- Year 10
- OCR
The origins of rock: rock ‘n’ roll
I can identify the key features and can create a simple rock 'n' roll composition.
Copyrighted materials: to view and download resources from this lesson, you’ll need to be in the UK and
- Year 10
- OCR
The origins of rock: rock ‘n’ roll
I can identify the key features and can create a simple rock 'n' roll composition.
Copyrighted materials: to view and download resources from this lesson, you’ll need to be in the UK and
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Lesson details
Key learning points
- Rock 'n' roll is an energetic style that developed in the 1950s from blues and country music.
- It incorporates key blues features including the 12-bar blues, walking bass and swing/shuffle rhythms.
- Driving rhythms and intense 'shouty' vocals help to give rock 'n' roll its distinctive style.
- Other key features include a fast tempo, vocal melodies with a small range of notes and a verse-chorus structure.
- Typical instrumentation includes vocals, electric guitar, piano, drum kit and bass guitar or double bass.
Keywords
Rock 'n' roll - Rock 'n' roll was an energetic style that developed in the 1950s from blues and country music.
Walking bass - A walking bass is a moving bass line that 'walks' up and down the notes of a chord.
Shuffle - A shuffle is a rhythmic pattern that uses swing quavers.
Driving rhythm - A driving rhythm is one that repeats fast notes to create a sense of energy.
Common misconception
Because rock 'n' roll often uses the 12-bar blues, this means it is just a type of blues.
Many styles use the 12-bar blues, including pop, rock, jazz and other styles. While rock 'n' roll is closely related to blues, its defining features are quite different, and its role as a commerical pop style is far from the origins of blues.
To help you plan your year 10 music lesson on: The origins of rock: rock ‘n’ roll, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...
To help you plan your year 10 music lesson on: The origins of rock: rock ‘n’ roll, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs.
The starter quiz will activate and check your pupils' prior knowledge, with versions available both with and without answers in PDF format.
We use learning cycles to break down learning into key concepts or ideas linked to the learning outcome. Each learning cycle features explanations with checks for understanding and practice tasks with feedback. All of this is found in our slide decks, ready for you to download and edit. The practice tasks are also available as printable worksheets and some lessons have additional materials with extra material you might need for teaching the lesson.
The assessment exit quiz will test your pupils' understanding of the key learning points.
Our video is a tool for planning, showing how other teachers might teach the lesson, offering helpful tips, modelled explanations and inspiration for your own delivery in the classroom.
Explore more key stage 4 music lessons from the Developing understanding of pop music: rock, blues and rock 'n' roll unit, dive into the full secondary music curriculum, or learn more about lesson planning.
Files needed for this lesson
- Rock 'n' roll template 19.22 MB (ZIP)
- Rock 'n' Roll guitar chords 1.13 MB (MP3)
- Rock 'n' Roll walking bass 1.09 MB (MP3)
- Rock 'n' Roll shuffle drum groove 1.13 MB (MP3)
Download these files to use in the lesson.
Equipment
DAW and MIDI keyboard
Licence
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