HowToSwingJazzPianoLessonSupplementWhat’sTheDifferenceBetweenStraightAndSwingFeel?ListentotheCMajorScalewithastraightfeelandthenwithaswingfeel.

Nowlet’sswingthis251line:

Youshouldbeabletohearthattheswingvariationhasmoreenergyandforwardmotionthatpropelsthemelodylienforwards.HowToConstructaSwingRhythm.Toconstructasswingrhythmyoumustunderstandtheroleofthetriplet.Herewehaveabarof8thnotesin4/4time.

Eachbeatinthebarhas28thnoteswhichwouldbecountedas1&2&3&4&1etc...Ifweturnallofthe8thnotesinto8notetriplets,wenowhavesubdividedeachbeatinto3segmentsandsoyouwouldcount1&a2&a3&a4&a1&aetc…

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Nowtoconstructabasicswingrhythm,wetiethefirst28thnotetripletstogetherandsonowwehave.

Hereisanotherwayofnotatingthesamerhythm:

SoSwingrhythmisbasedonthetripletandsothefirststepinabsorbingtheswingfeelistounderstandhowtolandonthe1stand3rdpartofthetriplet.PracticethiswiththeCMajorScale:

Countaloudwiththetriplet.Thereisactuallyanotherwaythatswingcanbenotated.Thisisbyhaveadotted8thnoteanda16thnoteineachbeatofthebar.Hereisanexample.

Thissoundsmuchmorerigidandstiffthanthetripletfeelbutunderstandthatifyoucomeacrossthisinnotation,itistypicallyindicatingswingrhythm.Usingthisasapointofreferenceisactuallyagoodwaytounderstandswingfeel…we’lltalkmoreaboutthislaterinthelesson.Anicewaytolookatswingisthatit’ssomewhereinbetweenthetwonotationexampleswehavelookedat.Soit’shalfwaybetweenthetripletfeelandthedotted8thnoteto16thnote.

Onceyouhaveunderstood,appliedandmasteredthisbasicconceptoflandingonthe1stand3rdpartofthetriplet,youcanthenvaryhowmuchyouswing.Listentojazzandyouwillfindthatsomejazzmusiciansplayastrongswingfeel,andothersmoreofastraightfeel.It’sforyoutolistentoyourfavouriteplayersandemulatetheirfeel.Listeningandtranscribing,andplayingalongwithaswingingmelodyorsoloisthebestwaytoingrainthisinyourplaying.WhyIsn’tSwingFeelReflectedInNotation?Welllet’sgobacktothelickwelookedatinCMajor.Hereitis:

Ifwetakethissamelineof8thnotesbutnotateitwithactualswingrhythm,youcanseethatit’slooksoverlycomplicatedandmuchmoredifficulttoread.

Forthisreason,jazzmusiciansunderstandthatswingrhythmisimpliedfor8thnotes.Imaginehowdifficultitwouldbetoreadaleadsheetortranscriptionifallofthe8thnoteswerenotatedlikethis.Thissymbolalsoindicatesswingrhythmandyoumayseethisabovethestaveatthestartofatranscriptiontoindicatethatthe8thnotesshouldbeswung.

TheAccentsInSwingRhythm–The3rdTripletThefinaltripletshouldbeemphasized.Bydoingthisyouareemphasizingtheupbeatwhichisthe&ofeachbeat.Butrememberinswingrhythm,the&fallsonthe3rdtriplet.

WhenyoufirstdothisIwouldrecommendthatyouoveremphasisethistohelpyougetintothehabitofaccentingtheupbeat.Playthedownbeatassoftlyaspossibleandreallyhammertheupbeat.Thisisagoodhabitformingpractice.Nowlet’sapplythistotheCMajorScale.

Nowlet’sapplythistothe251lick:

PlayAsLegatoAsPossibleLegatocanbedefinedasplayinginasmoothflowingmannerwithoutbreaksorinterruptionsbetweenthenotes.UsingtheCMajorScaleI’lldemonstrateabadexampleofthisandthenagoodexample:

StartingonTheUpbeatOrDownbeatIntermsofwheretostartthephrase,thereare2choicesavailabletoyouhere,thedownbeat,ortheupbeat.Upbeatsareemphasizedinswingrhythmandsoifyoucomeinontheupbeat,youshouldbeaccentingthefirstnote.Hereisanexampleofstartingontheupbeat:

AddingTripletsToYourSwingingLinesWehavediscussedthattheachievetheswingfeel,weturn8thnotesinto8thnotetripletsandthenjointhefirsttwotogetherandaccentthelastone.Wellifyouareplayingtripletswithaswingfeel,youwouldplayallthreeofthemandstillaccentthefinaltriplet.Let’slook3examples: