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Usually dynamics are eschewed altogether, using compression on the vocals, guitars, and bass to provide a consistent "loudness" to the music. The drums are used to emphasize accents and can also perform occasional build-ups by using dynamics; however, they often use different parts of the kit for accents rather than simply altered dynamics.
Drums are used much differently in rock than classical music. Rather than being used exclusively for dynamic build-ups or strong accents, the drums play on almost every beat. They serve as a time-keeper, sometimes doing so directly by '''riding''' the hi-hat or ride cymbals; other times through a repetitive pattern or '''groove'''. The bass drum, snare, and crash cymbal are often used for accents, while the toms, hi-hat, and ride cymbal are used to keep time or embellish a groove. Usually the bass drum is used on the down beat, while the snare emphasizes the back beat.
Vocals are usually contained within a single octave or even smaller range of notes, with a focus on simple melodies that most people can easily sing. A wide timbre of vocal style is emphasized, with some styles featuring screaming, processor-based distortion, or even pitchless singing (rap, spoken word, death growls).
== Riffs ==
Rock guitar playing often employs riffs instead of chords. A '''riff ''' is a repeating phrase, composed mostly of single notes or simple intervals. A riff may imply a tonality or a harmony given the notes it uses as well as the sequence and relative accenting of the notes.
Example riff, establishing an E blues tonality:
Rock tends to use distorted guitar, which introduces lots of overtones above the fundamental pitch along the harmonic series, which adds in an ascending order octave, 5th, octave, major 3rd, 5th, minor 7th, and more. This means complex chords can sound quite noisy and dissonant, as not only will the fundamentals have some dissonance but also all their overtones. Even a simple minor chord can sound a bit too much for some people. Rock tends to use ''power chords'' instead.
'''Power chords''' aren't actually even chords - they consist only of root and 5th; they are intervals. Typically, power chords are voiced root - 5th or root - 5th - octave. Sometimes they are voiced as simple 5th - root inversions (P4 intervals), which can make it easier to play several in quick succession. Rarely, you will see them as the 4-string root - 5th - octave - 5th or the inverted 5th - root.
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