Ska

Ska is a music genre that emerged in United States, Europe and Australia in the 1950s. It is usually classed as a form of popular music. Explore its 4 subgenres, key artists and related styles.

Listen: Ska examples

Sunday Dub (ISRC USUAN1700031)

3:30CC BY 3.0by Kevin MacLeodWikimedia Commons

3:30

Slow Ska Game Loop (ISRC USUAN1100838)

0:36CC BY 3.0by Kevin MacLeodWikimedia Commons

0:36

Ska vi gå på logen, ja det ska vi - SMV - SVA BB 5301 46

1:16CC0 1.0Wikimedia Commons

1:16

Tip: press play to see the sound's live frequency spectrum in blue over the waveform.

About Ska

Ska is a music genre that emerged in United States, Europe and Australia in the 1950s. It is usually classed as a form of popular music.

Well-known performers associated with it include Bob Marley, Gwen Stefani, The Clash, Lily Allen, Danny Elfman and No Doubt.

Ska has given rise to 4 subgenres on this site, such as 2 tone, Ska jazz, Third wave ska and Spouge.

From Wikipedia

Ska is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1950s and was the precursor to rocksteady and reggae. It combined elements of Caribbean mento (sometimes referred to as calypso) with American jazz and rhythm and blues. Ska is characterized by a walking bass line accented with rhythms on the off beat. It was developed in Jamaica in the 1960s when Stranger Cole, Prince Buster, Clement "Coxsone" Dodd, and Duke Reid formed sound systems to play American rhythm and blues and then began recording their own songs. In the early 1960s, ska was the dominant music genre of Jamaica and was popular with British mods and with many skinheads.