The guitar was, IIUC, a Spanish instrument that had been around for a while. It had been used in the Delta Blues, but either not much or not at all in other American/British settings (classical symphony, jazz, etc.)
It seems likely that with the advent of cheap records, continuing rollout of radio, and post WW2 prosperity, plus a youth movement, that new music forms, sometimes relying on previously less popular instruments, would arise. While we broadly call much of the post 1955 music "rock" or maybe "pop", of course that embraces a lot of styles, some of which became dominant for a while, some mostly stayed on the sidelines. But, for the most part, they featured guitar as the lead instrument (with one or more singers in addition, plus other instruments).
Whether it was called "rock" or something else, whether structured similar to rock or in a different way, if, for some reason the guitar was NOT so popular during this era, what would the next best alternative be?
(Ending this era at 1995, because by then natural instruments in some decline due to computer-based production techniques, synthesizers, etc.)
It seems likely that with the advent of cheap records, continuing rollout of radio, and post WW2 prosperity, plus a youth movement, that new music forms, sometimes relying on previously less popular instruments, would arise. While we broadly call much of the post 1955 music "rock" or maybe "pop", of course that embraces a lot of styles, some of which became dominant for a while, some mostly stayed on the sidelines. But, for the most part, they featured guitar as the lead instrument (with one or more singers in addition, plus other instruments).
Whether it was called "rock" or something else, whether structured similar to rock or in a different way, if, for some reason the guitar was NOT so popular during this era, what would the next best alternative be?
(Ending this era at 1995, because by then natural instruments in some decline due to computer-based production techniques, synthesizers, etc.)
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