People and Bands
Instruments and FX
Records
Styles, Genres, and Labels
Award Winning
100
An American singer, musician, and actor. One of the most significant cultural icons of the 20th century, he is often referred to as "the King of Rock and Roll", or simply, "the King"
Who is Elvis
100
A sound that happens after the initial sound happens. Used in music to add a fullness to a recording.
What is Reverberation
100
Short for "Long Play". A record that holds about 10-12 standard pop songs.
What is LP
100
An American record company founded by Berry Gordy, Jr. in 1959 in Detroit, Michigan, in the United States. The name, a portmanteau of motor and town, is also a nickname for Detroit.
What is Motown
100
Elvis' first single played on the radio.
What is "That's All Right"
200
An English rock band that formed in Liverpool, in 1960. They became widely regarded as the greatest and most influential act of the rock era.
Who are The Beatles
200
A type of reverb unit that allowed a producer to artificially create reverb without having to physically move to another location.
What is Plate Reverb
200
The alternate side of a record where the song that wasn't meant to be a hit song was kept.
What is the B-Side
200
A genre of music characterized by dominant vocals (often with strong use of harmony) referencing lyrics of a Christian nature
What is Gospel
200
An accolade by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to recognize outstanding achievement in the music industry.
What are the Grammy Awards
300
A person concerned with the recording, manipulation, mixing and reproduction of sound.
Who is an Audio Engineer
300
A technique used in recording studios that layered instrumental parts on top of each other to create a big, full sound.
What is Wall of Sound
300
Records that were marketed to a certain group of people (aka Blues for African Americans).
What are Race Records
300
A genre of popular music associated with surf culture, particularly as found in Orange County and other areas of Southern California. It was especially popular from 1961 to 1966
What is Surf Rock
300
A partially automated music-playing device, usually a coin-operated machine, that will play a patron's selection from self-contained media.
What is a Jukebox
400
A popular record producer in the 1960's. Responsible for creating the "Wall of Sound" technique that gave bands a full sound.
Who is Phil Spectre
400
A guitar manufactured continuously from 1954 to the present. It is a double-cutaway guitar, with an extended top "horn" shape for balance. It is one of the most often copied electric guitar shapes.
What is Fender Stratocaster
400
A type of record that could hold 6-8 minutes of audio.
What is a 45rpm
400
A phenomenon that occurred in the mid-1960s when rock and pop music acts from the United Kingdom, as well as other aspects of British culture, became popular in the United States.
What is the British Invasion
400
A TV show on ABC in the late 1950's. Cancelled by outraged people because Frankie Lymon was filmed dancing a white woman.
What is the Big Beat
500
A DJ popular in the late 1950's who catered to both white and black audiences. Played Elvis' first single on the radio.
Who is Dewey Phillips
500
A solid body electric guitar that was first sold in 1952. Was designed by Ted McCarty. It is one of the best-known electric guitar types in the world.
What is Gibson Les Paul
500
A hit song released by a band or artist. Typically on the "A" side of the record.
What is a Single
500
A type of popular music with jazz, blues, folk, and roots influences, usually using homemade or improvised instruments. Originating as a term in the United States in the first half of the twentieth century.
What is Skiffle Style
500
Remembered for the first major American appearances by Jimi Hendrix, the Who and Ravi Shankar, the first large-scale public performance of Janis Joplin and the introduction of Otis Redding to a large, predominantly white audience.
What is the Monterey Pop Festival