2. What Is It?
• Reggae is a music genre that originated in
Jamaica in the late 1960’s. It incorporates
stylistic elements such as Calypso, R&B,
African, Jazz, and Latin American music.
Reggae’s roots are found in the earlier genres
Mento, Ska, and Rocksteady.
3. Roots - Mento
• Mento music is the grandfather of Reggae music. It is referred
to as being the country music of Jamaica. The classic Mento
sound is acoustic, Informal, and has a folksy rural style. Mento
music came to real prominence in the 1940’s and 1950’s, with
the 1950’s being the real golden age for Mento. Instruments
that are usually found in Mento include the banjo, acoustic
guitar, a home-made saxophone, clarinet or flute made out of
bamboo, a variety of hand percussion and a rumba box.
4. Roots - Ska
• Ska Music originated in Jamaica in the late 1950’s. It combines
elements of Caribbean mento and Calypso with American jazz
and rhythm and blues. Ska music is characterized by a walking
bass line accented with rhythms on the upbeat. The music
itself is very upbeat, quick and exciting. Musically, it can be
characterized with a drumbeat on the 2nd and 4th beats, and
with the guitar hitting on the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th beats.
Traditional Ska bands generally have bass, drums, guitars,
keyboards, and horns.
5. Roots - Rocksteady
• Rocksteady music originated in Jamaica around
1966. The term rocksteady comes from a dance
style that was mentioned in the Alton Ellis song “
Rock Steady”. Dances preformed to Rocksteady
were less energetic than the earlier Ska dances.
Rocksteady uses some of the musical elements of
R&B, Jazz, Ska, African and Latin drumming, and
other genres. As in Ska, staccato chords are
played by a guitar and piano on the offbeats of
the measure.
6. Contributing Musicians In the Roots Of
Reggae
• Mento- Louise Bennett, Count Lasher, Harold
Richardson, Lord Flea, Lord Fly, and Harry
Belafonte.
• Ska- The Skatalites, Toots & the Maytals,
Desmond Dekker, and The Gladiators.
• Rocksteady- Alton Ellis is sometimes said to be
the father of Rocksteady, and Phyllis Dillon is
known as the Queen of Rocksteady. Other artists
include The Gaylads, The Heptones, The Maytals
and The Paragons.
7. Transitioning Into Reggae
• The shift from Rocksteady to reggae was
illustrated by the organ shuffle pioneered by
Jamaican musicians like Jackie Mittoo and
Winston Wright.
• Bob Marley’s band, the Wailers, is the most
recognized band that made the transition
through all three stages of early Jamaican
popular music: ska, rocksteady and reggae.
8. Reggae Sounds: The “Bubble”
• Keyboards are mainly responsible for the
bubble, which aids the skank to add to the
momentum of a given rhythm. Most common
Reggae keyboards are the Hammond Organ,
Rhodes and Clav, The key to playing the
bubble is the rhythm. While the guitar or the
keyboard player’s right hand is playing on
beats two and four, the keyboard player’s left
hand will be playing on all the up-beats,
playing what is known as the “bubble”.
9. Reggae Sounds: The Skank
• The Skank- The skank is a rhythm played
usually by the guitar / piano on beats two and
four.
10. Reggae Sounds: Instrumentation
• Drums: Standard drum kit, but the snare is usually tuned very high
to give it a timbales-type sound.
• Bass: Electric bass guitar, usually emphasizing the lower frequencies
and has a dominant role in the overall sound.
• Guitar: Electric guitar, usually playing on the upbeats known as the
skank.
• Keyboard: Keyboard usually being a Hammond organ, and doubling
the rhythm guitar’s skank with the right hand and playing the
bubble with the left.
• Horns: The horn section usually includes a saxophone, trumpet, or
trombone. They often play the introductions and counter-melodies
of songs. The first horn is often playing simple melody or counter
melody, being accompanied by the second horn playing the same
melodic phrase in unison, one octave higher. The third horn usually
plays the melody an octave and a fifth higher than the first horn.
11. Reggae Sounds: Vocals
• The vocals in Reggae are less of a defining
characteristic of the genre than the
instrumentation and rhythm. Vocal harmony
parts are often used, either throughout the
melody, or as a counterpoint to the main vocal
line.
12. Reggae Artists and Summary
• Notable Reggae artists include Toots Hibbert,
Peter Tosh, Judge Dread, Alton Ellis and Bob
Marley.
• Reggae was birthed in Jamaica and its happy
sounds spread around the world and to The
United States through Bob Marley.
• Eric Clapton took Bob Marley’s music to a
number one hit with the song “I Shot The
Sheriff”.
