Difference Between Rock and Metal

[NinjaGeek]

I apologize in advance for anything ridiculously stupid I say, I haven't been listening to music for all that long and am still figuring a lot of things out. But what defines whether a song is Rock or Metal?

When I was younger and more ignorant I used to think it was as simple as metal was heavier than rock. But listening more I realized this didn't fit, since there was some hard rock out there that was heavier than power metal bands, and some of the older metal bands too, and just as heavy as certain heavy metal bands.

My friend suggested that it was how the notes were written, and that Metal was based off of classical music and Rock was based of blues. This made sense for a while and I could noticeably tell the difference between hard rock and heavy metal by the general feel of the sound. But this doesn't really apply to everything either. What about certain bands like Liquid Tension experiment who are considered progressive metal, but get their influence from Jazz not classical or blues. What makes them take the metal title over rock? And maybe it's just me but some bands like Pantera have always felt like they had a blues influence.

But what do I know? Is there a a clear cut way to differentiate Metal and Rock, or is it more what a band decides to call themselves?

 

[Satanstoenail]

It's definitely not clear cut, that's for sure.

 

[Mario86]

It's definitely not clear cut, that's for sure.

+1, I agree.
Metal is usually more technical and generally "heavier" than rock. Compare two older metal and rock, like some NWOBHM with AC/DC, there's a slight difference.

 

[Belligerent]

Not an easy one by long shot...
Take UFO for example. People considered them Heavy Metal back in mid-late 70's. I would consider them Hard Rock but songs like Lights Out had metal riffs. Awesome band nonetheless.
I dunno...let YOU be decider.

 

[NinjaGeek]

Seems like a weird thing to base it off of but could you base it whether or not the band has double bass drums? Not sure if there are many bands that violate that but double bass drums always felt like one of the signature elements of metal to me.

 

[DeathSpectre]

Punk bands sometimes use them and many metal bands don't.

 

[infoterror]

My friend suggested that it was how the notes were written, and that Metal was based off of classical music and Rock was based of blues.

Close. Metal uses phrasal composition, like classical (really: baroque) and rock uses cyclic harmonic composition, like blues, which is itself a ripoff of Celtic folk music.

See metal history and metal styles.

 

[TylerTheNuke]

I think it is all in the riffs. metal has a driving feel to it, wheras rock has a more cyclic feel to it. I think that you really can't define it with technical characteristics, it is more just a feel. You know hardcore porn when you see it, you know metal when you hear it.

 

[NinjaGeek]

isn't hardcore porn defined by whether or not they show the penis and vagina?

 

[Satanstoenail]

I always thought it was to do with the vigorousness of the thrusting. Likewise with the difference between rock and metal...

 

[TylerTheNuke]

lol.

They had a case in the supreme court about whether a movie was "obscene", and the judge said that the first amendment protected all things except hardcore porn and the he knows hardcore porn when he sees it and that this isn't hardcore porn. Well, he said something like that and now it is a famous quote. That's what I was refrencing.

 

[mikepl1]

If You see harmonic minor / diminished, it's probably metal. Liquid Tension was Mike Portnoy's idea, he's a progressive metal drummer, so I believe the name just inherited.

 

[hibernal_dream]

If You see harmonic minor / diminished, it's probably metal.

Inductive reasoning is usually not the best way to answer a question.

 

[thisisaformicatable]

Metal: A subgenre of rock started by Black Sabbath and consisting of bands who trace the majority of their influences back to them.

 

[Unfaithfully Metalhead]

Metal can use blues based scales for their leads since classical and modes weren't a influence or a big one at that in the beginning of it and it is why i consider AC/DC more metal then Rock... or a Metal band with rock influences... or a Chuck Berry band from Hell aka Metal lol

 

[Resurrection9]

See metal history and metal styles.

Good links.

 

[Vimana]

The first Metal band, Led Zeppelin took Blues and pretty much made it louder and faster and harder. From what I gather Metal bands after just took Rock and made it faster, and harder. Like Guns N' Roses, they have no Blues in them whatsoever. Led Zeppelin was almost completely influenced by R&B artists. What I think made them Metal was Robert Plants voice. When Jimmy Page was checking Robert Plant out he said his shriek was the voice he wanted. I kind of think that Metal came out of Jimmy matching the guitar to Plants voice.

I was reading about the birth of Heavy Metal in a book, and it said that people also called it Hard Rock. Heavy Metal got shortened to Metal though. And what people think Metal is now is loud fast hard guitar and screaming, but it's not just that. I do think it has more of a driving. I don't think it's determined by speed and overall loudness. Songs like Walk by Pantera are considered Metal and aren't that fast at all. I think it has a lot to do with how much time the guitar consumes, Post Hardcore and Screamo have similar vocals to Metal, but they usually do short riffs that are hard and as loud as Metal riffs. But then there are rests in between usually. Metal has barely any rests if any.

like blues, which is itself a ripoff of Celtic folk music.

What the fuck. Blues was a style created from African based music like call and response songs. I don't understand how it could rip off of music all the way in Ireland. First of all Blues was played on mainly guitar, piano, and harmonica. The piano originated in Italy, the guitar is the descendant of the Roman Cithara, the Harmonica originated in Germany. And I doubt there was a heavy enough amount of Irish immigrants for them to influence the slaves enough so that Blues would be anything like Celtic folk music.

 

[Satanstoenail]

The first Metal band, Led Zeppelin

No. Black Sabbath actually.

 

[Vimana]

No. Black Sabbath actually.

I actually think its more of a matter of opinion, tons of people have said Led Zeppelin, Metallica, Black Sabbath but no one has been able to prove either one. I believe its Led Zeppelin but I dunno how to prove it.

 

[death metal black metal]

Rock = expectation of repeated pattern
Metal = waiting to break the pattern
Rock = harmony
Metal = melody (or not)
Rock = simple song structures
Metal = epic song structures

Rock is garbage, metal is not.