Psychedelic & Prog Rock Handout

7/30/2019 Psychedelic & Prog Rock Handout

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Psychedelic Rock and Progressive Rock

Psychedelic rock

Instrumentation Electric guitar

Exotic instruments (tabla, sitar)

Keyboard/organ/harpsichord/Mellotron

Drums

Bass guitar

Vocals

Synthesizers

Characteristics

Multiple guitar effetcs, such as wah and fuzz.

Elaborate studio effects – panning, phasing, delay loops and more.

Extended solos or jams.

Very complex song structures, often incorporating key and time signature

changes.

Origins

During the 1950s, musicians began making music became about taking

drugs, and experimentation.

The tradition of jazz musicians using drugs crossed over in the 60s to

more and folk and rock artists. Two of most successful and influential acts

of this era were Bob Dylan and The Beatles.

Acts such as The Byrds emerged from the californian folk scene, whilst

the Yardbirds emerged from the British blues scene, however both were

seen as huge influences for the genre.

Its influences came from drugs, blues, folk, jazz and rock.

Artists (US)

The most commercially successful psychedelic rock bands were The

Doors, Frank Zappa (and his band The Mothers of Invention), who came

out of San Francisco.

The Beach Boys’ concept album Pet Sounds spurred the psychedelicmovement forwards in the US, with their meaningful lyrics, use of unusual

instruments and arty experimentation.

New York also produced psychedelic rock bands such as The Fugs and

The Godz.

Artists (UK)

The largest outbreak of psychedelic bands came in 1966, with bands such

as Pink Floyd and Cream, who were influenced by the British Blues scene,

folk scene and jazz.

The Who also produced several psychedelic influences, which came

through on songs such as I Can See For Miles.



The Small Faces were another British band to emerge during this period.

The psychedelic bands of this period became a part of the British Invasion

into the American charts.

The Jimi Hendrix Experience – Purple Haze

The Doors – Riders On The Storm

Pink Floyd – Comfortably Numb

Cream – Sunshine Of Your Love

Progressive rock

Background

• Prog-rock was a unique sub-genre of rock in the 60s and 70s, with some

bands still making music at present.

• It originated in the United Kingdom, but was also developed in Germany,

Italy and France.• Its most popular years were the 70s with groups such as Kansas and Rush

around.

Instrumentation

Standard rock instruments – drums, electric guitar, bass guitar, keyboard.

Prog-rock bands expanded their sound by using traditional jazz and folk

instruments such as, flute, saxaphone, timpani and violins.

Other instruments used through the genre included Moog synthesizers,

Hammond-organs and the Mellotron.

Characteristics

Prog-rock generally avoided the use of standard verse-chorus-verse format.

Bands extended sections, adding in solos and musical interludes.

They also liked to heighten dynamics by exaggerating contrast between

sections.

Classical forms were also part of the prog-rock genre; sometimes entire

classical suites would be used.

Improvised solos influenced by jazz and psychedelic rock, plus these othercharacteristics meant that some songs were longer than 20 minutes.

Complex time signatures were also a common theme in prog-rock, such as

5/8 and 7/8.

As with psychedelic rock, key, tempo and time signature changes were also

common in songs.

Major bands

• In the 60s, progressive rock emerged, producing bands such as Pink

Floyd, Rush, Yes and Genesis.

• In 1969, Yes released their self-titled debut album which included

renditions of one of The Beatles’ songs and on of The Byrds’ songs.



• Rush produced a string of string of hit albums in the mid-70s, such as

their self-titled debut album.

• ELP released their debut album in 1970, which was also self-titled.

Yes – Beyond and Before

Rush – The Spirit of Radio Emerson, Lake and Palmer – Lucky Man

Documents

Psychedelic & Prog Rock Handout