Roots Archives Forum

how do you recognize steppers and what defines it? in comparison to songs i have that i've been told are steppers i think Bob's song "forever lovingjah" from uprising is one?

Well, you've got to analyze the music, basically the drum pattern. Heres a likkle musical lesson.

In reggae music, there are 4 beats per measure. The beat you hear the majority of the time in reggae is the "one drop", which has a hi-hat on each of the 4 beats, and a snare and kick/bass drum on the 3rd beat. one,two,THREE,four, one,two,THREE,four.

Now, a stepper beat (invention credited to Sly Dunbar in the mid seventies) has a kick drum on each of the 4 beats. Not as much emphasis on the 3rd beat but a more militant, hard rockers feel.

Hope this is understandable!!

thanks, very helpful, i'll have to listen closely at first but hopefully soon i'll know after the first couple bars!

And which were the first stepper-tunes??

there is also rockers

ROCKERS.... Bass on 1st Snare on 3rd
STEPPERS... Bass on all 4 beats Snare on 3rd
ONE DROP....Bass and Snare drop on 3rd

Lee Perry UPSETTER IN DUB Heartbeat CDHB77
Check it for all the above stylee

"Rockers" do not refer to any particular kind of beat, but rather describes the style: more militant, with busy snare patterns. One Drop can as well be played in Rockers style. The first tune that was called "rockers" - "Right Time" by The Mighty Diamonds (featuring Sly himself) - it is played in one drop.

And some people use the word 'rockers' to describe the two drop beat, or to describe steppers, and I think that either interpretation is correct.

What people call steppers (I don't think any Jamaican would know what "steppers" would mean, though, it's something UK music press seem to have come up with), is something I guess started late 1977, or early 1978, and didn't last longer than 1980. As others have said, it's recognisable by the way every beat is emphasised by the bass drum. There are examples of steppers rhythms that came before the 'steppers' period, like Cornell Campbell and the Eternals' "Queen of the Minstrels", which I think is from the late sixties.

selecta bing wrote:ROCKERS.... Bass on 1st Snare on 3rd
STEPPERS... Bass on all 4 beats Snare on 3rd
ONE DROP....Bass and Snare drop on 3rd

Lee Perry UPSETTER IN DUB Heartbeat CDHB77
Check it for all the above stylee

HERE IS A THREAD FOR YOU CHROMATIC

Cheers selecta!