Rock and roll started simply as an offshoot of blues. Early rock and roll was nothing more than amplified blues progressions with a harder edge. But the influence from blues was undeniable; many of the same chord progressions and song forms were used. For the soloist, the scale of choice was still the pentatonic scale. As rock and roll progressed in the 1950s, the guitar's place as a lead instrument was starting to solidify.

Until the introduction of the electric guitar, the saxophone had been the instrument of choice for soloing because of its loud and powerful tone. But the electric guitar began to replace the sax as the lead instrument in the 1950s and 1960s.

The birth of rock and roll spelled the end for the saxophone in rock music. The sax would find favor in R&B and jazz. With each passing year, rock developed its own identity and started to sound less and less like the blues.