Piano rock

Piano rock is a style of rock music which features the piano, with the latter typically replacing rhythm guitar as the lead instrument, as opposed to majority of rock subgenres.

Terminology

Various American rock and roll performers had, as early as the 1950s, started prominently featuring the piano in their musical output. One of the earliest references to this term include Jerry Lee Lewis' 1957 rockabilly number "Pumpin' Piano Rock" Notable of the present day critics to have used the term; is Stephen Thomas Erlewine of AllMusic; while describing soft rocker Elton John's "sensitive" musical output. Jon Dolan of Rolling Stone also applied the term to refer to Coldplay's musical style vis-à-vis The Fray's then-new album Scars and Stories, the latter being the subject of his review.

The term consists of the name of the dominant instrument, i.e. "piano", along with the tag associated with the music in which it is featured, i.e. "rock". This same nomenclature is not uncommon throughout the history of rock music. For instance, in the 1960s when various rock acts began to use ragas in the rock context, "raga rock" was conceived. In the same vein, when the use of synthesisers became considerably popular in rock music, "synth rock" originated.