Origins of the Bo Diddley Beat: The History of the Juba Dance

Also Known as "Hambone", This Rhythmic Dance Came from African-American Slaves Who Invented it to Express Rhythm Without the Aid of Musical Instruments

A lot of debate still exists in exactly where the late Bo Diddley acquired his famous beat that he used in all of his classic blues (or early rock n' roll) songs. Some say that the famous beat is based on the clave of Rumba where it's usually compared to the rhythm of "shave and a haircut." That makes it sound like it has origins in Vaudeville (or Roger Rabbit, which couldn't be farther away from Bo Diddley), but is better described as a beat phonetically or an imagined clap of hands: Boom-da-doom-ba-doom, ba-doo-doo. It can get someone confused when counting it out slow. When played at a faster tempo, it's easy to keep going and arguably one of the most engaging rhythms ever created.

While the arguments are half right about Bo Diddley's beat origins, most of it comes from an African-American rhythm dance that was basically invented out of necessity. That necessity was the strong need for African-American slaves to express themselves musically when they weren't allowed to be in possession of drums or other musical instruments.

When you see history through a different perspective, you might say that repression in the vein of slavery created much more effective art for the world. Being repressed to express themselves musically was perhaps one of the worst forms of psychological torture on slaves in early America. Of course, their white slave traders and owners understood that their roots in Africa were immersed in rhythm and playing rhythmical instruments in their home country. What those traders didn't understand was how resourceful African people were in being able to create rhythm and dance without a single thing. Once everything is taken away from you--using the body is the next best thing.