![]() He has a big tree of his own: the Bob Marley family tree. Well, it took a while, but it has since become apparent: don’t worry about a thing, because Marley had it covered. When he died in 1981, at the horribly young age of 36, nobody knew who would emerge as reggae’s global representative in his wake. By the middle of the 70s he was the biggest third-world star in music, Jamaica’s global cultural representative, and the man who put reggae on the map. It was an attack on what he perceived to be the “big t’ree” (three) producers in Jamaican music, and Marley’s wordplay made it sound like a big tree that his small axe was going to cut down. Make sure that this line locks in with the bass part, and you might want to flick over to the neck pickup for a nice variation in tone.In 1971, Bob Marley wrote and recorded a song called ‘Small Axe’. These lines are often palm muted to create a slightly dull attack, as seen in this example. Single-note lines are often used in reggae and for the most part, double the bass line. Keep both hands relaxed and allow the fretting hand to bounce off of each chord, always remembering to maintain contact with the strings. ![]() Here I have fused all the ideas so far to illustrate how the chords played on beats 2 and 4 can be quickly followed by a percussive strum on the off beat. Don’t forget that these examples are played with a light swing feel so aim to give the upstrokes a little bounce. This example builds upon Example 1 where an off-beat chord is played on beat 2& in each bar – this should be played using an upstroke. The tab shows the fretting required but aim to have almost no pitched notes being sounded. To play these examples form the barre chord shape for each chord but without pushing the strings down too hard this creates a muted and percussive effect. This means short and clipped chords using soft fretting-hand muting as soon you strike the chord, lift your fingers off of the fretboard ensuring to keep contact with the string itself. These should be performed using a downstroke and each chord should be played staccato. Here, four-note chord voicings based on E and A shape barre chords are used. This first example is an introduction to the skank style rhythm playing. Virtually any clean sounding guitar will work well simply add light reverb. Riffs and melodies, however, usually sound more appropriate using the neck pickup. The skank rhythm usually sounds better on the bridge pickup, Bob Marley famously using a Gibson Les Paul Special with P-90s. Reggae rhythm and lead is almost always played using a clean tone. Get the toneĪmp settings: Gain 2, Bass 4, Middle 5, Treble 6, Reverb 3 ![]() The main thing to focus on here is keeping the chords short, sharp and locked in with the bass and drums. With regards to the tonality of reggae, it is played in Major and Minor keys in equal measure.Īs a result, the initial five examples are in the key of A Major, while the study piece is in the key of A Minor. I have chosen the latter for this article, which gives the music a bouncy and joyful feel. Reggae music can be played with either a straight or swung feel. Although the chords aren’t actually fretted, you can ever so slightly make out the main chord tones. ![]() He would form barre chords with his fretting hand but not actually push the strings down to the frets, thus creating a muted, percussive effect. One technique that Bob Marley often used was to use the guitar purely as a percussive instrument. Some guitarists opt to play a full barre chord but not strike the bass strings, while others opt to play partial chords and triads, as I have in the examples and study piece. ![]()
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