How to play ska drums?

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Skibz McCullock on January 19, 2010 at 9:45pm

I know the hi-hat is in sync with the beat of the guitar/organ, but that's as far as I know. Google seems to be your friend in this case.

I'd listen carefully to the works of Eddie Ocampo (Stubborn All-Stars, The Insteps, Dave Hillyard Rocksteady 7, The Slackers, Version City, etc.). He's easily one of the absolute best of the genre.

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by oneboycircus on January 20, 2010 at 3:01pm

in the most simplified way possible
Traditional beat goes...
kick and snare on 2 and 4, the cymbal on the "and" of everynote. 1"and", 2"and", 3"and", 4"and"

the "4 on the floor feel" is basically just that, 1,2,3,4 on the kick. Your hands pretty much play the same thing and the trad beat, but the tempo is usally faster.

from there you just add some syncopation and fills, but this is probably a pretty good start.
I can't really think of any Ska-drumming books or videos, but if you find some let us know!

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Jed Cooper on March 21, 2010 at 11:10am

Skibz McCullock said:

I'd listen carefully to the works of Eddie Ocampo (Stubborn All-Stars, The Insteps, Dave Hillyard Rocksteady 7, The Slackers, Version City, etc.). He's easily one of the absolute best of the genre.

I agree the masters of this genre are Lloyd Knibb of the Skatalites (who invented this beat) and Eddie Ocampo (Note: while closely connected to the Slackers Eddie O never played for the Slackers).

I wouldn't worry that your drummer doesn't get it yet. He'll pick it up. Agent J, now in the Slackers, joined a band called Agent 99 back in the day and was asked "Can you play ska guitar?" He said, "Sure!" and later went out to try to learn. Look at him now!

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Tucker on April 4, 2010 at 12:15pm

The kick should be with the snare, creating the "one-drop" on two and four, or only on 3 for reggae. 4 on the floor is great as well, but is traditionaly more of a rocker beat. What is great about bands of today is that they mix up all the ole trad beats. Hi hat can be on the and or just straight 8th notes, alla from the ole r&b that influenced ska. For fills, just do a lot of critical listening to your fav skatalites or trad ska bands.

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Ray Skaffidi on April 9, 2010 at 5:56pm

Thank you, everybody!!
I appreciate it.

If anyone comes across any videos of drummers playing the ska beat, I would love to know about it!

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by headdie on May 4, 2010 at 10:47am

ray,

my name is eddie ocampo. i play drums with various ska bands based in nyc.
first and foremost, your drummer should listen to everything lloyd knibb has played on.
he is my biggest influence and i still learn a lot from his recordings and from seeing him play live.

there is really too much to write about playing ska drums including groove and nuance. but one main
point that i'd like to stress is that the approach to the hi-hat is an eighth note feel with the accent
on the off beat and stressing the "and" of 1 and 3. though subtle, the hi-hat is extremely important
in setting up the ska beat and should not be overlooked.

thanks to everyone for the kind words above. i hope this is helpful.

eddie

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Miss Upsetter on May 4, 2010 at 4:46pm

I'll ask my boyfriend to see if he'd be willing to do a quick lesson. He's been meaning to film a video for a while, but i'll try to sweet talk him for you :)

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Danny C on May 4, 2010 at 7:35pm

Woah woah whoa, Eddie Ocampo! Wow, this is super awesome. Being a ska drummer myself, you've been a big influence. Cool to see you on here.

headdie said:

ray,

my name is eddie ocampo. i play drums with various ska bands based in nyc.
first and foremost, your drummer should listen to everything lloyd knibb has played on.
he is my biggest influence and i still learn a lot from his recordings and from seeing him play live.

there is really too much to write about playing ska drums including groove and nuance. but one main
point that i'd like to stress is that the approach to the hi-hat is an eighth note feel with the accent
on the off beat and stressing the "and" of 1 and 3. though subtle, the hi-hat is extremely important
in setting up the ska beat and should not be overlooked.

thanks to everyone for the kind words above. i hope this is helpful.

eddie

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by headdie on May 5, 2010 at 4:41pm

thanks danny. i'm glad to be here!

Danny C said:

Woah woah whoa, Eddie Ocampo! Wow, this is super awesome. Being a ska drummer myself, you've been a big influence. Cool to see you on here.

headdie said:

ray,

my name is eddie ocampo. i play drums with various ska bands based in nyc.
first and foremost, your drummer should listen to everything lloyd knibb has played on.
he is my biggest influence and i still learn a lot from his recordings and from seeing him play live.

there is really too much to write about playing ska drums including groove and nuance. but one main
point that i'd like to stress is that the approach to the hi-hat is an eighth note feel with the accent
on the off beat and stressing the "and" of 1 and 3. though subtle, the hi-hat is extremely important
in setting up the ska beat and should not be overlooked.

thanks to everyone for the kind words above. i hope this is helpful.

eddie

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Anti Everything on May 12, 2010 at 8:58am

hi hat: I----x----x----x----x----I
snare: I-------x----------x-------I
bass: I-x----------x-------------I

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by LA Rude Boy on August 2, 2010 at 12:59am

Hey, i know this might be late but i'm also a ska drummer and think i can help with some info. Although the drummer is not very solid, his facts are correct about the basic traditional ska beat.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PuHq2yOZa8w&feature=fvst

Although mostly reggae, this drummer does start playing the tradiontal ska beat at the beginning of this video from 0:06 till around 0:18 when he does a fill back into a reggae groove.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1lNi9ZKO_0g

His name is Gil Sharone and he is releasing the first ever official DVD on traditional ska drumming called Wicked Beats comming this fall i believe. heres a link for it: http://blogs.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.view&friendI...

Interms of bands to listen to, I would strongly suggest listening to the Skatalites, Bob Marley and the Wailers, and Desmond Dekker for earlier recordings
For more modern ska revival bands that use the traditional beat i would listen to the Slackers, Westbound Train, and Pannonia Allstars Ska Orchestra to start atleast.

For the four on the floor beat i would listen to two-tone bands like the Specials and the Toasters although their drummers also play traditional ska grooves too. They play it much slower than the fast tempo ska-punk bands like The Suicide Machines, Sublime, and Fishbone, who use the same beat but incorparate a louder, fast paced punk approach to the four on the floor beat.

Here are some videos with the four on the floor beat being used by these bands:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ke0vlxeHXkA

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8VYxpUYhGNg

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WtTFfhE4shU

For fills i would listen to the tracks above and use basic syncopation.

Another simple way to play the ska beat is in the linear form of : Kick -> Highhat->Snare->Highhat
This can be played at both slow and fast tempos. Here is a song by the toasters that uses this beat:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zOGVLsCq-JM

The final beat i would recommend that i hear a lot in more modern ska is like the beat above but the drummer raises the highhat on the upbeats and sometimes uses four on the floor with the kick drum.

ORESKABAND uses it in this song at 0:27:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FzLLyMV3k_E

I hope this helped, sorry for the barrage of links i would put more but im in a rush out the door, and Eddie Ocampo you are a great drummer keep holding it down! We need more ska drummers like you.

well thats it, good luck homie

• ▶ Reply

▶ Reply to Discussion