Popular music styles: rock and roll to hip hop and dance

Popular music changes fast, but every new style borrows from the ones before. Here is how some of the biggest styles began.

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Rock and roll and the 1960s

Rock and roll grew up in the USA in the 1950s, from blues, rhythm and blues, gospel and country music. It often used the 12-bar blues, electric guitars, a strong backbeat and energetic singing. Stars included Elvis Presley, Chuck Berry and Little Richard.
In the 1960s, British bands such as the Beatles (from Liverpool) became hugely successful around the world.
Motown, a record company in Detroit, produced many hit soul and pop songs in the 1960s.

Hip hop

Hip hop began in the Bronx, New York, in the 1970s. DJ Kool Herc is often credited with starting it at parties, where he extended the drum breaks of records using two turntables.
Its elements include MCing (rapping: rhythmic speech over a beat) and DJing (scratching, mixing and sampling).
Beats are often built from samples and drum machines.

Electronic dance music

House music developed in Chicago and techno in Detroit in the 1980s.
Dance music is built in a DAW from synthesisers, drum machines, loops and samples.
It often uses a four-on-the-floor beat: the bass drum on every beat of a 4/4 bar. House is usually around 120 to 130 bpm.
Tracks build tension with a build-up (rising pitch, faster drum rolls, filters) before the drop, when the full beat and bass come back in.
Worked example

Explain how rock and roll shows the influence of the blues.

  1. Rock and roll grew from blues and rhythm and blues.
  2. Many rock and roll songs used the 12-bar blues chord pattern (I, IV and V).
  3. It also used blues features such as blue notes and call and response, but with electric instruments and a strong backbeat.

Answer: Many rock and roll songs use the 12-bar blues pattern and blue notes, played on electric instruments with a backbeat.

Key idea

Rock and roll: USA, 1950s, from blues and R&B (Elvis Presley, Chuck Berry). The Beatles came from Liverpool. Hip hop: the Bronx, New York, 1970s, with MCing, DJing and sampling. House (Chicago) and techno (Detroit): 1980s, four-on-the-floor beats, build-ups and drops.

Key words
12-bar blues
I I I I, IV IV I I, V IV I I.
DAW
Digital audio workstation: software for recording, editing and mixing music.
Bar
A section of music containing a fixed number of beats, marked off by bar lines.
Bpm
Beats per minute: a measure of tempo.
Pitch
How high or low a sound is.

All KS3 Music key terms and definitions →

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2 more questions

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  1. Which singer is known as the 'King of Rock and Roll'?

    1. Elvis Presley
    2. Bob Marley
    3. Steve Reich
    4. Ravi Shankar
    Show the answer

    Answer: Elvis Presley

    Elvis Presley.

  2. How many members were in the Beatles' best-known line-up?

    1. 3
    2. 4
    3. 5
    4. 6
    Show the answer

    Answer: 4

    John, Paul, George and Ringo.

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Last updated 2 October 2026. Spotted a mistake? Tell us and we will fix it.