Things Need To Know About Reggae Music

Things Need To Know About Reggae Music In late 1960 a music genre began in Jamaica named Reggae. Most of the Jamaican music comes from the reggae style. The songs are usually about love, religion, and social problems. The music has regular chops on the backbeat or off-beat, which is known as 'skank' and plays by a rhythm guitarist.

Reggae Musical instruments The main three instruments of Reggae are Vocals, Drums, and The Bass Guitar.

Bob Marley is the legend of Reggae music. He composed the music or songs mostly by Vocals, Guitars, Percussion, and Drums. Over time some new instruments have been added to the making of reggae beats such as Electric Organ and French Horns.

The Drums and the Bass Guitar are two driving instruments in reggae music mostly loved by reggae music lovers and then the Vocals.

Now, we will know about the top ten instruments use in reggae music.

1. The Drum: Reggae drums are divided into three categories. Those are One drop, Rockers, Steppers.  One drop strengthens the third beat with no drum on the first beat.  Rockers strengthen the third beat besides, although it features a drum, (generally it's a bass drum) on the first beat.  Steppers have a bass drum for each beat. In other music genres, this is known as four on the floor.

2. The Bass Guitar: This musical instrument plays in tandem with the drums and provides the riddim or rhythm of a reggae song. The bass guitar usually played as a simple riff, but it is frequently thick and pronounced.

3. The Organ: In recent times, when people speak of reggae musical instruments, the organ doesn't easily come in mind. But, the organ has an incomparable sound in reggae music.

The bass organ gives a sweet bubble or shuffles sound that gives body and dimension to the rhythm section. One should aim for a Hammond organ or Hammond organ sound.

4. The Keyboard: This is the most flexible of all reggae instruments. The keyboard has made many reggae instruments redundant in many bands. It is used to replicate an uncountable of sounds ranging from pianos, organs, strings, bass, guitar, trumpet, horns, and all kinds of synthesizers.

5. The Bongo: The bongo drum is usually used as a reggae instrument by the Rastafarian community.

The modern generation of reggae artists and musicians from around the world are trying to develop a sound of their own, is a good thing. The bongo is used to give a spiritual as well as African feel to a song or beat.

6. The Piano: The reggae instrument piano is hardly used those days for obvious reasons. This is a shame because it's may not replace the natural sound of a milked piano with a keyboard. The piano was used along with the guitar to give a flourishing or a double rhythm sound. A good quality upright piano was usually used in reggae music form.

7. The Clavinet: The clavinet and many other reggae instruments not used much these days. But when it is used, it adds interest and diversity to the sound.

8. The Horns: In reggae, the horns are used for introduction, counter melodies and lead fill, and sometimes for long solos. The trumpet, trombone, and saxophone are normally used together or as individuals in reggae music. They are sometimes played very gently throughout the song, but can also be used to signify the importance of the message that is about to be the song.

9. The Guitar: The guitar is the most exoteric of all reggae instruments. This is mainly used for rhythm and leads parts, though some musicians use other models for better effect.

10. Percussion: In reggae music, any percussive instrument can be used. There have no boundaries to how they can be used. Reggae musicians use shakers, guiro, wind chimes, cowbell, drums among others to produce extraordinary music.

It should be noted that reggae musicians have invented also some percussive instruments. Some have been known to use cups and potheads. As an example, we can see, Lee Perry at Black Ark Studio used bottles with water in them to create varying sounds. So, don't hold your imaginations into mind, let these be your guide.

Everything about Reggae music has to do with the rhythm. You can easily distinguish a reggae tune or song against another genre by just destining the rhythm or beat patterns.

There have some popular music editings tools such as Fruity Loop, Magix Music Maker, MuseScore, Drumflow, Ordrumbox, and Hydrogen, which made it very easy for anyone with a Mac or PC to become a beatmaker. Most online tools are loaded with all the instruments needed to make a reggae beat.

In this article, we have shared some information about the reggae musical instruments. We are hoping it will be acceptable to all Reggae music lovers.