Whether you want to write a proper rock anthem or add some gritty rock elements into your music, there are a few important characteristics that sets rock music apart from other genres that you need to know about. A rock band typically consists of a vocalist, two guitar players, a bass player and a drummer. But so does every type of band. What specifically makes something rock music? Guitar is an instrument you hear in everything from jazz to classical, to modern pop music. Generally, it’s a background instrument adding harmonic and rhythmic content to the music.
In rock music, however, the guitar takes the lead. Rock songs are often centered around a guitar riff or melodic motifs played on the guitar. It also provides rhythmic interest and harmony, which is why two guitar players are often needed in rock music.
In this article, we will look at how you can take common chords and turn them into rock chord progression with few guitar centered techniques. The goal is to also give you, the producer and songwriter, the tools to understand rock music better and how to communicate your ideas with Musiversal’s session musicians. The electric guitar is perhaps what comes to mind first when you think about rock music, but we’ll also look at some examples where the acoustic guitar is equally rock n roll.
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There’s more to rock music than just guitar, but it is the one instrument you can add to any song and instantly give it some rock attitude. Here we’ll take a look at how you can use the guitar to turn something into a rock song.
We can start by comparing two different versions of the song “Knocking on Heavens Door".
The chord progression in both versions are the same. So, same chords, same lyrics, same structure and instrumentation (for the most part) yet they sound totally different from one another. Why is that?
The sound and playing styles of the guitar immediately stands out as the biggest difference between the two songs and why one is folky and the other a rock anthem. Below we’ll take a look at techniques you can use to make your guitar sound like a rock guitar. With the following techniques, you’ll be able to take any chords and turn them into a rock chord progression.
One of the key elements of rock music is distortion. This is what makes the electric guitar sound gritty, large and powerful. How much distortion you need is a matter of personal taste and what you believe will serve the song best.
Less distortion:
More distortion:
Power chords are fundamental to rock music. With power chords you can play any chord using the same chord shape by just moving it up and down the fretboard.
It’s important to point out that power chords are neither major or minor. They’re made up of a root and a fifth. Omitting the third gives power chords their unique sound. You can keep the power chord shape and add the third and it can sound great, but with too much distortion it runs the risk of making the guitar and music sound muddy.
In sheet music or in chord charts, power chords are called “five-chords” usually written like this C5, G5, D5, etc.
Here’s how you create chord charts to send your session guitarists at Musiversal before your next session.
Below are a few songs in different styles of rock music. With these songs we get to here how different you can make power chords sound, despite their simplicity.
Palm muting is a technique where you lightly rest the palm of your strumming hand against the strings. This makes the sound tighter and makes it more percussive compared to letting the notes ring out.
Palm muting is often used in verses when you want to leave space for vocals. It can also be common during guitar solos for the rhythm guitar to actively take a backseat role with palm muting, as heard in this example by Avenged Sevenfold.
Octaves are easy to play on guitar and can create an energetic melodic line or follow the chord progression to add more clarity. If you find that your song is missing some energy and movement, octave riffs are an excellent way to solve that problem.
If we go back to Knocking on Heaven’s Door for a moment we can hear a melodic motif played in octaves in the chorus. It adds movement and energy. That type of rock energy is something missing from Dylan’s version.
When you’re writing rock music, write it for two guitar players. By writing different parts to each player you add more life to the song. If you want a wall of sound you can have both players playing power chords all day long. But often it’s beneficial from an energy perspective to have the guitarists play slightly different things.
Take a listen to “Don’t Damn Me” by Guns N’ Roses. If you listen through headphones it’s very clear that there are two distinct guitar parts panned hard left and right, respectively.
Not only are they not playing the same thing but they even differ in guitar tone. One is heavily distorted and the other has a much tighter sound reminiscent of classic rock from the 70’s. Together the two different styles add to the rawness of rock music. It adds an energy similar to a live performance.
An interesting way for you to achieve this is by hiring two different guitar players from the Musiversal roster and giving them one guitar part each to perform and record. Even if they play the same riff and chords, they’ll interpret the music differently and that will come across in their performances.
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A big characteristic of rock and roll is the attitude. It’s more rebellious to crank up the volume and distortion. The drums in rock don’t just keep the beat, they move the song forward with a groove. Vocal performances are more raw and emotional. All this combined is what makes a rock song.
Here’s a quick example of Taylor Swift turning one of her pop songs into essentially a rock anthem during this live performance with a few simple musical changes.
The power chords (not played by Swift) gives it a sense of raw energy that’s essential in rock music, but it’s everything put together that makes it an anthem. Compare it to a more traditional live version of this song. It sounds good, it has some energy, but it fits neatly in the pop category, not rock n roll. The point is, you decide if you want it to be rock music or not in your performance.
Below are common chord progressions heard in all kinds of different genres. It is your approach and your way to communicate the music that determines how much rock you want in your music.
If you are a guitar player, I encourage you to play around with all the chord progressions and play them in different styles and apply the techniques we looked at above. Test different levels of distortion, play them as power chords or as major and minor chords, or both in the same progression. Apply palm muting and octave riffs to change the energy. Play them in different keys, too, and see how that changes the tone, mood and overall feeling and sound.
Every note in a scale corresponds to a chord. Each chord is assigned a number (roman numeral) to indicate its quality. Upper case means Major chord and lower case means minor chord.
Here are the chords in the key of C major and minor.
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This is one of the most foundational progressions in the history of rock and roll. It’s been used by every rock and pop artist for a very long time. It has a very strong anthemic feel.
Song Examples:
If you watch the live version of Twist & Shout you can see John Lennon playing the D major (the I chord) as an open chord, but then he plays the G and A (IV and V) as power chords. You don’t need to choose between chords with or without the third. You can combine them freely in any rock chord progression.
Song Examples:
Pay close attention to the guitar in “Beast of Burden”. Notice how the guitars are playing totally different things. It really keeps the song interesting and moving forward. This is a good example of how the guitar isn’t just there to glue bass and drum together like we would normally hear in other styles of music.
California King Bed is a great example of how you add rock elements in pop and R&B music to make it powerful and emotional. The guitar in the chorus adds a rawness to a fairly polished sound often heard in pop music. Rihanna is not a rock artist, but this is a rock ballad, to be sure. It even has a guitar solo 😳
This contains the same chords as the previous. These two progressions are each other's major and minor relatives. If you’re in C major you can easily modulate to A minor, and vice versa because they contain the same notes and therefore the same chords (the scale degrees are different, of course).
Song Examples:
What makes this progression slightly different is that we would normally expect to go to the Major V chord after the bVI. But instead go back up and return to the bVII chord. We never get that big moment of tension or anticipation due to the lack of a major V chord. This makes this progression very friendly to loop, which is what Hendrix did.
Song Examples:
While Adele is not a rock artist, and Rolling in the Deep isn’t necessarily a rock song it’s still interesting to analyze here. The verse of this song is made up of palm muted power chords on the acoustic guitar.
Due to the lack of a Major V, plus power chords that are neither major or minor, the guitar is kind of just drifting around without a clear sense of direction. There’s tension in that. We don’t land in either major or minor chords until the pre chorus when we also break free from the established chord progression. Leaving the intro and verse to enter the pre chorus in this fashion is like going from a grainy black and white image to a high resolution colorized picture. This is phenomenal writing and storytelling.
Here’s another chord progression that’s good for looping or playing for an extended period of time. Because the Major I and the minor vi chords share two of the same notes we stay in a resolved state longer than in many other progressions.
Song Examples:
What makes this progression somewhat more unusual is the use of the Major III. In a major scale the third chord is usually a minor chord. But by swapping it to a major chord we get a big energetic lift, instead of what would have otherwise been a more somber interval.
Song Examples:
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Here are a few tips for when you want to create a demo of your next rock song, or rock influenced song.
In rock music the rhythm section - drums, rhythm guitar and bass - are very synchronized and locked in together. Unlike, for example, jazz, where each instrument is kind of doing their own thing.
When you hire one of our session drummers you can communicate how you want the drums to feel based on what the guitars are doing. You can share files and inspiration on what groove or emotion you want to capture in with the drums.
As a music producer you don’t need to know how to play different instruments, but you do need to be able to communicate your ideas to those who can. Hopefully this guide has given you some tools to work with so you can capture the energy of rock music in your next writing and recording session.
For example, if the verse lacks depth, ask the guitarists to play the chords in octaves, or as power chords instead of open chords. A common combination is to have an acoustic guitar playing open chords, and electric guitar playing power chords. That can add a sonically more interesting sound than only electric or only acoustic guitar.
Maybe the emotion behind the song isn’t coming through because it’s not enough distortion on the guitar. Perhaps it feels muddy and lacks clarity because there’s too much. If there’s too much going on, ask the guitarists to palm mute the riff or chords and leave space for other elements.
Knowing the fundamentals of rock music will help shape the sound to what you’re hearing in your head.
With the help of Musiversal Unlimited you can breathe life into your music. We provide a range of services across the entire music production journey to help you make the best songs possible.
Our platform is built to support your creative process and bring your musical visions to life with the help of world-class professionals.
By leveraging Musiversal’s resources, you can accelerate your progress, get inspired, and dive deeper into the world of rock music. Explore our services today, and take advantage of our roster of musicians and expert tools to help you develop your unique sound.
Join Musiversal now and begin your journey toward creating powerful, dynamic rock music that stands out. For more in-depth articles on music production, song writing, music theory and marketing and distribution take a look at our Musiversal blog.
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