Writing a Rock Song & History

Series Summary

Rock ‘n’ Roll derived from earlier forms of American music, influenced by a long tradition of folk music but mostly birthed from the immensely popular African American sound known as The Blues. Chuck Berry is considered by many to be the progenitor of Rock ‘n’ Roll, with Elvis Presley popularizing both the movement and the sound among Whites. In the early ‘60s, the “British Invasion” saw dozens of musicians and bands from England emigrating to the United States to mature the new sound that had caught the imagination of youth culture all across the Western hemisphere. Since then, many phases or eras of rock have developed, from punk to grunge, emo to heavy metal.

In this free video series, expert Cody Kimmel teaches you how to write a quintessential rock song. Cody will give you a brief history of rock followed by what you need to start writing songs that come from the very depths of your soul. He tells you how to develop a theme that fits into the spirit of rock ‘n’ roll popular for the last fifty years. You learn each part of a rock song, the verse, pre-chorus, chorus, and bridge. He shows you how to write lyrics and chords for each section, complete with examples and suggestions. You will get expert advice and writing a groovy guitar riff that will take your song to the Top 40. I’m sure the heart of rock and roll is still beating. For those about to rock, we salute you!

Video Transcript

"The first thing to do when sitting down to write a rock song, and this is something you want to do in pretty much any genre you're going to be writing in. If you're a songwriter that is paid by commission to just write different types of songs, one of the big important things that you have to do and remember is that you want to be writing within the genre, and within the history of that genre for whatever you're writing in. So, for the sake of writing a rock song, we want to remember and know the history of Rock Music. Rock and Roll is something that really it kind of came out of the the Rhythm and Blues era in in the late 1940's and early 1950's, with Chuck Berry and people like that, and Elvis Presley. And it was continued in the 60's; developed by The Beatles and The Rolling Stones, and you get to Zeppelin. And all throughout history Rock and Roll music has been a big, and an important part of of American music history, and and British music history."