What's the difference between SKA and PUNK ROCK?

Answer 1

The instruments are nearly the same, but there's one difference. In a ska-band there's a trumpet or saxophone or such thing and in a normal punk rock band there isn't. The lyrics are mostly the same and the rythms too. Ska punk cames from the original ska music which got nothing to do with punk rock. Reggae for example came out of ska. The guitars in a ska punk song sound like they do in reggae.
greetz, liz
PS.: Sorry for my bad English, I'm austrian ;)

Answer 2

Well, punk is punk. It's fast, angry, chaotic, usually political to some degree. Ska is much happier, and most ska bands' songs send out a message of unity, rarely hate.
Punk bands usually have around 3 to 4 members (on average), and ska bands have many more members than punk bands because not only do they have guitarists, drummers, and bassists, they also have dudes who play saxophones, trumpets, etc etc.
Ska music is more bouncy (cant think of a better word to use) and you can definitely dance to it, unlike punk which is, like I said before, chaotic. You cant dance to punk unless you're moshing.
Most people believe punk derived in the late 70s early 80s, thanks to bands like the Sex Pistols and the Ramones. They could be wrong, but that's what most people think.
Ska, on the other hand, has been around a bit longer than that.
But anyway, ska music originated in Jamaica, before or around the 60s.
And...That is all I know.
I hope that helped some.
And check out the Skatalites, they're awesome.

Answer 3

There is a HUGE difference. You may not beware of it because 3rd wave ska (which is probably what you are most used to) is such a fusion of ska and punk that they are sometimes interchangeable.

Ska is almost 40 years older than punk. Ska started in Jamaica and is the precursor to reggae. It is faster than reggae and generally has brass instruments involved. Some early Bob Marley falls into first wave ska. Bands like the Skatalites or Desmond Dekker are general of first wave. Punk of course started in England in the 70's.

2nd wave Ska is the place where ska and punk first started being mixed. In the late 70's/early 80's bands like The Specials and The Beat aka The English Beat brought back the Ska sound and fused it with Punk. Joe Strummer seemed to be quite interested in reggae and produced music similiar to ska (it was more reggae tinged though).

3rd Wave Ska (American Ska is the ska that is generally funny-European ska is usually more serious but may have some fun songs thrown in) is where you found a lot of hard punk being mixed with Ska. To me, 3rd wave embraces the faster frenetic energy of hardcore the most out of all waves. Listening to 3rd Wave bands, I could often interchange some elements with punk, although obviously the brass instruments are still in existence.

Main differences: Place of origin/date of birth/and punk rarely has brass while ska is usually recognized because of the brass.

Ska also has it's own culture with Rude Boys/Rude Girls (which began in Jamaica around the 50's and early 60's). Two-tone started with 2nd wave ska.

Answer 4

Punk is more fast paced rock music that ussually has a theme of questioning authority and popular society. Punk is punk, I guess it is hard to explain. Ska is much like punk but has is different musically. Ska uses a mix with jazz because it has horn sections. What I also found interesting is how a ska band can have up to ten members because of the mix of traditional musicians with horn players and special percussionist. Ummm, i guess this is a good time to pump this band i know ThePositiveDownside, you can check them out on myspace.

Answer 5

Ska is actually jazz and it has a brass section that plays jazz even though the rest of the band might be playing rock. Basic punk is a guitarist, a drummer and a vocalist that might be playing bass.

Answer 6

One big difference, IMHO, would be that ska is more happy (think No Doubt). Punk rock is angst-ridden (think Sex Pistols).

Hope this helped!