Week 5 - Ska / Reggae

Bob Marley and the Wailers started their career making Ska records at Studio One in Kingston Jamaica.

Ska was partly inspired by the call and response vocal patterns of American RnB.

Jamaican musicians though used a distinctive syncopated off beat in which guitarist would play a scratchy 'ska' accent inbetween the beats:

  / 1 ska 2 ska  3 ska  4 ska  /

Many 'Ska' hits used the same chord pattern:

Tonic    Subdominant  Dominant   ( I IV V)













Bob Marley and the Wailers in the early 1970's signed to UK indie label Island Records.

They now favoured a more laid back style in which the guitar played a 'reggae' double beat
(the cola part of a coca-cola semi-quaver) inbetween each beat of the bar.

Reggae also tended to feature prominant bass riffs.
Aston Barrett plays a distinctive triad pattern on Stir it Up.

His brother Carlton favoured cross stick over snare back beat.

Notice how the kick drum plays on the backbeat too.




Bob Marley and the Wailers were inspired by the falsetto harmony of soul stars Curtis Mayfield and the Impressions.

The three part harmony on Stir it Up is based on the lead vocal singing the 3rd note of the scale.

The backing singers harmonise on the higher 5th and 8th note.

Eric Clapton was to cover a Bob Marley song can I Shot the Sheriff.  It went to number one in the USA.


Reggae rhythm was now fasionable and cool. It shared many musical ingredients with funk and disco. Especially the funky clavinet and wah wah toned guitars.

Many established performers including Stevie Wonder, Bob Dylan and Led Zeppelin flirted with Jamaican rhythm.


In the multi-cultural districts of London young white musicians were starting to add Jamaican flavour to Punk records







A group of young musicians in the midlands began to re-visit old Jamican ska recordings which they released on their own 'TwoTone' label. 

The label released a string of hit records by The Specials and Madness.




Contemporary performers continue to cover ska /reggae material:








 Do you recognise this obscure Reggae instrumental?








Do you recognise it now?