Symphonic Rock
Symphonic rock is rock music that uses the instruments, scale or structures of an orchestra and classical music.
Bands either play with a real orchestra or imitate one with keyboards such as the Mellotron and synthesizer. It grew out of late 1960s British progressive rock, and the two terms are often used for the same bands. Songs tend to be long and grand, with several sections like movements in a classical piece.
Artists it is known for: The Moody Blues, Electric Light Orchestra, Emerson, Lake & Palmer.
- Family
- Rock
- On Spotify
- No longer returned by Spotify’s API
- What it is
- A genre
- From
- United Kingdom, late 1960s
- Also called
- symphonic prog
- Trackify listeners who play it
- 6%
About 4,900 of 83,000 Trackify listeners with public profiles have symphonic rock among their top artists of the last four weeks. Rounded; updated 13 November 2026.
Symphonic Rock artists
Pink Floyd
King Crimson
Electric Light Orchestra
Genesis
Yes
The Alan Parsons Project
Frank Zappa
Ambrosia
Camel
Porcupine Tree
The symphonic rock artists most Trackify listeners have in their top fifty. Each opens on Spotify.
Sources
The definition is written for this site from open sources, and was checked against them on 13 November 2026.