Cello rock and cello metal are subgenres of

rock music Rock music is a broad genre of popular music that originated as "rock and roll" in the United States in the late 1940s and early 1950s, developing into a range of different styles in the mid-1960s and later, particularly in the United States and ...

characterized by the use of

cello The cello ( ; plural ''celli'' or ''cellos'') or violoncello ( ; ) is a Bow (music), bowed (sometimes pizzicato, plucked and occasionally col legno, hit) string instrument of the violin family. Its four strings are usually intonation (music), t ...

s (as well as other bowed string instruments such as the

violin The violin, sometimes known as a ''fiddle'', is a wooden chordophone (string instrument) in the violin family. Most violins have a hollow wooden body. It is the smallest and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in the family in regular ...

and viola) as primary instruments, alongside or in place of more traditional rock instruments such as

electric guitar An electric guitar is a guitar that requires external amplification in order to be heard at typical performance volumes, unlike a standard acoustic guitar (however combinations of the two - a semi-acoustic guitar and an electric acoustic gu ...

s, electric bass guitar, and drum set. Cellos, often in groups of three or more, are used to create a sound, rhythm, and texture similar to that of familiar

, but distinctly reshaped by the unique

timbre In music, timbre ( ), also known as tone color or tone quality (from psychoacoustics), is the perceived sound quality of a musical note, sound or tone. Timbre distinguishes different types of sound production, such as choir voices and music ...

s and more traditional genres of the cello (in particular) and other string instruments used. The cellos and other stringed instruments are often amplified and/or modified electronically, and often played in a manner imitative of the sound of electric guitars. They are often combined with other elements typical of rock music such as rock-style vocals and drumming. Cello rock can trace its beginnings back to the 1971 self-titled debut, known in the US as ''No Answer'', by the Electric Light Orchestra which featured rock songs arranged for cellos, and the subsequent tour consisted of a standard rock band augmented by four cellos. Jeff Lynne made a return with this format using three cellos for their 2001 comeback album '' Zoom'' and its subsequent, but cancelled tour. Starting in 2011, the duo 2Cellos began releasing covers of many rock standards, such as AC/DC's " Thunderstruck", and undertaking tours.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cello Rock 20th-century music genres 21st-century music genres British rock music genres British styles of music

See also

References