Rock's Musical Sound example essay topic

'Mainstream Face-Off' There may be a great deal of differences between rock and rap music, but believe it or not, they are really very much alike. Rock has been around as a form of mainstream music since the 1950's, as to where Hip-Hop never made it into mainstream until the 1980's. Even though Rock is generally thought to be a white person's music, and rap is thought to be African American music, they were both originated from the same source. That source was African American blues and jazz.

Rock and rap use different types of musical sounds, drumbeats, and lyrical tones to reach out to people that understand what kind of lifestyle they are portraying. Rock's musical sound is composed of guitars, drums, and vocals. It is more of a musically lyrical sound that generally mirrors the sound of the music being played. In the fifties, it was considered a rebellion for teenagers to listen to rock music.

Its lyrics brought the idea of real life struggles, the fast-life, and partying to the general public. The adults of the time thought it was a terrible new thing that was sure to die out with time. Some places even banned rock music because of its so-called 'vulgarity'. Controversy and protest only made the music loved more by the younger generation. In many ways, rap has gone and still is going trough the same struggles that rock did. Rap became a mainstream phenomena in the eighty's.

It's another type of lifestyle known as 'growing up in the hood' that is portrayed. Rap is less musical lyrically than Rock, but is still used as a way of expressing struggles in life. Very much like rock, rap uses it's lyrics to reach out to the world and tell about what really goes on in parts of the world that aren't portrayed on television or in the news. Some rap music shows a great deal of anger and some a great deal of joy and satisfaction just like rock does. Just as rock did, rap has gone through a great deal of criticism from parents. Many thought of rap when it first was introduced as a terrible kind of music that would never last.

Again, the more controversy and protest, the more popular it became. Both rap and rock have proven the critics wrong about their failing predictions. Though their sound is much different from one another, they both reach out to people in the same way. Rap music reaches out to mainly the African American communities that can relate to some of the struggles expressed in its lyrics; whereas rock music usually reaches out to mostly white Americans that have the same kind of relation to rock as blacks do to rap.

Although both types of music reach out mostly to an ideal race, there are also great deals of whites that can relate to rap music better than they can to rock. And there are also many blacks that relate to rock better than they can to rap. Then there are some people that can relate to both kinds of music. I myself love both rock and rap the same. I am sometimes in the mood for rock and sometimes for rap. For me, they touch every angle of my emotions which is another reason they relate to each other so much.

Both rock and rap amaze many people in their own ways. Rock is amazing to the extent that some singers have amazing voices and very deeply emotional lyrics. In my opinion, the most amazing thing about rock music is the musical talent of the guitarists and drummers. It takes a great deal of talent to make beautiful music with a guitar and drums. Vocals give the song more depth and meaning, but a rock song will not catch a person's ear if the music doesn't sound exceptionally good. Also, a vocalist in a rock band must have a good singing voice that collaborates well with the music being played.

Rap amazes many people due to a person's ability to rhyme words together quickly and explain a story or feelings at the same time. A list of lyrics for a rap song is generally much longer than lyrics for a rock song. That is due to the fact that raps tempo is generally much faster than that of a rock song. Rappers are praised on their ability to keep their lyrical flow steady by rhyming words together to a beat. They do this in a way that is quick-witted and understandable.

In conclusion, rock and rap are very different from each other to the naked eye. If you look a little deeper into them both and where they come from, you can see that there really is a relation other than the fact that they are both mainstream kinds of music. They both are great ways to express anger, love, hate, and many other emotions that people deal with every single day. They both consist of many great people that have touched peoples in the past and now in the present. Rock and rap have made it through the rough times and will be around as long as music is..