One Love
One love
Here’s a fantastic song to play in harmonica groups. One Love/People Get Ready was written by the great man of music and peace from Jamaica, Bob Marley.
Bob Marley’s musical style is called reggae. The reggae rhythm, or skank, uses the up-beat to create a relaxing and happy groove. Instead of counting one-and-two-and-three-and-four, we count one-and-two-and-three-and-four-and! You can find out more about reggae on our First Steps In Reggae page.
We’re going to learn four ways to join in, using 4 and 10 hole harps. Here in part one, we’ll look at the rhythm or skank. In part two we’ll look at the chorus, and in part three, the lead solo and harmony parts. So let’s get together and find out how a group of harmonica players can enjoy performing this cool song.
One heart
Just before we start, we should also mention the song that inspired Bob Marley’s One Love. It’s a Gospel song called People Get Ready, which was written by a wonderful American musician, Curtis Mayfield.
Let’s get together
Grab a 4 or 10 hole C major diatonic harmonica and let’s check out the rhythm. Purple tab is for 4 hole harmonicas. Orange tab is for 10 hole harmonicas. Each number tells you which hole to play. D is draw (breathe in) and B is blow (breathe out). First the basic breathing pattern and a chance to get used to playing two holes at the same time, a technique we call double-stops.
2D-3D 2B-3B 1D-2D 1B-2B
5D-6D 5B-6B 5D-6D 5B-6B
And now the structure for the rhythm backing, or skank. X is the up beat when you wait and don’t play. Repeat the first section, then at the second section each time. Here’s the whole pattern.
First Section
X…2B-3B X…2B-3B X…2B-3B X…2B-3B
X…5B-6B X…5B-6B X…5B-6B X…5B-6B
X…1D-2D X…1D-2D X…1D-2D X…1D-2D
X…4D-5D X…4D-5D X…4D-5D X…4D-5D
X…2D-3D X…2D-3D X…2B-3B X…2B-3B
X…5D-6D X…5D-6D X…5B-6B X…5B-6B
X…1D-2D X…1D-2D X…1B-2B X…1B-2B
X…4D-5D X…4D-5D X…4B-5B X…4B-5B
Second section
X…2D-3D X…2D-3D X…2B-3B X…2B-3B
X…5D-6D X…5D-6D X…5B-6B X…5B-6B
X…1D-2D X…1D-2D X…1B-2B X…1B-2B
X…4D-5D X…4D-5D X…4B-5B X…4B-5B
And feel all right
Now practise with your harmonica group. In Part 2 we’ll look at the familiar chorus. In Part 3 we’ll check out the lead solo, which is played over the verses. We’ll also learn a simple accompaniment, or fill, which is taken from the female backing singers on the song. They were known as the I Threes, who included Bob Marley’s wife, Rita Marley.
Key skills
- Skank
- Up beat
- Double stops
- Fills
- Song structure
- Timekeeping