Rock Steady

This is Rock Steady

Whilst there are no exact date for the beginning of the era of Rock Steady, we no that sometime during 1966, this music style emerged out of the hitherto prevailing musical craze in Jamaica called Ska.

As Rock Steady took over, the wind instruments, so dominant in Ska music, receded into the background, or in some cases disappeared altogether. The beat became slower, more "sleep-walkish", and might even be described as erotic. The wind instruments, which served to carry the melody during the ska era, was replaced by the electric bass.

The drumming style also changed: characterized in ska music by downbeat (with the emphasis on the second and fourth counts), in rock steady it became more of a one drop style (something which was developed even further during the reggae period). The combined effect of the bass and drums in rock steady gave the listener a more relaxed feeling, in sharp contrast to the uptempo ska beat which tended to create an edgy, tiring atmosphere. The solo passage in rock steady were mainly left to the lead guitarist and the keyboard player, both of whom interrupted the continuing rhythm of the bass with short and simple (but eminently conspicuous) intermezzos.

Although rock steady, like ska, was superbly suited to dance evenings, during the rock steady era vocals - harmony and text together - were used to their best advantage.