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How To Play Reggae Drum Beats

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If you have being looking for information on the net, on how to play reggae drum beats look no further. In this short article I will teach you all you need to know, to play reggae drum beats. 

Now, contrary to what many believe, to play reggae drum beats is not that difficult. There are three distinct reggae drum beats that you must master in order to play reggae drum beats like the pros. 

They are the One Drop (Bob Marley has a song with that title check it out), the Steppers and the Rockers.  These reggae drum beats are all about timing and if you can master these simple techniques, you will learn to play reggae drum beats without much inhibition. 

1. The One Drop 

The one drop is the first official reggae drum beat developed.  You must give this technique more than a little attention in your quest to learn how to play reggae drum beats.  Some say Carlton Barrett from the Wailers developed it and others say it was Winston Grennan.  

Well for the moment, that’s neither here or there, what is important is to get you to remember that with the One Drop reggae drum beat, the kick drum is played or emphasized on the third count of the musical bar. If you don’t master this technique there is no point in you going any further in learning how to play reggae drum beats. 

Play along with a track or metronome until you get the timing correct, then start to add fills with the Hi-Hat, Snare and Toms. And that’s pretty much it for the One Drop.  It’s really hard to go wrong once you have the timing correct.  Just keep it simple. 

2. The Steppers 

The Steppers reggae drum beat is a lively beat which gives a lively vibe.  Master this technique and you are well on your way to play reggae drum beats like the pros (Assuming you have already mastered the One Drop). 

To play this reggae drum beat, all you need to do is make sure that the kick drum is played or emphasized on all four beats of the musical bar.  And that’s it.  It’s that simple! 

Well of course you do need to practice with a metronome and tracks but the fills can be anything really, just add them according to taste. A good place to start is with Luciano song No Evil from the album Jah Is My Navigator. Note that the Snare is played on the third beat in this song, you could copy that. 

3.The Rockers 

The last reggae drum beat that you must master in order to play reggae drum beats is the Rockers.  It’s a bit trickier than the others since, the kick drum is also played on beat one. 

It is almost like a Hip Hop beat but not quite.  In fact you could get away with playing the One Drop and in some parts of the beat you emphasize the kick drum on the first or even the forth (similar to Hip Hop).  Just mixed it up a bit and you should be ok. 

Failing that, listen to Sponji Reggae by Black Uhuru and you will get what I am talking about. You could also listen to the Mighty Diamonds song When the Right Time Come but, its less clear than Sponji Reggae. 

And that’s all there is to play reggae drum beats. Just make sure you are working on your timing and with a bit of practice you should be sounding good. Lata! Click link for more on how to play reggae drum beats

 

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