Ska Guitar

Electric guitarists have played a critical role in the evolution of several contemporary musical styles, most notably rock, R&B, jazz and blues. These styles have maintained a prominent position in the public ear for decades, particularly in the United States and England. While these forms of modern music were spreading like wildfire in the US and abroad, another musical style - one which was also indebted to contributions made by electric guitarists - was brewing just above the equator in Kingston, Jamaica. This style became known as ska, a slaphappy mix of of Jamaican rhythms and western R&B that typically features electric guitar, bass, drums, keyboards and an extensive horn section. Since the sixties, ska has enjoyed success in different time periods and locations. After its development in Jamaica in the early sixties, ska resurfaced in England in the seventies, and later had a massive impact on the music scene in Southern California. This book is a comprehensive guide to the stylistic elements inherent to each generation of ska - everything from its characteristic rhythms, chord voicings and progressions, to its effects, single-note riffs and lead phrases is examined in depth. Guitar tab and standard notation.