Rock Music Transcribed For Cello

Here is the sheet music for a selection of rock hits, transcribed for cello.

The first big hit of “rock” music, released in 1954, was “Rock Around The Clock” and we can only wonder if the term “rock music” was actually created and established by its success. With its high energy and driving rhythms, it sets the tone for what is to come in the future evolution of “rock”. Cellists are not normally used to this type of playing (or reading). Finding the bowings, articulations, and the best way to notate rock music is often not easy as this is quite a different language to what a “classical” musician normally “speaks”. In this world, we are a long long way from Brahms ……. which is what makes it so therapeutic!

It definitely helps to play rock music with amplification: we need volume, but without the forcing and scratching associated with playing an acoustic instrument ff.

1.   Rock Around The Clock (1954)
2.   Gimme Some Lovin’ (1967)
3.   Moondance (1970)