versions of rock music and are a core element of the writing process and song structure.

The major and minor pentatonic and the blues scale are also used commonly throughout rock music. Learning these will help you in jamming and soloing over the riffs you've learned and extend your knowledge of your guitar's fretboard.

Learn how to play these common scales here.

Further listening

We've created a playlist to take you through some of the key moments in rock. From the beginning all the way through to the many variations that exist today, this playlist showcases those who've made what rock is today.