HISTORY OF REGGAE

The facts

Founded in 1693 by Refugees from a disastrous earthquake which destroyed most of f h the main port, Port Royal.Reggae first originated in Jamaica in the late 1960’s.The term reggae denotes a particular music style that originated following on the development of ska and following on the development of ska and rocksteady.Ska: Jamaica SkaRocksteady: Alton Ellis-RocksteadyKingston, Jamaica was and still is a significant location for reggae in Kingston, Jamaica was and still is a significant location for reggae in Jamaica.Reggae is often associated with the Rastafarimovement which accepts HaileSelassieI, the former emperor of Ethiopia, as God incarnate, call Jah, The The Rastafari also believe in the spiritual use of cannabis also believe in the spiritual use of cannabis. The origin of the word as a musical term is debated. Some say it comes from the Jamaican English word regemeaning ragged or also to quarrel, others say it comes from the sound of the choppy reggae guitar, Maytals' (the first group to publish the word) lead singer Toots Hibbertword says it comes comesfrom the Jamaican word streggae
which refers to a raggedy looking girl or guyReggae music helped people deal Reggae music helped people deal with the struggle of ghetto life, with the struggle of ghetto life, violence and poverty all of which are a part of everyday life in Jamaica.

Jamaica

An Island Nation of the Greater Antille Third largest island in the Caribbean Tropical climate, warm, humid weathe .In the center of the hurricane belt of theIn the center of the hurricane belt of the Atlantic Ocean. This results in the Island sometimes being the victim of some significant storms. 234 Kilometres in lenggth, and 80 kilometres in width.Population of 2,780,132. Capitol of Jamaica is Kingston.Population consists mainly of people from West-African decent . The rest of the population consists of East Indian, Asian and European. Motto: Out of many, one people.

Kingston

Largest city of Jamaica. Population of 651,880. There are 2 parts that There are 2 parts that make up the central area of Kingston, which are Downtown and are Downtown and New Kingston. Downtown is historic but is stricken bbut is stricken by poverty and violence. In 1966 Kinggston was host city to the Commonwealth Games.

Trench Town

Trench Town is a small l area in West Kingston.Impoverished town that was build around a former garbage dump in the 1950’s. Known as a “Ghetto” area, Trench Town has been abandoned by the Kingston society. It is a town of violence where the inhabitants live in fear and despair. However, Trench Town is respected worldwide as ppgroviding the Roots of Reggae Music. The music tells stories of their life and what kind of life they’re trying to make for themselves. Messages of Reggae are Unity and One loveMessages of Reggae are Unity and One love Reggae artists incorporated these messages into their music. Conditions in Trench Town

Musicians Of Trench Town

• Bob Marley: Moved to Trench Bob Marley: Moved to TrenchTown as a child with his mother.Lived at 19 Second Street, but like many other residents, he spent a lotof time at 8 First Street, which was the locatition for theCulture Yard.·Bob Marley-Trenchtown Rock ·Joe Higgs: “The Father of Reggae”Joe was greatly influential in thebirth of ska, rocksteady , and reggae.
• Peter Tosh: Moved to Trench Town at the age of 15. Lived in a little shack that he built on West Road. Here he met Bob Marley and they helped form the Wailers.
• Bunny Wailer: Went to school with Bob Marley in Nine Miles with Bob Marley in Nine Miles, St.Anne. They were separated for a number of years but reunited in Trench Town years later.

The Culture Yard

• Then The Culture Yard was a The Culture Yard was a small estate comprised of eigght houses located deep in the heart of Trench Town. It was once a housing project, and was notorious for political gang violencepolitical gang violence.
  
• Now With the help of foreignWith the help of foreign and domestic funding, there are regeneration plans to transform the Culture Yard into a Cultural Centre. Cultural Centre.
  There is an annual festival in Culture Yard in memory of Bob Marley.

Reggae Facts

• All songs written in 4/4 timing.
• Harmonically very simple and can consist of as little as one or two chord changes per song but can have more.changes per song but can have more.
• Influenced by traditional African and Carribean music and Rythm and Blues. Evolved from Ska and Rocksteady.
• Became popular in Britain in the early with the rude boy fashion movement Rt. Rudd be boys would ld pllay th thi keir ska recordd ls slow t to h show thi their tough image.
• Song lyrics deal with many subjects, including social critisism, cannabis, Religg((Rasta), materialism, faith, love, relationship, poverty, injustice and other broad social issues. Recurring lyrical themes are anti-colonialism, anti-capitalism, black nationalism, anti-racism, and preparing and caring for a younger generation.
• The lyrics of Reggae are The lyrics of Reggae are toasted toasted over the music over the music. ToastingToastingrefers to when refers to when DJs improvised along to dub tracks, and it is generally considered to be a precursor to rap. One unique charcteristicof reggae vocals is that many singers use tremolo (volume oscillation) rather than vibrato (pitch oscillation).

Instrumentation : percussion

• Percussion-Standard drum kit the snare is tuned high to get a timbale-like sound. Rim shots and Tom-tom drums are common. little use of cymbals is limited and sometimes replaced with cowbell and clave. All songs are in straight 4/4 timing.
• 3 main drum patterns One drop, Rockers and Steppers.-One drop: emphasis is entirely on the third beat of the bar Beat one is completely empty (rare). -Carlton Barrett of The Wailers as the creator of this style Carlton Barrett of The Wailers as the creator of this style -Example: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SPrY_hpudRo -Rockers (pronounced "raucous"): emphasis still on beat three, but with the emphasis is also on beat one (usually on bass drum) The Rockers beat is not always straight forward, and various syncopations are often included. -Example: Gregory Isaacs -Night Nurse http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lyEP_st9csI -Steppers-4 on the floor, bass has 4 beats on the bar. Example: Exodus Bab Marley and the Wailers http://wwwyoutubecom/watch?v=ehyzU4F7TRAhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ehyzU4F7TRA

Instrumentation : Bass And Guitar

• Bass: Very domiinant , thick and heavy, reduced high end, often a simple 2 bar riff, centered around the harmonic root note. Example: Sun is ShiningBob Marley and the Wailers-->http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WTx3LrOL96Y
  
• Guitar: Rhythm-Typicaly Plays chords on the 2 and 4 beat, known as the skank or bang. The guitar has a scratchy, short choppy sound and is played almost like a percussion instrument. A double chop is sometimes used on the off beat with the 8th beats on the up-stroke. Example -->http://www.youtube.com/watch?vhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JE3WaSETf8kJE3WaSETf8k
• Lead-Most of the time an octave higher than bass, will add a melodic rock or blues style solo to a song. Emphasis the bass melody.

Instruments : Keys And Horn

• Keys: Typicaly Piano follows the lead guiitars skank and playing chords in a choppy staccato(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Staccato) style. Since th 80 hthe 80s has b been repllaced bd by synththesiizers whih hich allso replace the horn section in many modern bands.
• Orggan Shuffle-The 8th beats are ppylayed with a sppace-left-right-left-space-left-right-left pattern. Usually low in the mix and more felt than heard.
• Horns--Sometimes replaced with synth or samples Sometimes replaced with synth or samples. Frequently used in introductions and counter- melodies. Include sax, trumpet, trombone. First horn plays melody second horn plays same melody 1 octaveplays melody, second horn plays same melody 1 octave higher and third plays an octave and a fifth. Usually played soft but sometimes can be played louder for an aggressive up-tempo sound.