GUITAR STYLES: 1950's Early American Rock 'N Roll

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Andrew Wasson of Creative Guitar Studio answers a viewers question...

Q: I've been playing guitar for two years and I like the older original rock 'n roll from the 1950's. Can you do a basic video lesson discussing the 1950's rock guitar style. Mainly on what the rhythm guitarist is thinking about to create the rhythm riffs and the scale that seems to be half major and half minor. I know that the basic scale approach is using pentatonic, but I'm confused on the full seven-tone scale that get's used by guy's like; Scotty Moore, James Burton and Chuck Berry. Thanks for reading my question.
Paul -- Woodridge, Illinois

A: The late 40's & early 1950's was a period where we saw the formation of a style drawn out of a fusion of country & western with swing, as well as, some R&B. It eventually became incredibly well-known as American Rock 'N Roll. In this video lesson we'll keep things pretty straight-forward for guitarists like Paul and some of the other Introductory level guitarists like him. We'll begin by taking a look at the typical rhythm progression that was used on many of the early recordings, as well as, the scale that is most widely used by the guitar players who dominated the early days of establishing this style.

The complete lesson article for this video will be available on the Creative Guitar Studio website shortly. Follow me on Twitter for lesson posting announcements:

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[creativeguitarstudio]

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[Denae]

50's Rock
almost all Double string solos
High treble, neck pickup, and bright, (50's lead Rock guitarists turned their treble high to be able to be picked up well in mics)

Amps: fender tweed, fender twin reverb, fender Princeton,

Bass amps: fender bassman, or upright bass

Effects: Bright/treble boost, tremolo, spring reverb, slap back delay, real amp overdrive

Popular Guitars: Gibson ES335, and Gibson les Pauls with bright/treble boost, gretch hollow bodies, and stratocasters

Sloppy bends, 1 4 5

Key guitarists
1. Chuck Berry(overdrive and bright)
2. Bo diddley(tremolo, slap back delay)
3. Scotty Moore(slap back delay, OD
4. Carl Perkins(bright/treble)
5. Eddie Cochran(slap back delay)
6. Buddy holly(bright, tremolo)
7. Ritchie valens(slap back delay, reverb, Tremolo)
8. Nathan "buster" Douglas(little Richard band, bright, tremolo)
9.B.B King (OD)

[motionboundary]

I like how the 1st minute and a half is him just flexing on us

[creativeguitarstudio]

@TheArmchairrocker,

That's because the 50's stuff WAS (for the most part) all shuffle rhythms. It's what they did around that rhythmic feel that makes this style so unique. The use of Mixolydian, Maj. & Min. Pentatonics as well as the chromatic passing tones really set's 1950's style apart from many other era's. Study players like; Chuck Berry, Eddie Cochran, Scotty Moore, Bo Diddley, and Duane Eddy to start fully understanding this style and you'll get it.

Thanks for watching,
Andrew Wasson

[cindyellena]

I love this kind of music. Sounds great no one plays this kind of music anymore.

[michaelmarshall]

1945-1965 : Heavy strings, flatwound, no bends, no distortion : just natural amp overdrive

[creativeguitarstudio]

@billyb440,

Thanks man... glad you're diggin' the lesson's here!
Last time I was in you weren't working, but I'm sure I'll catch-up real soon!

All the best,
Andrew

[synqelectric]

finally finally finally i have found this video in the long list of your videos. i had been looking for it for a long time ever since i watched it way back when i didnt know how to play anything meaningful.. i couldnt remember the title. now iam ready to embark on the lesson.

[billyb]

Hi Andrew, the CBiT guy again, I am just going nuts over rockabilly right now, just having fun with Bill Haley, Buddy Holly, and this comes at a perfect time. Thanks again, great stuff. Drop in sometime, always glad to see

[No_Use_For_A_Name]

I'm primarily a metal/thrash player and lover, but still find both early rock and roll & surf guitar to be absolutely essential learning. Its why one setup has a Dean V & a big muff, & the other setup has a strat & blues junior. Its incredibly important if you don't want to pigeon-hole your skills, to explore as many styles as possible.

Other candidates include soul/R&B of the 70's, country/twang. Basically it is all essential, especially if you don't want to get bored with playing the same kinds of things. This might not be possible if you're early in your playing progression, but any time you are bored and in a rut... pick some genre you've never explored and watch videos like this to inject some new skill into your playing!

[oldbladderhorn]

just had a listen roy browns, Good Rockin' Tonight . sweet,
brings what you said about double stops in to focus
it's kinda hidden in the rhythm and the horns, bop! bop !

[schwinnstingrayguy]

Best music of all time in the 1950's and early 1960's

[steveblair]

would love to be able to find a similar video covering surf guitar. i love these videos.

[creativeguitarstudio]

@jasmmmm,

Thanks for the kind words!

- Andrew Wasson

[creativeguitarstudio]

Click on the tab above that say's, "Show More, " the link is in that drop-down. - Andrew

[DeLarger]

Boss man was eating those strings up on that intro

[creativeguitarstudio]

Click on the tab above that say's, Show More, the link is in that drop-down. - Andrew

[thewhistlincatmusic]

Is there any lesson or video in which I can see the simple open chord rythm strumming of this kind of music?

[TheArmchairrocker]

@creativeguitarstudio It may be helpful to stress the emphasis on the backbeat, which I believe is one of the defining characteristics of Rock and Roll.

[LIVEROLLY]

I'm going to try play rock n' roll on my guitar because of Tielman Brothers. :)