Beginnings Pt.2

Here we are again, and this time around, we're gonna be giving a brief history of punk music. Now again, this is a very brief description but it's just to get the general idea down.

So, punk music started picking up in the early to mid 70s in the UK, America and Australia. By the mid to late 70s, around '77, punk music was officially a recognized genre all around the world. Some say it was born out of the need to be different, some say it was born from a rebellious nature, but I'm going to say that it was born simply out of the need to grow and expand in both mentality and musicianship. The music of the 60s and early 70s seemed (to some) far too tame to be enjoyable anymore, and something more exciting was needed. It was a style of music almost anyone could play as far as instrumentation went, but not everyone had the mentality or attitude that went along with the music. Anyone who didn't fit in, or didn't think they fit in, or didn't want to fit in with the current social or political scene always had a home in punk music.

Punk music was very politically driven and righteous, it was music being played to educate and stimulate, to make people think, and also just for the fun of playing music. It was played fast, furiously, sloppy, out of control, sometimes dangerously, but most importantly.... it was played meaningfully and genuinely.

 The basic punk band was one or two guitarists, a bassist, and a drummer. It didn't take a lot of talent to physically play the instruments, because the songs were mostly a few chords played over and again. There weren't many time signature or tempo changes associated with punk music, so the formula was fairly straight forward. The vocals ranged from soft and melodic to barely understandable. But that was the beauty of it. The guitars were distorted to the point where you would forget that they could be played clean, and the drumming was usually so fast that it was hard to believe the drummer wasn't a robot. The bass would typically follow the guitar and would throw in a few fills here or there and was often slightly distorted its self.

Thats my very brief description of Punk music, and of course, comments are welcome. Metal is next, and after that we're gonna see how we can begin creating a widely recognized genre of music. 

Enjoy