by Bo Paul

Created on: November 23, 2008

As I type this punk rock is nearing its 33rd anniversary as an official subculture within the wide umbrella of rock music these days. Beginning as a reaction against what was considered the excesses of the popular rock music of the mid to late 1970s, it has endured backlashes and misunderstandings to survive in the 21st century with a number of different styles linked to punk in some fashion. Having come across the question of whether music education is required to play punk, I thought it was appropriate to comment on this.

In the previous paragraph I mentioned that punk was a reaction of sorts against the supposed excesses of 70s rock music. During that period much of rock music was still drawing from the well of the late 60s psychedelic or acid rock bands with long songs and the omnipresent guitar and/or keyboard solo cemented as a staple for many bands. For many kids wanting to be in bands this could be an obstacle either due to ability, lack of inspiration or just not being able to afford specific equipment. The arrival of punk allowed many people to realize they could create music without necessarily having to have years of music education or knowing the "right" way of playing an instrument. Thus, bands reverted to using the two or three chords they knew and created songs that made up for the perceived lack of skill with tons of energy and a freshness that gave the rock music of the time a kick in the pants.

Is a traditional music education needed to play punk? If you go with the early punk bands, the answer is not really. The late 70s British punk fanzine Sniffing Glue took this ethos one step further in one of its issues by posting chord diagrams with the listing "here's one chord, here's two more. Now go start your own band." Knowing a small handful of (mostly) barre chords became all a young player needed to form a band and taking it from there to give it their own twist. One of the best examples of this is the Ramones, the legendary NY punk band many consider the fathers of punk rock who drew on a mix of 60s bubblegum pop with the sloppy post psychedelic rock of bands such as the Stooges to create a rock revolution (ironically, in an interview with Guitar Player in the mid 90s Johnny Ramone claimed they considered 70s pop act the Bay City Rollers were their competition).

These days however, the punk community has shot off into a number of different directions and musical sounds. From crossover metal in the 1980s to emo to a more technically proficient

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