Chords for How To Play Reggae Rhythm On Guitar

_ [Fm] _ _ [D] _ There's [G] a lot of variety in reggae, [N] but almost all reggae tunes have the same underlying
rhythm and that's what I'm going to show you in this lesson.
In [G] rock music we normally have four beats to the bar and _ _ then we add in the half beats
one and two and three and four and one and two and three and four and and then we accentuate
the [E] back beats the main beats [G] two and four.
One and two and three and four. _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ Here's the standard notation for this.
[A] _ [C] Notice the little accentuation sign over main beats
two and [G] four in each bar.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _
To get from rock to reggae I need to make two changes.
Firstly,
I syncopate each pair of notes. _
_ _ _ [Em] The first of each pair of notes now has a little dot after it.
This [N] tells you to increase the duration of the note by half as long again and this is [B] done at
the expense of the [G] second note in each pair which has its duration cut in half as shown by the
little extra bean near the top of the note. _ _ _ _
So in rock we might play one and two and three and four and one and two and three and four.
Each note being of equal duration.
One and two and three and four and one and two.
In reggae we take each pair of notes make [Eb] the first one longer the second one shorter.
So it [G] goes like this.
One and two and three and four and _ _ _ _ long long long long. _ _ _ _
When strumming [Eb] chords in reggae you normally allow the strumming hand to play the main beats
on the downstroke and the half beats on the [G] upstroke. _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ Notice how I accelerate the
[Db] strumming hand through the second and fourth main beats [C] to [G] accentuate them. _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _
Finally the reggae beat
is completed by removing the first and third beats altogether.
_ _ _ If you're playing in a band
the bass player will normally look after these so you play [Db] against the bass.
_ _ _ [G] _ _ But playing guitar on
your own you may find it best to replace these either with a single bass note like this or _ _ _ _ _ better
still by [B] replacing the bass [G] note with a muted strum on the bottom strings. _ _ _ _ _ _
_ And notice how my [Em] right hand
is playing _ alternately each pair of notes on the [G] bass and then the treble.
Bass treble. _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ This basic rhythmic idea [C] is prevalent in almost all reggae bass tunes.
But the tempo [Em] can be varied enormously and also there's a lot of variation in terms of
which parts of the pattern are sounded or muted, _ accentuated or softened.
Here are a few
classic examples all from well-known Bob Marley tunes.
[G] Starting with I Don't Want to Wait in Vain.
_ _ _ [C] _ _ _ _
[G] _ _ _ _ [C] _ _ _ _
[G] _ _ _ _ [Em] _ _ _ _
[G] _ _ _ _ [C] _ _ _ _
_ _ [D] _ _ [Bm] _ _ [Am] _ _
[C] _ _ [D] _ _ [Bm] _ _ [Am] _ _
_ _ _ [G] _ _ _ [C] _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ [Em] _
_ _ One Love.
[G] _ [Bb] _ _ _
_ _ [F] _ _ _ _ [Eb] _ _
[Bb] _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
[Gm] _ _ [Eb] _ _ [Bb] _ _ _ _
[Gm] _ _ _ _ [Bb] _ _ _ _
[Gm] _ _ [Eb] _ _ [Bb] _ _ _ _
[Gm] _ _ _ _ [Bb] _ _ _ _
_ _ [F] _ _ _ _ [Eb] _ _
[Bb] _ _ _ _ _ _ _ [Em]
And I [G] Shot the Sheriff.
_ _ [D] _ _ [C] _ _
[G] _ _ [Gm] _ _ _ _ [Cm] _ _
_ _ [Gm] _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ [Am] _ _ [Gm] _ _
_ _ _ _ [Dm] _ _ [Gm] _ _
_ _ [Eb] _ _ [Am] _ _ [Gm] _ _
_ _ [Eb] _ _ [Am] _ _ [Gm] _ _
_ _ [Eb] _ _ [Am] _ _ [Gm] _ _
_ _ [Em] _ [Dm] _ _ _ [C] _ _
[G] _ _ [Gm] _ _ _ _ [Eb] _
[G] I'll put together a printout showing the chords for those songs to go with this video so that you
can use them to practice with.
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look around at what's available there. _
See you again soon.
[E] _ _ _ _ _