The Flowchart of Rock and Roll

During class today, we talked about "Genre" and placing your song within a genre of contemporary music. I have some charts to help some of you out if you're not quite sure where you music falls under in the overall historical scheme of things:

The Geneology of Rock and Roll is a wonderful chart that marks the begining of Rock and Roll, with relevant artists depicted as "bumps" along the chronological list. The chart only goes up to 1978, but it is a fascinating look at where your musical genre originated and the basic influences.

Jack Black, in the movie school of Rock, created another version of a "flowchart of rock" that moves into at least the middle 90s.

The idea for this assignment is to make sure you can talk confidently about the genre of music that your song belongs to in the greater history of popular music in America that includes such diverse musical tastes like The Sex Pistols, Kanye West, Blonde, Garth Brooks, and Maryln Manson. Don't get too bogged down with the details. Use wikipedia as a jumping off point to at least figure out where your song and your cover and your music video fits in the greater scheme of things and try to find connections both musically and historically, that help with your understanding of the song and the traditions behind the song.

Make sure you take notes and bring in your research next class.