Caribbean · reggae · 4/4 straight

Reggae steppers

84 bpm Loop: all
16ths
Kick
Hi-hat
Open hat
Rim
Piano
Guitar
Bass

Mixer

Keyboard

Strums

1
↓↓
2
↓↓

Steppers — the driving, marching reggae feel of the late 70s (Burning Spear, Culture, UK dub). Like rockers the kick is four on the floor, but the hi-hat now opens on every off-beat — the "flying cymbal" — and the bass walks in straight eighths instead of leaning on long roots. The cross-stick still marks beat 3, the guitar still chops 2 and 4, and the organ bubble still fills the "an-a" of every beat; the difference is the relentless forward step underneath.

Listen for the open hat answering each kick: "boom-tss boom-tss". It is the same place as the bubble and the skank, so the off-beats get crowded — on a record the organ sits low and the hat sits high.

Practice: play rockers first, then open the hat on each "and" while the kick stays dead straight. If the tempo creeps up you are hearing the step correctly — steppers tunes want to march. Compare the three reggae feels back to back with the kit soloed.

Sources

  • standard practice; no transcribed source

Keyboard

Space
Play / pause
← →
Loop the previous / next bar
1–6
Mute layer 1–6
[ ]
Tempo −5 / +5
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