Introduction to Reggae Music History Background Key Artists Key Tracks Mento Dub

1. SESSION STYLES
REGGAE MUSIC
CHRISTOPHER BAKER
MUSICSTUDENTINFO.COM

2. REGGAE ORIGINS - 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.

3. REGGAE 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.

4. REGGAE ORIGINS 1950’S MENTO

5. SESSION
STYLES REGGAE
BACKGROUND
The idea of blasting music from the radio or a record
player-the best in American R and B or hot jazz-
through a configuration of open-air loudspeaker
cabinets became popular in the mid 1940s.
Firstly done to attract patrons the music eventually
became the event.

6. SOUND
SYSTEM

7. REGGAE MUSIC BACKGROUND SOUND SYSTEM
Apparatus used to amplify
recorded music.
Sound system parties became
very popular in inner city
Kingston areas as entertainment
source.
Early system operators: Tom the
Great Sebastian, V Rocket, Count
Smith the Blues Blaster, Sir Nick
the Champ, King Edwards or
Lord Koos.

8. REGGAE BACKGROUND EARLY SOUND SYSTEMS
CONTINUED
Music played was American R+B, Hot Jazz and even Be-Bop.
Louis Jordan was a favourite.
Competition was intense as exclusivity was the order of the day.
The more obscure the better.
Created micro-economy of importation and selling of records.

9. LOUIS JORDAN

10. SOUND
SYSTEM
INNOVATORS
Prince Buster Voice of the People
Coxsone Dodd Studio One
Duke Reid Trojan
Decided to produce their own artists locally thus having
exclusive access to the music produced.

11. COXSONE DODD
STUDIO ONE

12. REGGAE MUSIC INNOVATION
introduction some Mento elements in to the R+B music by stretching off-beats.
This concept was adapted and developed by Coxsone where he wanted to take things further by putting greater distance between homegrown and
imported music. He called a meeting with Ernie Ranglin, and bass player Cluett Johnson.
(Coxsone) deliberately wanted to keep the R and B shuffle beat, but he moved the stress to the afterbeat –the second and fourth beats – to such a
degree that it turned the arrangement around. ….People used to call in to stress it even more, and this off-beat become the focus of all Jamaican
music that followed on after it.’
Track – Easy Snappin.

13. KEY TRACK EASY SNAPPIN’

14. REGGAE
MNUSIC
INNOVATION
CONT’D
Buster continued this theory with the accented ‘off’ beat.
Introduced Rastafari to popular music through seminal ‘Oh
Carolina’
Featured Folke Brothers singing and Count Ossie drum
group.
Jamaican dialect and phrasing also introduced.

15. THE FOLKE
BROTHERS &
COUNT OSSIE
‘OH CAROLINA’

16. SKA MUSIC
A couple of years into the 1960s and the music had settled down into what was to become classic ska sound.
The new beat owed a lot to the seminal band the Skatalites who worked with the major studios especially Studio One.
Lloyd Knibbs, Tommy McCook,
Lloyd Brevette and Jackie Mittoo.
Don Drummond was leader of the group and important influence.

17. SKA POPULARITY
Ska became the first
unique and distinct
popular genre emerging
from Jamaica.
Gained national
recognition as radio
picked started to
broadcast it.
Gained international
appeal especially in urban
UK; ‘Al Capone’ Top 20
British hit in 1967.

18. SKA POPULARITY ‘AL CAPONE’

19. SKA
INSTRUMENTATIO
N
Rhythm Section with Acoustic bass
Horns
Voices

20. SKA ARTISTS
The Skatalites
Millie
Lord Tanamo
Prince Buster
Jimmy Cliff

21. ROCKSTEADY
TO REGGAE
Late 1960s saw the birth of a slower heavily bass oriented type of music known
as Rocksteady.
Key element the introduction of the electric bass and the now dominant, melodic
place it took within the ensemble.
Electric organ also introduced.
Horns were limited due to expense.
Rocksteady dominated by vocal groups.

22. ROCKSTEADY
ARTISTS
 The Paragons, The Wailers,
The Heptones, The Maytals

23. REGGAE
Rocksteady changed in name and form in
1968.
Slightly faster, with new organ pattern and
studio effects.
Rasta ideology prominent as well as Burru
and Kumina drumming styles.

24. REGGAE 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.

25. 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
Clavinet, 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”.

26. THE ‘SKANK’  The Skank- The skank is a rhythm
played usually by the guitar / piano on
beats two and our.

27. REGGAE ARTISTS The Israelites, The Royals, The Wailers,
Dennis Brown, The Ethiopians, Jimmy
Cliff, Peter Tosh, Gregory Issacs, Beres
Hammond, Barrington Levy….

28. REGGAE 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.

29. BOB MARLEY

30. BOB!
Bob Marley
Robert Nesta Marley, was a Jamaican
singer and songwriter.
Pioneer of reggae, his musical career
was marked by blending elements of
reggae, ska, and rocksteady, as well as
forging a smooth and distinctive vocal
and songwriting style.
Born: Robert Nesta Marley, Feb 6,
1945, Nine Mile, Saint Ann Parish,
British Jamaica
Died: May 11, 1981, Miami, Florida,
U.S.
Cause of death: Melanoma (skin
cancer)

31. REGGAE
EXTRAS
Derivative Forms Dancehall Dub Hip Hop Ragga Jungle Drum And Bass
Subgenres Roots Reggae Lovers Rock Reggae En Español
Fusion Genres Reggaeton Reggae Fusion Reggae 2 Tone Samba Reggae Reggae
Reggae step
Regional Scenes Africa Australia Italy Germany Guyana Japan New Zealand
Nigeria Panama Philippines Poland Trinidad And Tobago United States

32. THE END