Hello all
Yesterday I asked a stupid question about. amps (Cabs vs combos)....
today its theory - and I'd be really grateful for any help you wise and wonderful bunch can provide.
I enjoy listening to reggae and ska. Apologies if this is a stupid question - but are there scales or patterns that are prevalent in these styles? Anything I could learn that would help me? I am basic and self taught so I struggle - for example with the playing of Roddy 'Radiation' Byers of the specials or Peter Tosh of the Wailers.
When I manage to work out their parts I cannot understand the scales they're using (essentially anything other than a blues pentatonic and I am lost lol)
Any help gratefully appreciated
James
Comments
Supportact said: [my style is] probably more an accumulation of limitations and bad habits than a 'style'.
Seriously: If you value it, take/fetch it yourself
He uses some basic harmony in thirds on several things. So, play notes from a pentatonic and add their relative third and he forms a lot of double stops that way. Lynval Golding would do some of the lead parts. Thats him at the start of the solo on Little Bitch playing octaves. From memory it's basically a minor pentatonic ( maybe with a 2nd added?) but made interesting by playing it as octaves. Quite a lot of examples of simple melodies played using octaves in reggae ( Chase the Devil by Max Romeo is a good example ).
Strictly speaking Peter Tosh played very little guitar with the Wailers or even on his own records. The solos tend to be session players ( including Ernest Ranglin in their earlier ska recordings) and then American guitarist Al Anderson ( not to be confused with Al Anderson of NRBQ) and British guitarist Junior Marvin (not to be confused with reggae artist Junior Murvin). It's mostly Al on the Tosh solo records.
Al is primarily a blues player and was bezzy mates with Paul Kossoff. I trust Phil's ears more than mine but I'd guess that Al ( who takes the solos on Live at the Lyceum) used primarily blues scale, major and minor pentatonics but it was very much about phrasing. Old school blues rock really - ha, we've got you now!
Supportact said: [my style is] probably more an accumulation of limitations and bad habits than a 'style'.