Rockabilly
An early rock and roll style from the southern United States, built on a slap-back vocal, a slap bass and a trebly hollow-body guitar.
Rockabilly is the sound of country musicians playing blues at speed: a hollow-body guitar through a small amplifier with heavy echo, a double bass played percussively with a slap, and drums played with brushes or a simple kit. The guitar carries short, rhythmic solos built from double stops, open-string runs and Travis-style picking blended with blues bends. It is one of the clearest examples of tone coming from a specific combination of instrument, amplifier and echo rather than from any one of them.
Example: An up-tempo song with a slapping bass, echo-laden vocal and a hollow-body guitar playing double stops is rockabilly.
See also
Related
- PageSlapback delay
- PageDouble stop
- PageArchtop
- PageAmericana
- PageBebop
- PageBluegrass
- PageAaron Dessner
- PageAce Frehley