# What’s the difference between Rock & Roll and Country/Western music? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** music\ **Created:** [May 4, 2022, 8:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-s-the-difference-between-rock-roll-and-country-western-music/963925 "2022-05-04T08:19:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![drad\_dog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@drad\_dog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drad_dog)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2022, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-s-the-difference-between-rock-roll-and-country-western-music/963925/81 "2022-05-10T23:10:26Z")
Keith Richards plays teles a lot. Roy Buchanan was a tele guy. They’re out there. ---
**Author:** ![drad\_dog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@drad\_dog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drad_dog)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2022, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-s-the-difference-between-rock-roll-and-country-western-music/963925/82 "2022-05-10T23:12:21Z")
Those divisions go back to the beginning of the recording industry. You could switch in “20s” for “50s” ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2022, 3:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-s-the-difference-between-rock-roll-and-country-western-music/963925/83 "2022-05-11T03:02:00Z")
I’ve definitely seen lots of Teles in rock music. I’m not a guitar guy, so I would have to look it up, but with my rock guitarist friends (for example, the guitarist in the rock band I toured and recorded with about twenty years ago) , Telecasters have certainly been popular for a particular tone. Note how many rock musicians are on this list: > **[The Top-70 Telecaster Guitarists! | TFOA](https://www.tfoa.eu/en/blogs/blog/the-top-70-telecaster-guitarists/)** > > Leo Fender’s brainchild has been making a huge mark on music for 70 years. From Stairway to Heaven to Killing in the name of: the Telecaster was there. That's why we proudly present: the TelecasterT I couldn’t really distill a difference between the two, as there are many exceptions and the genres overlap. One thing for me is country tends toward major pentatonic, especially in the soloing, while rock tends more toward minor pentatonic/blues scales. Rock uses a lot more “power chords” where the third is omitted; country tends to use full chords with the thirds. I would wager there are quite many more rock songs in minor keys (as a proportion of rock songs) than country songs. Use of guitar effects is more prevalent and varied than on country. Vocal delivery in country tends towards the pure and clean (though a throaty, rough character is tolerated); rock vocals are all over the map from pure, almost operatic voices to unintelligible grumbling. As mentioned above, country songs tend to be story-driven and concrete; rock lyrics range from that to impressionistic collections of words or syllables that just sound good together, to just complete nonsense. ---
**Author:** ![Tamerlane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tamerlane/32/7602_2.png) [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2022, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-s-the-difference-between-rock-roll-and-country-western-music/963925/84 "2022-05-11T17:53:59Z")
> [@RitterSport](#): > > In their song I Am Superman, I think that’s a country harmony during the I am…I am part. Plus, aren’t they from Georgia? Probably lots of country influences. That’s a pretty straight cover of [The Cliques’ 1969 release](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5g-O4FntXPs), a band from Texas. > [@I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](#): > > Rock n roll – Stratocaster > Country – Telecaster Oh, God no. Jeff Beck loves telecasters as do many others. Just semi-randomly: [Led Zeppelin (Jimmy Page), 1969](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k-WSbMW7BPc) [Taste (Rory Gallgher), 1970](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xDlxNgm1J1A). [Robyn Hitchcock, 1985](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5QU_qjH8J2I). ---
**Author:** ![Yodalicious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yodalicious/32/8195_2.png) [@Yodalicious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yodalicious)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2022, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-s-the-difference-between-rock-roll-and-country-western-music/963925/85 "2022-05-11T21:40:52Z")
I think a lot of the difference comes down to how the band images itself. C/W will often have guys or girls, in cowboy hats and boots, singing about their home in the south, floating down the river, grandparents back on the farm. And, yes, pickup trucks. As stated there is also different instrumentation - a fiddle, or a banjo. ---
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2022, 11:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-s-the-difference-between-rock-roll-and-country-western-music/963925/86 "2022-05-12T11:23:42Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > Note how many rock musicians are on this list: I appreciate the effort, but boy! there is quite a dose of BS in that list. Almost gagged when I got to Ralph Macchio! 😉 In my college band, my roommate/rhythm guitar had a late 50s Esquire and and early 60s Tele. Since then, I’ve always loved their sound and noticed when I saw them. And as far as country western goes - don’t forget Bob’s Country Bunker - where they happily play BOTH! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/son_of_a_rich/32/5439_2.png) [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Son_of_a_Rich)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2022, 1:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-s-the-difference-between-rock-roll-and-country-western-music/963925/87 "2022-05-12T13:51:02Z")
For anybody who can’t remember the difference: the Stratocaster was the Buddy Holly guitar. ---
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2022, 2:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-s-the-difference-between-rock-roll-and-country-western-music/963925/88 "2022-05-12T14:07:52Z")
Or get a picture of Jimi and stand on your head while looking at it in a mirror! 😉 Might be another thread, but it would be interesting to list guitarists who were known primarily by 1 model. Perhaps some like Neil Young or Brian May who are now by a particular guitar. Or others like Jimi/Bruce who tend towards a specific model. I was surprised on the linked list above to see artists like Prince ad Brian May listed as Tele players. Sure, they played Tele at times, but I much more often identify them with highly customized axes. Finally, I suspect I’m showing my age, but I wonder how much of the image of Tele=country reflects the opening credits for Dukes of Hazard! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![74westy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/74westy/32/3950_2.png) [@74westy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/74westy)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2022, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-s-the-difference-between-rock-roll-and-country-western-music/963925/89 "2022-05-12T21:11:44Z")
> [@Dinsdale](#): > > opening credits for Dukes of Hazard! But she don’t understand They keep showing my hands Not my face on TV. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2022, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-s-the-difference-between-rock-roll-and-country-western-music/963925/90 "2022-05-12T23:43:30Z")
> [@Dinsdale](#): > > I was surprised on the linked list above to see artists like Prince ad Brian May listed as Tele players. Sure, they played Tele at times, but I much more often identify them with highly customized axes. That surprised me, too, about May, since he’s so strongly associated with the Red Special, which he and his father made. But, I suspected where the Tele reference came from: the song “Crazy Little Thing Called Love” ([though it was apparently an Esquire, not a Tele, according to May](https://www.musicradar.com/news/brian-may-talks-nine-queen-guitars-that-are-not-the-Red-Special)). May used the Esquire at engineer Reinhold Mack’s suggestion, to emulate the sound of Elvis Presley’s guitarist James Burton. [May’s own Wikipedia entry](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brian_May#Guitars) lists a Telecaster for that song, but it appears to be the only Queen song on which he used a Tele. ---
**Author:** ![jaycat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jaycat/32/3015_2.png) [@jaycat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jaycat)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2022, 12:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-s-the-difference-between-rock-roll-and-country-western-music/963925/91 "2022-05-13T12:19:05Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > One thing for me is country tends toward major pentatonic, especially in the soloing, while rock tends more toward minor pentatonic/blues scales. I sometimes play bass at bluegrass jams, and this is especially true in that scenario. If you play a blue note in the bass line it can be a real clunker. ---
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2022, 12:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-s-the-difference-between-rock-roll-and-country-western-music/963925/92 "2022-05-13T12:23:36Z")
Are there any notable rock songs that feature steel guitar? ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2022, 1:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-s-the-difference-between-rock-roll-and-country-western-music/963925/93 "2022-05-13T13:39:07Z")
Yeah, you can work it in as a passing note to the major third for some spice, but you’re gong to get that major third one way or another, whereas in a lot of rock, the thirds will all be minor. By no means a hard rule, but you’ll get lots of pure blues scale solos and melody lines where you might not typically in country. That said, I tend to think of rock as an admixture of country and blues that grew to really emphasize the blues side of the influence. ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2022, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-s-the-difference-between-rock-roll-and-country-western-music/963925/94 "2022-05-13T14:21:52Z")
> [@hogarth](#): > > Are there any notable rock songs that feature steel guitar? That’s a matter of definition. Of course there’s a genre called country rock, and many country rock bands had pedal steel. Here’s an example from the Flying Burrito Brothers that has prominent (great) pedal steel, but it also has a fuzz guitar which is unheard in country. Is it a rock or a country song? You decide: [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/7f2g4IDxlEk/maxresdefault.jpg "Christine’s Tune") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7f2g4IDxlEk) ---
**Author:** ![wguy123](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wguy123/32/3161_2.png) [@wguy123](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wguy123)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2022, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-s-the-difference-between-rock-roll-and-country-western-music/963925/95 "2022-05-13T15:39:18Z")
> [@Dinsdale](#): > > I was surprised on the linked list above to see artists like Prince ad Brian May listed as Tele players. Sure, they played Tele at times, but I much more often identify them with highly customized axes. I think of Prince as a Tele player…well, the MadCat Hohner version. And he could play the shit out of that guitar. Yes, he had had his custom guitars, but this is what I think of when I think of his playing. One of the most amazing live solos I’ve ever seen, including a throwing of the Tele into heaven at the conclusion of the solo: [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/6SFNW5F8K9Y/hqdefault.jpg "Prince, Tom Petty, Steve Winwood, Jeff Lynne, more - "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" | 2004 Induction") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6SFNW5F8K9Y&t=203) ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2022, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-s-the-difference-between-rock-roll-and-country-western-music/963925/96 "2022-05-13T15:44:32Z")
> [@hogarth](#): > > Are there any notable rock songs that feature steel guitar? This article mentions a few, including Elton John’s “Tiny Dancer,” Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young’s “Teach Your Children” (where it’s played by Jerry Garcia), and, according to the article, several Led Zeppelin and Pink Floyd songs. > **[Top Ten Songs Featuring a Pedal Steel Guitar](https://www.thetoptens.com/music/songs-featuring-pedal-steel-guitar/)** > > The pedal steel guitar was developed in the 1950s by adding pedals and levers to an ordinary console steel guitar. It's an essential staple of country music and has been used on some occasions outside of the Nashville scene. ---
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2022, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-s-the-difference-between-rock-roll-and-country-western-music/963925/97 "2022-05-13T15:49:01Z")
> [@jaycat](#): > > I sometimes play bass at bluegrass jams, Me too! (Tho more quite often" than “sometimes.”). Forget this Tele/Strat crap - let’s talk UPRIGHTS! 😃 Where you located? ---
**Author:** ![jaycat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jaycat/32/3015_2.png) [@jaycat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jaycat)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2022, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-s-the-difference-between-rock-roll-and-country-western-music/963925/98 "2022-05-13T21:00:00Z")
> [@Dinsdale](#): > > Me too! (Tho more quite often" than “sometimes.”). Forget this Tele/Strat crap - let’s talk UPRIGHTS! 😃 > > Where you located? Metrowest Boston area. I don’t play upright though. I have an Ibanez semi-hollow body, strung with nylon tapewounds, so it sounds passable. ---
**Author:** ![F.U.Shakespeare](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/aca169/32.png) [@F.U.Shakespeare](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/F.U.Shakespeare)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2022, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-s-the-difference-between-rock-roll-and-country-western-music/963925/99 "2022-05-14T21:03:28Z")
One thing I don’t like about country music is that while it changes (albeit more slowly than other genres), fans always seem to claim that whatever’s currently popular is–and always has been–the “real” country music. There’s a misguided emphasis on the illusion of preservation. And “purity”. The story of Willie Nelson’s 1958 song “Night Life” illustrates how foolishly restrictive country music has been historically. Nelson’s record company initially turned it down, saying that it wasn’t “country enough”. Which is ridiculous: it’s _plenty_ country. It’s got a pedal steel part that’s for the ages. But the fact that it has additional elements of blues and jazz was enough to almost disqualify it. (Personally, I consider it one of the greatest American pop songs of any genre.) The subgenre of bluegrass music is another good example. Lots of audiences think it’s the pure, primeval country music. In fact, bluegrass was created in the late 1930s, and incorporated many features from outside of country (blues mostly). The earliest country music (e.g., early works by the Carter Family, or Sam McGee, who first recorded in the 1920s) sounds quite different than bluegrass–much more primitive, and less dynamic. No blue notes or bent strings. In the 1950s, country performers and fans generally hated rock and roll. Before he hit it big, Elvis Presley opened for some established country artists, and many of them had blistering criticism for him and his music. Decades later, 50s rock performers (Elvis, Jerry Lee Lewis, Rick Nelson, et al) were loved by country audiences. Their records were released to country radio stations instead of rock stations. Note that all these performers I just mentioned were white, which touches on another thing I dislike about country music. A common reply I get from country fans is, “What about Charlie Pride?”. Naming a guy who first got signed back in 1965 underscores my point. Rock is sometimes guilty of this kind of exclusion too (from Pat Boone to Michael Bolton). But not nearly as much as country. To do a country version of a rock song: Add an acoustic guitar, and/or a pedal steel guitar. Turn the drums down, the vocals up, and sing them with a southern accent. ---
**Author:** ![jaycat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jaycat/32/3015_2.png) [@jaycat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jaycat)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2022, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-s-the-difference-between-rock-roll-and-country-western-music/963925/100 "2022-05-14T21:37:37Z")
> [@F.U.Shakespeare](#): > > The earliest country music (e.g., early works by the Carter Family, or Sam McGee, who first recorded in the 1920s) sounds quite different than bluegrass–much more primitive, and less dynamic. No blue notes or bent strings. Here’s Sam McGee, blue notes, bent strings, and all: [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/pEtzlqW8JyM/maxresdefault.jpg "Fuller Blues") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pEtzlqW8JyM) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-s-the-difference-between-rock-roll-and-country-western-music/963925.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-s-the-difference-between-rock-roll-and-country-western-music/963925.md?page=6)