thumb|upright=1|A [[Rickenbacker 360/12, one of the most common guitars used to produce "jangly" sounds in the 1960s]]
Jangle or jingle-jangle is a sound characterized by undistorted, treble-heavy electric guitars (particularly 12-strings) played in a droning chordal style (by strumming or arpeggiating). The sound is mainly associated with pop<!--- Source states that the term "implies a more pop, mainstream approach" and is heavily connoted with "indie pure pop" ---> music The more modern usage of the term originated from the lyric "in the jingle-jangle morning, I'll come following you" from the Byrds' 1965 rendition of Bob Dylan's "Mr. Tambourine Man", which was underpinned by the chiming sound of an electric 12-string guitar.
It is also deployed in the context of its own music subgenre, "jangle pop", which is characterized by trebly, ringing guitars (usually 12-string electrics) and 1960s-style pop melodies. The Everly Brothers and the Searchers laid the foundations for jangle in the late 1950s to mid 1960s, with examples including "All I Have to Do Is Dream" (1958) and "Needles and Pins" (1964).
Popularization
Despite coming after the Everly Brothers and the Searchers, the Beatles and the Byrds are commonly credited with launching the popularity of jangle pop, in the mid-1960s, the Beatles inspired many artists to purchase Rickenbacker 12-string guitars through songs such as "A Hard Day's Night" (July 1964), "Words of Love" (October 1964), "What You're Doing" (December 1964), and "Ticket to Ride" (June 1965). and its jangly sound became so prominent that Melody Maker termed it the Beatles' "secret weapon".
Harrison appeared playing his Rickenbacker in the Beatles' 1964 film A Hard Day's Night; upon seeing the film, Byrds guitarist Roger McGuinn immediately traded his 6-string acoustic for a 12-string Rickenbacker. The Byrds modeled their sound on the Beatles and prominently featured a Rickenbacker electric 12-string guitar in many of their recordings. What would become popularly known as the "jingle-jangle" or "jangle" sound was unveiled with the Byrds' debut record "Mr. Tambourine Man", released in April 1965. Harrison himself copied McGuinn's playing style for the Beatles' song "If I Needed Someone", released on the December 1965 album Rubber Soul. He explained:
In addition, McGuinn did not usually play solos, and instead played the 12-string continuously throughout the arrangement. Of other elements in the overall piece, vocals were sung in an impersonal, detached manner. and of the decade's folk rock movement. In 2018, Guitar World contributor Damian Fanelli cited McGuinn's "distinctive 12-string Rickenbacker jangle" as among the "most influential and imitated guitar sounds of the past 53 years."
After the 1960s, jangle pop acts crossed over with numerous genres, including power pop, new wave, post-punk, psychedelia and lo-fi. In the 1980s, the most prominent bands of early indie rock were jangle pop groups such as R.E.M. and the Smiths. Interest in the jangle sound came to be supplanted by a preference for pure drone, a device that became common to grunge. This type of drone was regarded as more "authentic" for rock music. It is exemplified mainly by the Pixies' technique of contrasting a song's minimalist verses with loud guitar drones in the chorus. In a similar way, the term "pop de guitarras" (guitar pop) was used to brand the indie scene of Santiago, Chile, during mid 2010s.
See also
- List of jangle pop bands
- C86
- Glide guitar
- Paisley Underground