Is music education required to play punk rock? – Part 5
Is music education required to play punk rock? A formal music education is not required for any type of music let alone punk rock. Many people teach themselves how to play music or sing, and have made it big in the music industry.
While music education can provide a musician with a feel for all types of music, having a music education is not the only factor that will determine whether you make it to the “big time”.
Punk rock started in the 1970’s. Some characteristics of the punk rock bands were nasal sounding vocals, yelling the song lyrics, thought provoking lyrics and songs that were under 2 minutes in length. The Ramones, The Clash and Patti Smith were forerunners of the new punk rock sound.
Punk rock came with it’s own look as well. Punk rockers typically wore motorcycle jackets, t-shirts, lots of leather and lots of denim. Punk rockers looked tough. Punk rockers usually had very memorable hair styles as well such as the spike mo-hawk.
Punk music became popular in the 1990’s with bands like Green Day, Bad Religion and Rancid came into the picture. Band’s like Green Day made it big because of their unique sound and unique lyrics, not because they had a formal music education.
In closing, sometimes the old saying says it best…”Either you’ve got it, or you don’t”. This is how the music industry works. You can spend all the money you want on a music education, but that education alone is not going to make you a punk rock star, or even a rock star.
Tags: Green Day, Patti Smith, Song Lyrics