Ska stroke

Reggae downstroke pattern Playⓘ.[1]
Though notated with quarter notes, the Ska stroke sounds like sixteenth notes due to muting or dampening.[1]
Reggae upstroke pattern[2]Playⓘ.
Skank guitar rhythm often considered "'the' reggae beat"[3]Play straightⓘ or Play shuffleⓘ.
Skank at different harmonic rhythms
Reggae guitar pattern[4] Playⓘ
Reggae guitar pattern[4] Playⓘ
Ska guitar pattern[4] Playⓘ

The ska stroke up or ska upstroke, skank or bang, is a guitar strumming technique that is used mostly in the performance of ska, rocksteady, and reggae music.[5] It is derived from a form of rhythm and blues arrangement called the shuffle, a popular style in Jamaican blues parties of the 1940s, 1950s and 1960s.

  1. ^ a b Snyder, Jerry (1999). Jerry Snyder's Guitar School, p.28. ISBN 0-7390-0260-0.
  2. ^ Snyder (1999), p.29.
  3. ^ Bassford, Andy (2004). "Reggae: Jamaican Grooves", How to Play Rhythm Guitar, p.72. Hal Leonard. Johnston, Richard; ed. ISBN 0-87930-811-7.
  4. ^ a b c Peretz, Jeff (2003). Zen and the Art of Guitar: A Path to Guitar Mastery, p.37. Alfred Music. ISBN 9780739028179.
  5. ^ (2013). Smithsonian Music: The Definitive Visual History, p.349. ISBN 9781465421265.