什麼是搖滾樂

出現在美國的音樂風格，從1950年代中期開始最後成為流行全世界的音樂強項。雖然搖滾樂使用許多不同樂器，但基本的配備是一個或多個人聲，一把擴音電吉他（包括貝斯，節奏器和導線）以及鼓。一開始的形式很簡單，以厚重的，舞蹈取向的節奏，不復雜的旋律和和絃，以及抒情輕快的和音反應聽眾關心的主題－年輕的愛情，青春期的壓力，汽車。搖滾的源頭基本上是節奏藍調而非鄉村音樂或其他音樂風格；不論是節奏藍調或鄉村音樂1950年代初期過後就不再是流行音樂的主流，直到克立夫蘭的DJ佛利德（Alan Freed, 1921～1965）推出結合節奏與藍調的音樂節目以前，音樂基本上只演奏給黑人聽眾聆聽。他的秀成功地使他所採用（雖然不是發明）的搖滾樂這一名詞流行起來。1955～1956年間這種由查克貝里、「比爾.哈利和彗星」樂團以及特別是艾維斯普里斯萊表演的快節奏，情緒高昂的音樂在當時已成長為青春期的美國戰後嬰兒潮中間掀起狂波巨瀾，創造了大產業。1960年代，在多種影響的綜合之下搖滾樂從輕柔及機械化形式脱胎換骨。在英國，搖滾樂發展得比較晚，當披頭合唱團和滾石合唱團（Rolling Stones）以他們早期的新鮮風格在美國獲得巨大回響，英國成長中的新世代渾然不知新的巨星已經誕生。同時，巴布狄倫和其他美國歌手也發展出民謠搖滾（folk rock），一種結合搖滾、傳統民謠和詩的音樂，年輕的音樂人開始觸及政治與社會議題。如The Byrds樂團、傑佛遜星船合唱團（Jefferson Airplane）以及門合唱團（The Doors）（參閲Jim Morrison）以抒情曲風加上精湛技巧，其經典畫面就是個人超長獨奏，還有珍妮絲賈普林以及吉米罕醉克斯在傳統的節奏藍調中融入精心設計的異國風味都帶動了許多跟隨者。1970年代早期出現能寫能唱的歌手如艾爾頓強、大衞鮑伊以及布魯斯史賓斯汀，搖滾樂進一步吸收其他音樂風格而有流行搖滾，爵士搖滾以及龐克搖滾的誕生。1980年代，音樂錄影帶的出現使搖滾樂更形完備，每一支流行單曲都拍攝了音樂錄影帶。

rock music

Musical style that arose in the U.S. in the mid-1950s and became the dominant form of popular music in the world. Though rock has used a wide variety of instruments, its basic elements were one or several vocalists, heavily amplified electric guitars (including bass, rhythm, and lead), and drums. It began as a simple style, relying on heavy, dance-oriented rhythms, uncomplicated melodies and harmonies, and lyrics sympathetic to its audience's concerns—young love, the stresses of adolescence, and automobiles. Its roots lay principally in rhythm and blues and to a lesser extent in country music and other styles; both R&B and country lay outside the mainstream of popular music in the early 1950s, when the Cleveland disc jockey Alan Freed (1921-1965) began programming rhythm and blues, music which until then had been played only to black audiences. His show's success gave currency to the term he had adopted (though not invented) for the music—rock and roll. The highly rhythmic, sensual music of C. Berry, B. Haley and the Comets, and particularly E. Presley in 1955-56 struck a responsive chord in the newly affluent postwar teenage audience, creating a huge industry. In the 1960s, several influences combined to lift rock out of what had already declined into a bland and mechanical format. In England, where rock's development had been slow, the Beatles and the Rolling Stones were found to have retained the freshness of its very early years and achieved enormous success in the U.S., where a new generation had grown up unaware of the music on which that of the new stars was based. At the same time, B. Dylan and other American performers were developing “folk rock,” a blending of traditional ballad and verse forms with rock, and young musicians began to explore social and political themes. Such groups as the Byrds, Jefferson Airplane, and the Doors (see Jim Morrison) combined imaginative lyrics with instrumental virtuosity, typically featuring long passages of solo improvisation, and J. Joplin and J. Hendrix won large followings with their exotic elaborations on traditional rhythm and blues. The early 1970s saw the rise of singer-songwriters such as E. John, D. Bowie, and B. Springsteen, and rock assimilated other forms to produce pop rock, jazz-rock, and punk rock. In the 1980s, rock was complemented by music videos, short video programs built around individual popular songs.