Roots Archives Forum

One of the surest signs of amateurish musicians is their need for self-indulgence. Sometimes you see these young garage bands where it's like everyone is doing their own thing and fighting for the spotlight, which generally results in an incredibly tiresome cacophony. As musicians mature they tend to be able to listen more and find their place within the larger context of a song, and contribute rather than dominate.

I find personally however, that I like to strike a balance. Too much repetition becomes monotonous to me as a player. It's like how it sounds, and how it feels to physically play it, are two different things.

So, sometimes I listen to these reggae musicians and I can't imagine how they are able to restrain themselves to play something so simple and precise, and to repeat it almost without variation for an entire song. (of course, not all reggae is like this, but a lot is)I admire that, I'm not knocking it in the least.

Take for example the rhythm guitar players. Many reggae songs are just two chords. And pretty much all reggae has the guitar and/or keyboard chips playing the rhythm. So, many songs, the rhythm guitar is playing a very simple, stable rhythm that does not change at all over the course of the song, and the song may last 4 minutes. That is not easy to do!! What's more, to me, it's not too fun either. Imagine a session player playing all day and playing basically the same simple rhythm for every song all day! How do they do this?

Or, take bass lines, too. Take, ummm, what's the riddim name for Leroy Smart's The Meaning of Life? That is 2 notes. Just two notes. Repeated pretty much without variation for the entire song.

The interesting thing about the reggae rhythm is that in some sense it does not sound like a bunch of musicians all following the same idea (like a lot of rock is) but rather a group of musicians each playing a very limited part that, when taken together becomes this kind of living, breathing whole. Like each instrument is one organ of a living system.

So, to construct this organic rhythm, each person has to be restrained by the proper role their instrument takes in the creation of the whole. In this sense, reggae is a very cooperative creation.

I don't know exactly where I'm going with this. But I guess I'm curious to know if anyone has any insight into this. Any reggae musicians that can comment? Do you get bored playing rhythm guitar? Or is that you're more interested in listening to the whole than thinking about what you're doing yourself? I guess I'm just curious about the mindset of reggae musicians and their approach. There certainly seems to be very little self indulgence in the playing.


OK, I guess now I'll get back to 'work'

Very cool thread man!!! It DEFINITELY takes a certain type of musician to play roots the correct way. You can't be arrogant, selfish, or get bored easy!! A popular saying amongst musicians is "Less is more", and this is extremely true when it comes to reggae music. If every member of the band just plays his basic part without too much variation then it benefits the music as a whole. Reggae is not meant to be a type of music to show off your musical skill, it's meant to be listened to as a whole without one thing really sticking out too much. Everyone just doing their job. This doesn't mean that the music can't be technical, just look at Steel Pulse, Aswad, Jah Malla, Talisman, etc... Their songs are all very technical, and are arranged when you see them live.



Rumble

I agree. They are very good musicians technically. For example, it is very easy to play some really crappy sounding rhythm guitar. So it takes a lot of skill to sound good. In addition to those you mentioned, I was thinking of all the great JA session bands too.

That reminds me, I once saw this Ernest Ranglin video where he had all these guests from other genres of music. There was this one famous rock guitarist on one song. For some reason I can't remember his name, maybe it was Robbie Krieger? or what's his name from Dire Straits?
Anyway, the guy sounded absolutely wretched when he tried to play the rhythm guitar chips. Like he can do some outrageous rock solo, but don't ask him to play reggae rhythm guitar!

Oh yea, I totally agree on the JA session bands. They had it down to a science. Just think of how many tracks the Roots Radics pumped out in the late 70's and 80's. All of them pretty much with the same musical "Quality". These guys were truly masters of their instruments and genre.



Rumble

And the construction is really "wild"... Its usually not a standard like "verse - bridge - refrain" but an *all in one* structure...

Bass usually has a loop on 8 beats, while others have a 4 beat loop. Only the vocal bring a kind of structure. Everything is in the way you "touch" the instrument. Many people could think it is pretty easy to play, cause the construction is really basic, but if you want to play something interesting, you really need a lot of practice, a real feelig and a research of the kind of sound you want to bring, that is HIGHLY subtle.

But I agree, sometimes it is really long... And you have to be totally in the mood to keep on....

In my experience as a Reggae musician (good and bad experiences with Reggae and non-reggae musicians:

Reggae's poly-rhythmic interplaying is typical of african/caribbean music....like Salsa, afrobeat, brazilian, soul-funk, etc...is all about the interplay of "simple" patterns....when combine by 4-6-8-10 musicians...that grooves!
I don't know about Rock-Pop music, cannot compare.

Reggae is not easy at all, any non-reggae musician that reduces Reggae to the 2 or 3 chords....doesn't have a clue! And 99,99%...cannot even play it properly!

Rock guitar players CANNOT play reggae guitar! (no exceptions...from Eric clapton to whoever you name). They cannot "chip", they cannot mute the strings to produce the real sound, they don't 'feel' it.

As a bass player, personally if you don't enjoy playing the "Far East" bassline (meaning of life), you are not a Reggae bass player. If "simple"(?) 2 or 3 notes groove doesn't fill you as a bassist (Real Rock, Mr Bassie, Far East, etc) ...you are out of my band!

He who feels it, knows it!

What a thread! RESPECT!

I used to be a riddim + lead guitarist in a roots band of 8 players (bass, drum, keys/voc., keys/perc., trumpet, sax, trombone, guitar) + engineer for years.
We had a motto which was "less is more". Play less to get more roots quality.
When the singer comes with lyrics like "beautiful flowers and trees...birds singin so sweet" there´s no thought HOW to support him on lead guitar - I JUST PLAY the birds.
Playin riddim is anything else than boring. There are many techniques how to do it. Little variations can nice it up.
Players who need a lot of self-expression are not qualified to play reggae. The spoil the whole musical creation. I experieced that too often...
The thing is to play simple things sovereign, calm and easy - not crampy.
I always like to say a band in like a clockwork. Full of cogwheels depending on one another.
My first guitar teacher was a well known german rock guitarist with LPs on the market etc. When I wanted him to show me how to play riddim guitar he said he couldn´t do it. The he tried and instead of chack chak he did chaaaang chaaaang. Played the chords muuuuch too long.
In those days I knew some so self-confident rock players. They stated, reggae is just for the less talented cause it´s all the same. So - we invited a rock guitarist to rehease with us. I´m sure you already know what happened? Right - he couldn´t play riddim. Our clockwork was collapsing cause he messed up. When he played solo it was like sawing wood.
He became more and more quiet.

My imagination while playing riddim guit. is an inner picture of the song. Mostly landscapes. This generates feelings which I express with my hands. So I can feel what the tune requires. Ears give feedback. It´s very helpful to relax muscles before playing.

Thinking has it´s place when you arrange a song with the band members. When and where do the horn blaze, what percussion theme is irie - and so on. Just a rough planning of the song.
When it comes to playing, it´s good to switch over to the emotional level.
Rehearsing is a must. I´ve seen and heard really hardworking musicians. But if there´s no talent you can forget all about it. Remember a sax girl. She was well when playing from her sheet of music. She couldn´t play without it. All her figures sounded so stiff.

Most important thing is the vibe. You have to perceive the vibes. They are the most important helpers for a relxed roots sound.

@inyaki

To be clear, when I say "simple" I definitely do not mean "easy" I just mean it's not a complicated line (though there are definitely some of those in reggae too.

@flashman
I know what you mean...I think we have a very similar point of view.

I was referring to my experiences with rock/jazz/blues/pop musicians who think reggae is "simple" and for less skillful musicians....classic comment:"...you rehearse with a reggae band? do you need to? Reggae is just smoking a spliff and 3 chords...."
!

@I-Lion Tafari
I have seen a similar situation many times...non-reggae guys trying to chip Am Em...or bubble the organ (they don't get it)

The great thing is when listening to reggae music for years you can recognize the "feel" of musicians playing that simple reggae...
Compare the timing of bass players like Robbie Shakespeare and Aston Familyman... great to hear that difference. Drums, what Sly is doing is completely different from Style Scott. What about Tony Chin on rhythm guitar? It's all about timing and having a great vibe. It can only be learned on the street, not in any of the music academies...