How To "Double Skank" - Reggae Music Guitar Lesson 

Haha that's a good idea for a cover!

Glad it's useful for you! I'll think about what else I can do on rhythm. Thanks!

That’s super kind of you to say! Thank you, and thanks for tuning in. 🙏

Reason why I........

Glad it’s useful!

I think that comes from hitting the muted strings in between each down-up strum.

Thanks, Paul! That sweat and residue on the fret board enhances the sound haha

So happy to hear! Have fun with it.

It takes some practice but one day you'll lock it in and have it forever! Glad to hear the vid is helpful. Keep at it and enjoy!

Haha well I'm glad you found my vid and found it helpful! You'll be jamming the double skank with your cousin in no time.

Figured it out master blaster jammin

It’s mostly Bm to A with an occasional G. Going between a major and minor chord like that is very common in reggae tunes.

Thanks for checking out the videos and glad to hear they're helpful! As for the "open and bright" sound, I'm guessing that is mostly due to the strings I'm using. In this video, I'm using Ernie Ball Acoustic Guitar Strings called "Earthwood Phosphor Bronze Alloy" (Medium Light).

Hope it was useful. Thanks!

Stay at it!

I'm using bar chords and playing A to Bm. I then go up to G and back to A.

Glad you found it useful, Jamie!

You got it 🤙

Glad it was helpful!

So happy to hear that this helped! Everyday you do it you’ll get a little better and will start to naturally flow with it.

Thanks for taking the time to share this! I learned by sitting across from my guitar teacher like this so guess I subconsciously set the video up to replicate that feel. Glad it’s helpful!

Didn’t mean to cause confusion! Just start out slow. Take a barre chord and strum down once on it, then lift up after you strum. Then press down on the same chord again and strum up, lifting up from the chord right after the upstroke.. Gradually pick up the speed so that the down stroke and up stroke eventually are played in quick succession, giving the double skank effect.

Thanks, Jean-Paul!

Excellent, thanks! Happy to hear that it's a useful tutorial!

Depends how I’m feeling but reggae if I could only play one.

Thanks, Matthew! A little stank never hurt anyone. It's a song of mine called Roll On and you can listen on streaming services or here on youtube at ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-Y87fG4iMDis.html - Enjoy!

Haha glad to hear it helped!

So happy to hear and thanks for checking out the channel! I’ll keep it going and welcome any requests for videos/lessons

@@BillyDeCristofano Definitely The Specials and UB40 but I still have to master the strumming. Cheers Billy.

I created a video on the difference between ska, rocksteady, and reggae that you can check out here - hope it's helpful: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-C0YCChML0S4.html

Billy DeCristofano thank you! That video was very helpful. I’m not sure if this is a good song to refer to, but for example the intro to underneath it all by no doubt. Is the guitar intro on underneath it all the same chords that you played in your video or is the double skank, reggae, and rocksteady a technique of how the guitar strokes are being played and then you can write your own music? I’m sorry if my questions don’t make sense lol. I’m not really sure how to state it.

@@t-n-tkorpi4412 Underneath It All is a great song! It is different chords from what I played in these videos. But you're right, you can use the different strokes with whatever chords you want to make your own song. Use bar chords with the strokes and experiment with different chord progressions to make your own tunes. Have fun with it.

Billy DeCristofano thank you for your help! I listened to some of your songs and they are great!

@@t-n-tkorpi4412 That means a lot, thanks!

I like that! I could see that really helping.

Mostly just heavily used but probably could use a cleaning too

Glad it’s helpful! Have fun with it.

Thanks, Levi! Stick with it and enjoy the journey.

When you're just starting, I suggest working out the "down-up" rhythm on muted strings. Once you have a feel for the rhythm, start pressing down (try a bar chord) only on the down-up strokes. Other than the down-up strokes, your fingers making the chord should just be resting on the strings. When your hand is in motion with the rhythm, your pick will likely hit the muted strings between the down-up, giving off the muted string sound, which often adds a nice effect but isn't essential. The best way to hone in on your technique would be try following along with a song that heavily features the double-skank. It can be a challenge at first but once you lock it in, you'll be set for life!

Billy DeCristofano wow! Very Strait forward! Im writing this down..THANKS MON lol :)

I found taking pressure off the chord your fingers are fretting gives it the muted sound,not your palm. Its more left hand technique. After awhile your left hand is pressing off and on chords the whole time. You can see his fretting hand fingers moving from applying pressure off and on. Also making sure your index is barring across all strings is pretty important, with this technique less is more, your more percussion than guitar when playing double skanks.

The up stroke is more of an accent on the muted strings, an echo pedal does it even better! Don’t get too pushy with the fretted hand

Glad it’s helpful and thanks for subscribing!

Thanks and happy to hear it's helpful!

Im thinking the same ong

Glad to help and you’re exactly right! So much you can learn for free here on YT. Happy to hear you’re back to jamming and learning new guitar techniques. Enjoy!

Happy to hear that it is helpful! Have fun playing.

🙌

Glad it’s helpful, Jack

Thanks for watching - hope it’s helpful!

As Bob Marley said, "one good thing about music, when it hits you, you feel no pain."

@@BillyDeCristofano brilliant. btw I'm finding this surprisingly difficult.. I'll keep on practicing until its perfect.

@@luigifontana4164 It's tricky at first but once you have it, you'll have it locked in for life.

@@BillyDeCristofano thanks brother! peace!

Hey P.Z. - good question. What I mean is stop pressing down on the strings during that brief time between the downstroke and upstroke. Or, put another way, only press down on the strings when you're strumming down and then up. There's a brief time between the down and up stroke where you don't want the chords ringing. This is what gives it the skank sound. Otherwise, you'll just be doing straight strumming up and down with no skank. Hope that helps!

@@BillyDeCristofano , thanks a lot :)

Thanks, Reece!

no, probably not muting enough...Bm and A goes to G sometime

I'm using standard tuning here and playing barre chords (Bm - A, up to G and back to A). If you're new to barre chords, you may not be pushing down all the way (they can be hard at first)

I am indeed.

Thanks and glad you dig the sound! You’ll enjoy playing it.

It’s down-up but I am catching a bit of the muted strings on my way up which gives it a shuffle feel at times. I think that might be what you’re hearing.

@@BillyDeCristofano Yes I agree. Thank you so much for your reply. Much appreciated.