# AI Wiki - Music - Reggae Music ## Overview Reggae developed in Jamaica, mostly in Kingston, in the late 1960s. It grew out of a chain of Jamaican styles: - **Mento**: Jamaican folk music. - **Ska** (late 1950s): mento mixed with American [[AI Wiki - Music - Jazz Music|jazz]] and rhythm and blues, with an offbeat guitar chop and a walking bass. - **Rocksteady** (1965–1967): a slower, smoother ska, following the slower American soul of the time. - **Reggae** (from 1968): slower again, with a heavier bass. The first reggae records came out in early 1968 (Larry Marshall's "Nanny Goat", the Beltones' "No More Heartaches"); Toots and the Maytals' "Do the Reggay" (1968) was the first popular song to use the word. Roots reggae of the 1970s (Bob Marley and the Wailers, Burning Spear, Peter Tosh, Jimmy Cliff) took the music worldwide; producers such as Lee "Scratch" Perry and King Tubby created **dub** (remixes built on bass, drums, echo and reverb); dancehall followed in the 1980s. The rhythm section of Sly Dunbar (drums) and Robbie Shakespeare (bass) played on a large share of later reggae records. For a player, reggae is a lesson in rhythm and restraint: simple chords, played short, in the right place in the bar, with space left for the bass. ## Reggae in Depth This article is the hub. Each part of the style has its own article: - [[AI Wiki - Music - Ska and Rocksteady]]: the two styles before reggae, how the tempo slowed and the bass took over; walking vs melodic bass, offbeat guitar and horns, key songs. - [[AI Wiki - Music - Reggae Rhythm Guitar]]: the skank on 2 and 4, cutting chords short, [[AI Wiki - Music - Triads on the Fretboard|triad shapes]], the double chop, the upstroke vs downstroke debate, tone. - [[AI Wiki - Music - Reggae Keyboards]]: the piano skank and the organ bubble, voicings for each hand, how keys and guitar interlock. - [[AI Wiki - Music - Reggae Bass and Drums]]: one drop, rockers and steppers; root–fifth, melodic and drop-out bass lines; how the parts fit. - [[AI Wiki - Music - Riddims]]: riddim culture, versions, famous riddims (Real [[AI Wiki - Music - Rock Music|Rock]], Stalag, Sleng Teng), and how to learn a riddim as a practice loop. - [[AI Wiki - Music - Dub Music]]: versions remixed at the desk by King Tubby, Lee Perry and Scientist; drop-outs, echo and reverb; dub techniques for [[AI Wiki - Music - Home Recording Basics|home recording]]. ## Rhythm: Skank and One Drop - **The skank**: short, staccato guitar (and piano) chords on the offbeats. In ska the chop falls on every "&" of a fast 4/4. Reggae is slower, and the skank lands on **beats 2 and 4**, the same offbeat feel at half the speed. See [[AI Wiki - Music - Rhythm and Time Signatures]]. - **One drop**: the main reggae drum pattern. Bass drum and snare (often a cross-stick "rim click") hit together on **beat 3**, and beat 1 is left empty: the "dropped" downbeat. Carlton Barrett of the Wailers is credited with popularising it. - **Rockers** and **steppers** add bass drum to the one drop. In most lessons, steppers puts the kick on every beat (a marching feel, as in "Exodus") and rockers brings beat 1 back (kick on 1 and 3); Wikipedia instead defines rockers as a kick on every quarter and steppers as a kick on every eighth. Details and grids: [[AI Wiki - Music - Reggae Bass and Drums]]. - The hi-hat and the organ often add a light swing to the eighth or sixteenth notes. ``` Count: 1 . & . 2 . & . 3 . & . 4 . & . Ska chop: . . X . . . X . . . X . . . X . Reggae skank: . . . . X . . . . . . . X . . . One drop: . . . . . . . . K . . . . . . . (kick + rim click on 3) ``` ## Harmony Reggae harmony is usually simple: two- or three-chord loops, many in minor keys, with the interest in the rhythm and the bass line. - **I – IV** or **I – IV – V** loops in major ("Three Little Birds", "Stir It Up": A, D, E). - **i – iv** minor vamps (Am – Dm), and **i – ♭VII** (Am – G). - **I – V – vi – IV** in pop-influenced reggae ("No Woman, No Cry": C – G – Am – F). See [[AI Wiki - Music - Common Chord Progressions]]. - Mostly triads; minor sevenths and the occasional major seventh add colour. See [[AI Wiki - Music - Triads]]. ```chords {title: Reggae loops (skank on 2 and 4)} {time: 4/4} {start_of_verse: I–IV–V in A} | [A] / / / | [A] / / / | [D] / / / | [A] / / / | | [A] / / / | [E] / / / | [D] / / / | [A] / / / | {end_of_verse} {start_of_verse: i–iv minor vamp in A minor} | [Am] / / / | [Am] / / / | [Dm] / / / | [Dm] / / / | {end_of_verse} {start_of_verse: I–V–vi–IV in C} | [C] / / / | [G/B] / / / | [Am] / / / | [F] / / / | {end_of_verse} {comment: Each "/" is a beat; strike the chord only on beats 2 and 4, and keep beats 1 and 3 silent.} ``` ## Reggae Guitar - **Small, high voicings**: three-note triads on the middle or top strings, around the 5th–9th frets, rather than full [[AI Wiki - Music - Guitar Open Chords|open chords]]. They sound clean and stay out of the bass's register. - **Short and muted**: strike the chord, then immediately relax the fretting hand so it stops ringing. The chord is a click with pitch, not a held sound. A light palm on the strings after the stroke also works. - **Stroke direction**: the reggae skank is usually a downstroke, with an upstroke added on the following "&" for the "double chop"; ska's fast chop on every "&" is often an upstroke. Teachers disagree on how strict this is: see [[AI Wiki - Music - Reggae Rhythm Guitar]]. - **Clean tone**, a little treble, often a short delay or reverb. - A second guitar often doubles the bass line an octave higher with muted single notes (the "picking" or "stuck" part), a sound Lynn Taitt developed in [[AI Wiki - Music - Ska and Rocksteady|rocksteady]]. Skank shapes for I–IV–V in A, kept within a few frets so the hand barely moves, plus minor shapes for an Am – Dm vamp: ```chord symbol: A frets: x-x-7-6-5-x fingers: x-x-3-2-1-x title: A (strings 4-2) --- symbol: D/F# frets: x-x-4-2-3-x fingers: x-x-3-1-2-x title: D/F# (strings 4-2) --- symbol: E/G# frets: x-x-6-4-5-x fingers: x-x-3-1-2-x title: E/G# (strings 4-2) --- symbol: Am frets: x-x-7-5-5-x fingers: x-x-3-1-1-x title: Am (strings 4-2) --- symbol: Dm frets: x-x-7-7-6-x fingers: x-x-2-3-1-x title: Dm (strings 4-2) ``` Leave the low E, A and high E strings silent: the fretting-hand fingers lightly touch them. See [[AI Wiki - Music - Barre Chords]] for the full shapes these triads come from, [[AI Wiki - Music - Guitar Fretboard Navigation]] for finding them in other keys, and [[AI Wiki - Music - Reggae Rhythm Guitar]] for top-string shapes, minor loops and drills. ## Bass The bass is the centre of reggae: deep, round, with little treble, often melodic, and as much a percussion part as a harmonic one. Lines leave space; with the one drop, the bass often rests or plays lightly on beat 1 too. Root–fifth–octave figures and short melodic phrases from the minor pentatonic are common. Aston "Family Man" Barrett (the Wailers) and Robbie Shakespeare are the reference players. Guitarists can learn bass lines on the low strings to understand where the space is; [[AI Wiki - Music - Reggae Bass and Drums]] has three example lines in tab. ```fretboard title: A minor pentatonic, low register (bass-line notes) scale: A minor pentatonic frets: 0-5 labels: intervals ``` ## Keyboards: Piano Skank and Organ Bubble - **Piano skank**: the right hand plays short triads on beats 2 and 4, doubling the guitar, usually in the middle register; the left hand stays out of the way of the bass. - **Organ [[AI Wiki - Music - Swing and Shuffle Feel|shuffle]] ("bubble")**: in its basic form, the left hand plays a short, low, soft chord on every "&" (often with only the Hammond's 8' drawbar), while the right hand chops on 2 and 4 with the guitar. It is ska's offbeat moved into a supporting layer, felt more than heard. Jackie Mittoo and Winston Wright are the names linked to it on the Hammond organ. Voicings and grids: [[AI Wiki - Music - Reggae Keyboards]]. The A – D – E skank voicings for the right hand, kept close together (see [[AI Wiki - Music - Piano Chord Inversions]]): ```chord instrument: piano columns: 3 --- symbol: A pitches: C#4 E4 A4 fingering: 1-2-5 title: A (1st inversion) --- symbol: D pitches: D4 F#4 A4 fingering: 1-3-5 title: D (root position) --- symbol: E pitches: B3 E4 G#4 fingering: 1-3-5 title: E (2nd inversion) ``` ## Dub and Riddims Two Jamaican ideas changed popular music beyond reggae. **Riddims**: a [[AI Wiki - Music - Playing with Backing Tracks|backing track]] (above all its bass line and drum pattern) is reused under many songs, so one instrumental can carry hundreds of vocals; see [[AI Wiki - Music - Riddims]]. **Dub**: engineers such as King Tubby, Lee "Scratch" Perry and Scientist remixed those instrumentals live at the mixing desk, dropping parts out and throwing them into echo and reverb, the ancestor of the remix; see [[AI Wiki - Music - Dub Music]]. ## Songs and Artists to Study - **Toots and the Maytals – "Do the Reggay"** (1968) and **"Pressure Drop"** (1969): early reggae. - **Desmond Dekker and the Aces – "Israelites"** (1968): early reggae hit in the UK and US. - **Jimmy Cliff – "Many Rivers to Cross"** (1969): reggae ballad. - **Bob Marley and the Wailers – "Stir It Up"** (1973 *Catch a Fire* version): I–IV–V skank in A. - **Bob Marley and the Wailers – "No Woman, No Cry"** (live version, 1975): I–V–vi–IV. - **Bob Marley and the Wailers – "Three Little Birds"** (1977): A, D, E; good first reggae song. - **Bob Marley – "Redemption Song"** (1980): acoustic, strummed, a contrast to the skank. - **Burning Spear – "Marcus Garvey"** (1975): roots reggae, one drop. - **Peter Tosh – "Legalize It"** (1976): roots reggae. ## How to Practise 1. Set a metronome to a slow tempo, count 1-2-3-4 aloud, and strike a muted chord only on 2 and 4. 2. Learn the A, D/F♯ and E/G♯ skank shapes; cut each chord short by releasing the left hand. 3. Play "Three Little Birds" with skank only, no strumming on 1 and 3. 4. Switch to the Am – Dm vamp; then try ska tempo with the chop on every "&". 5. On piano, play the right-hand voicings on 2 and 4 while the left hand plays a root on beat 3 (one-drop style). 6. Learn a short bass line on the low strings to hear where the skank sits against it. 7. Loop a riddim (or the practice riddim in [[AI Wiki - Music - Riddims]]) and play bass line, skank and bubble over it in turn. ## Key Points - Origin: Jamaica, late 1960s; mento → ska → rocksteady → reggae (1968); roots, dub, dancehall. - Rhythm: the skank on beats 2 and 4 (ska: every "&"); one drop (kick and snare on 3, nothing on 1); rockers and steppers variants add kick drum (their definitions vary by source). - Harmony: simple two- or three-chord loops, often minor; I–IV–V, i–iv, I–V–vi–IV. - Guitar: short, muted, high triads, mostly downstrokes, clean tone; a second guitar doubles the bass. - Bass is the lead rhythmic voice; keys add piano skank and the organ bubble (left hand on the "&"s). - Riddims (reused backing tracks) and dub (live remixing at the desk) are reggae's contributions to production culture. ## Open Questions - The basic bubble is settled (left hand on every "&", right hand on 2 and 4, per Berklee); the sixteenth-note versions on classic records still need a [[AI Wiki - Music - Transcription and Playing by Ear|transcription]] source. - Stroke direction is settled in principle (downstroke skank, optional upstroke for the double chop), but which records use the eighth-note vs sixteenth-note double chop is not. - Rockers and steppers don't change the guitar's 2-and-4 skank; what remains open is where the conflicting definitions of the two names come from. ## References - Wikipedia, "Reggae": https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reggae - Wikipedia, "One drop rhythm": https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/One_drop_rhythm - Wikipedia, "Ska": https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ska - Wikipedia, "I–V–vi–IV progression": https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I%E2%80%93V%E2%80%93vi%E2%80%93IV_progression - Wikipedia, "Rocksteady": https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rocksteady - Wikipedia, "Dub music": https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dub_music - Wikipedia, "Riddim": https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Riddim - Joshua Ray Gooch, "Rhythm Is King: Bob Marley's Hypnotic Pulse", Premier Guitar (2017): https://www.premierguitar.com/rhythm-is-king-bob-marleys-hypnotic-pulse - Matt Jenson, "The Woodshed: Bubblin'", Berklee Today (Spring 2015): https://www.berklee.edu/berklee-today/spring-2015/The-Woodshed-Bubblin - Bax-Shop, "Reggae drumming: rhythms, sounds and cues": https://www.bax-shop.co.uk/blog/drums/reggae-drumming-rhythms-sounds-and-cues/ ## Related - [[AI Wiki - Music - Ska and Rocksteady]] - [[AI Wiki - Music - Reggae Rhythm Guitar]] - [[AI Wiki - Music - Reggae Keyboards]] - [[AI Wiki - Music - Reggae Bass and Drums]] - [[AI Wiki - Music - Riddims]] - [[AI Wiki - Music - Dub Music]] - [[AI Wiki - Music - Rhythm and Time Signatures]] - [[AI Wiki - Music - Triads]] - [[AI Wiki - Music - Barre Chords]] - [[AI Wiki - Music - Guitar Fretboard Navigation]] - [[AI Wiki - Music - Common Chord Progressions]] - [[AI Wiki - Music - Pentatonic Scale]] - [[AI Wiki - Music - Piano Chord Inversions]] - [[AI Wiki - Music - Strumming Patterns]] - [[AI Wiki - Music - Funk Music]] - [[AI Wiki - Music - Pop Music]] - [[AI Wiki - Music - Rhythmic Ear Training]]