Reggae Music
UB40 started as a group of friends from Birmingham, England. That group of friends formed a band in 1978 and went on to become one of the most famous bands in the world.
The red red wine lyrics are sung from the perspective of someone who finds drinking red wine the only way to forget his woes. The major instrument used for this song is a piano and an electric bass. Woodwind instruments and some drums can also be heard in the background.
The form in this song focuses more on a slower sound and has more emphasis of the bass. This song brings out the main aspects of reggae music, which brings bass to the forefront. As with reggae, the song continues with an almost booming bass, the bass is what makes the song.
The main recognizable elements of this song is offbeat rhythms. In most reggae songs, the rhythmic pattern accents the second and fourth beats and combines with the drum 's emphasis on beat three to create a unique sense of phrasing. The reggae offbeat can be counted so that it falls between each count as an “and” an example being 1 and 2 and 3 and 4. It can also be counted as a half-time feel at twice the tempo so it falls on beats 2 and 4. This is a unique feature in reggae music being that other genres mainly focus on beat one, the “downbeat”. This rhythmic feature is evident in the song red red wine but the tempo is slightly faster to that of most reggae music.
Vocal harmony is predominantly used in the “red red wine” song, this can be heard beginning in the second stanza “red red wine, its up to you...” and continues throughout the song. As stated in aces and eighths, vocal harmony parts are often used in reggae music either throughout the melody, or as a counterpoint to the main vocal line. These reggae elements found on this song are what is unique to reggae music. They are the foundations of the genre. The main reason reggae is so different to other genres is that it was formed from many different influences from around
The red red wine lyrics are sung from the perspective of someone who finds drinking red wine the only way to forget his woes. The major instrument used for this song is a piano and an electric bass. Woodwind instruments and some drums can also be heard in the background.
The form in this song focuses more on a slower sound and has more emphasis of the bass. This song brings out the main aspects of reggae music, which brings bass to the forefront. As with reggae, the song continues with an almost booming bass, the bass is what makes the song.
The main recognizable elements of this song is offbeat rhythms. In most reggae songs, the rhythmic pattern accents the second and fourth beats and combines with the drum 's emphasis on beat three to create a unique sense of phrasing. The reggae offbeat can be counted so that it falls between each count as an “and” an example being 1 and 2 and 3 and 4. It can also be counted as a half-time feel at twice the tempo so it falls on beats 2 and 4. This is a unique feature in reggae music being that other genres mainly focus on beat one, the “downbeat”. This rhythmic feature is evident in the song red red wine but the tempo is slightly faster to that of most reggae music.
Vocal harmony is predominantly used in the “red red wine” song, this can be heard beginning in the second stanza “red red wine, its up to you...” and continues throughout the song. As stated in aces and eighths, vocal harmony parts are often used in reggae music either throughout the melody, or as a counterpoint to the main vocal line. These reggae elements found on this song are what is unique to reggae music. They are the foundations of the genre. The main reason reggae is so different to other genres is that it was formed from many different influences from around
Bibliography: 1. “Songsterr,guitar bass and drum tabs with rhythm,” last modified January 22, 2010, http://www.songsterr.com/a/wsa/ub40-red-red-wine-bass-tab-s57325t0. 2. “Aces and Eighths,a resource for musicians and music lovers”, accessed March 6, 2013, http://www.acesandeighths.com/reggae.html.