Ska stroke

As evidenced by musicologist Bruno Blum in the Jamaica–USA – Roots of Ska – Rhythm and Blues Shuffle 1942–1962 scholar anthology,[6] the shuffle's offbeat/upbeat stroke ("chuck", "skank") was originally played on the piano in U.S. groups like Louis Jordan & His Tympani Five ("It's a Low-Down Dirty Shame", 1942; "G.I.

Jive", 1944; "Choo Choo Ch'Boogie", 1946; "Boogie Woogie Blue Plate", 1947), Gene Philips and the Rhythm Aces ("Rock Bottom", 1947), T-Bone Walker ("T-Bone Shuffle", 1947), Gene Coy & His Killer Dillers ("Killer Diller", 1948, Professor Longhair ("Willie Mae", 1949), Fats Domino ("Little Bee", 1950), Rosco Gordon ("No More Doggin", 1952) and B.B.

Jamaican musicians copying this style for the early Jamaican R&B shuffle recordings of the late 1950s played the shuffle either on the guitar and the piano or both, as heard in recordings such by The Duke Reid Group ("The Joker", Duke Reid, 1959), Theophilus Beckford ("Easy Snappin', "Worldisc, 1959), Clue J & His Blues Blasters ("Silky", Coxsone 1960), Count Ossie & the Wareikas ("African Shuffle", Moodies, circa 1960) and on Bob Marley's debut single "Judge Not" (Beverley's, 1962).

[6] By late 1962, a slight change in Lloyd Knibb's drum rhythm was the landmark for the birth of ska, but the shuffle played on the piano and guitar remained the same.

In reggae, the guitar usually plays a short, percussive, "scratchy chop sound [chord]", on beats 2 and 4 (1 2 3 4), often supported by staccato piano (late 1960s to the early 1980s) or synthesizer.