SKA GUITAR for beginners

782369

In this short video I try to give a starting point to playing ska guitar.
In my opinion, the most important thing is right hand movement, without the right hand moving freely, it's extremely difficult to play with good feel.

Check it out, all feedback is welcome:

StanleyAccrington

Like it. Nice to see the tab that goes with the playing technique.

782369

StanleyAccrington;1072251" said:

Like it. Nice to see the tab that goes with the playing technique.

Thank you.

EricTheWeary

Lovely playing. I wouldn't mind the guitar higher in the mix though, for a guitar tutorial quite hard to hear it in the mix once the horns kick in.

782369

EricTheWeary;1072423" said:

Lovely playing. I wouldn't mind the guitar higher in the mix though, for a guitar tutorial quite hard to hear it in the mix once the horns kick in.

Valid point...I'll try to make the next one better.

Placidcasual79

I think having the tab on the screen at the same time as the video is a useful learning tool - but more importantly I like the tune!!!! Nice horns sir!!! 

782369

Placidcasual79 said:

I think having the tab on the screen at the same time as the video is a useful learning tool - but more importantly I like the tune!!!! Nice horns sir!!! 

Thanks, the backing track is all samples...I wish I could take credit for them horn tracks

StanleyAccrington

Maybe off topic, but I recently saw a poster in town detailing that The Specials are doing a gig. Surely there can't be many original members of the group left.

EricTheWeary

StanleyAccrington said:

Maybe off topic, but I recently saw a poster in town detailing that The Specials are doing a gig. Surely there can't be many original members of the group left.

I think it's three now - Terry, Lynvall and Horace. They had all of them except Jerry Dammers a few years ago. 

StanleyAccrington

I'll still be going to see them whatever the lineup is. There isn't enough ska/2 tone around if you ask me!

skaguitar

StanleyAccrington said:

I'll still be going to see them whatever the lineup is. There isn't enough ska/2 tone around if you ask me!

I agree...!!

skaguitar

782369 said:

Placidcasual79 said:

I think having the tab on the screen at the same time as the video is a useful learning tool - but more importantly I like the tune!!!! Nice horns sir!!! 

Thanks, the backing track is all samples...I wish I could take credit for them horn tracks

Nice playing and tutorial....nice to see some ska on here....

EricTheWeary

skaguitar said:

StanleyAccrington said:

I'll still be going to see them whatever the lineup is. There isn't enough ska/2 tone around if you ask me!

I agree...!!

:-B

hugbot

EricTheWeary said:

Lovely playing. I wouldn't mind the guitar higher in the mix though, for a guitar tutorial quite hard to hear it in the mix once the horns kick in.

To be fair though I think one of the big ethos of ska/reggae guitar is that guitar is decidedly not the focal instrument. 

I used to play with a guy who'd been doing it for 25 years in some fairly well known acts, he described the trick to ska and reggae as being "almost like opposite music" in that you're trying to play as small as possible. Ska/reggae guitar should be little, and nagging and insistant with that conspicuous empty space on the on-beat which defines the genre -  in contrast to how rock guitar players think.

EricTheWeary

hugbot;1083789" said:

EricTheWeary said:

Lovely playing. I wouldn't mind the guitar higher in the mix though, for a guitar tutorial quite hard to hear it in the mix once the horns kick in.





To be fair though I think one of the big ethos of ska/reggae guitar is that guitar is decidedly not the focal instrument. 

I used to play with a guy who'd been doing it for 25 years in some fairly well known acts, he described the trick to ska and reggae as being "almost like opposite music" in that you're trying to play as small as possible. Ska/reggae guitar should be little, and nagging and insistant with that conspicuous empty space on the on-beat which defines the genre -  in contrast to how rock guitar players think.

Absolutely, I meant just in terms of it being a guitar tutorial rather than as a peice of music I could do with hearing the guitar more. If I am doing ska rhythm in my band (which I don't do a lot of but some) I can almost forget playing the notes as long as it makes the appropriate scratch noises. The word 'ska' allegedly coined to describe the sound of the guitar on the off beat B-)

nickp

I soo love ska and 2 tone but don't play any (i'm a rock god (joke)).

are there any suggestions for good starter tunes?  Just be nice to pop a ska workout into a practice session here and there

EricTheWeary

nickp;1083953" said:

I soo love ska and 2 tone but don't play any (i'm a rock god (joke)).

are there any suggestions for good starter tunes?  Just be nice to pop a ska workout into a practice session here and there

On a lot of the sixties stuff they did down strums on the off beat which is a slightly different feel, it's up strums on the faster 2 tone and third wave stuff. A lot of the sixties stuff is three chord I IV V progressions, although some exceptions as some of the more instrumental stuff is covering jazz standards or film theme tunes - Guns of Navarone by the Skatalites for example, which would be a good strum along.

The Specials is some of the most guitar oriented / rockier stuff - like Little Bitch or Do the Dog or Gangsters. Lynvall Golding does most of the rhythm and mostly using E shaped barre chords so you can work out entire chord sequences by finding live versions on YouTube and watching his left hand. Massive cliché, though it is, Message to you Rudy is pretty archetypal ska. Three chords in C ( ie C F and G) . The second guitar part does a bubble part - muted counter melody based on the chords.

Santeria by Sublime is a popular third wave song for guitarists as you've got a ska rhythm but it's something like how the Red Hot Chili Peppers would play ska.

Amy Winehouse did a few ska covers and actually did them really well. Her version of You're Wondering Now is well worth a listen. Its a sixties ska song that the Specials also covered but her version is more upbeat with some really nice bluesy guitar on it.

I'm a big Toots and the Maytalls fan which is late ska/ early reggae. Lots of great guitar parts on his songs, live versions especially.
54-46 is his iconic song and is a great jamming number.

What else... Madness did very little straight ska, despite what people seem to think, and you'd learn very little about ska guitar from them, although as complex pop they are interesting songs. They did one album as the Dangermen (IIRC) where they did ska covers which might be worth a listen.
Similarly The Beat actually did very little straight ska. Their use of open tunings means they are quite hard songs to get to sound right. Either guitar part in Can't Get Used to Losing You is an interesting challenge. The live versions are generally a bit slower and without the strings to distract you.

Hundreds of songs.. Hmm...007 by Desmond Decker has a clear guitar part that is a variation from standard ska so that's interesting in terms of sixties tunes.

Phew...
B-)

nickp

EricTheWeary said:

nickp;1083953" said:

I soo love ska and 2 tone but don't play any (i'm a rock god (joke)).

are there any suggestions for good starter tunes?  Just be nice to pop a ska workout into a practice session here and there

On a lot of the sixties stuff they did down strums on the off beat which is a slightly different feel, it's up strums on the faster 2 tone and third wave stuff. A lot of the sixties stuff is three chord I IV V progressions, although some exceptions as some of the more instrumental stuff is covering jazz standards or film theme tunes - Guns of Navarone by the Skatalites for example, which would be a good strum along.

The Specials is some of the most guitar oriented / rockier stuff - like Little Bitch or Do the Dog or Gangsters. Lynvall Golding does most of the rhythm and mostly using E shaped barre chords so you can work out entire chord sequences by finding live versions on YouTube and watching his left hand. Massive cliché, though it is, Message to you Rudy is pretty archetypal ska. Three chords in C ( ie C F and G) . The second guitar part does a bubble part - muted counter melody based on the chords.

Santeria by Sublime is a popular third wave song for guitarists as you've got a ska rhythm but it's something like how the Red Hot Chili Peppers would play ska.

Amy Winehouse did a few ska covers and actually did them really well. Her version of You're Wondering Now is well worth a listen. Its a sixties ska song that the Specials also covered but her version is more upbeat with some really nice bluesy guitar on it.

I'm a big Toots and the Maytalls fan which is late ska/ early reggae. Lots of great guitar parts on his songs, live versions especially.
54-46 is his iconic song and is a great jamming number.

What else... Madness did very little straight ska, despite what people seem to think, and you'd learn very little about ska guitar from them, although as complex pop they are interesting songs. They did one album as the Dangermen (IIRC) where they did ska covers which might be worth a listen.
Similarly The Beat actually did very little straight ska. Their use of open tunings means they are quite hard songs to get to sound right. Either guitar part in Can't Get Used to Losing You is an interesting challenge. The live versions are generally a bit slower and without the strings to distract you.

Hundreds of songs.. Hmm...007 by Desmond Decker has a clear guitar part that is a variation from standard ska so that's interesting in terms of sixties tunes.

Phew...
B-)

 what can I say.....a big THANK YOU  

EricTheWeary

Hope there's something useful in that lot. This isn't neccesarilly a brilliant lesson but he uses the downstroke pattern of sixties ska, the other lesson stuff on YouTube seems mostly to use the up strum ( like the OP here , IIRC) of more modern ska. Gives you a choice depending on the feel you are after ( although it is a subtle difference).

BintyTwanger77

I play saxophone in a ska band...I would pass all of this on to our guitarist/singer, but he'd twat me with his Tele 

skaguitar

BintyTwanger77 said:

I play saxophone in a ska band...I would pass all of this on to our guitarist/singer, but he'd twat me with his Tele 

what band do you play in..?