Ska Guitar Chords

Ja Shwicka · Growing Guppy Joined: 21 Dec 2003 Posts: 42

My friend and I are starting a ska band, and we've got all the people we need, but I don't think the other guitarist knows how to convert the basslines into ska chords that go along with tha bassline. How do you convert ska chords to sound good with the bassline? I mean, I'm guessing it's probably a lot to do with harmonics, but how do you know which chord to play? Is there any special way to remember? Please give me some examples. Thank you.

Crom Mac Basho · Posted: Sun Feb 08, 2004 11:33 am Post subject:

I'm not a guitarist but when my band was practicing Rancid's "Timebomb" we found that a lot of the important chords in ska were on the up stroke. That's a part of why they sound different. Also, reggae is based on ska so like reggae ska has a lot of the rhythm emphisized on the third beat instead of the first like straight up punk. That's all I can pretend to know Very Happy

randomnotations · Ferret Joined: 19 Mar 2003 Posts: 104 Location: USA

basslines are normally written from guitar chords.. not the other way around.... its usually easier that way.. but if you must.. find what mode the bassline is in.. and from there you can figure out what chords you need by the sharps/flats etc...
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niftydog · Posted: Thu Jun 23, 2005 3:01 pm Post subject:

When I played in a soul/ska band, I used mostly plain majors and minors, with dominant sevenths and that was about it! The trick is to play them in the right register to get that skanky sound. Up strokes are a must, as is an ultra clean tone. I got awesome results with a Ricky semi through a Vox AC-30. Spankin'

Maybe get the guitarist to learn the basics of the bass lines, it might give him something to use as a reference. I'm surprised though (if he's a half decent player) that he can't hear the chords implied by the bass line.

Play him some ska! Could it be that he just doesn't really know what ska is!?!
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