Generally speaking, faster tempos tend to be more straight and slower tempos tend to employ a more dramatic swing. The triplet rhythm notated in Example 1 is a common way to explain swing, but in reality, the exact ratio of swing eighths varies from piece to piece and from performer to performer. The swing eighths are audible in the hi-hat cymbal of the drumset. The feel changes dramatically during this straight section. As you listen, tap along to the straight eighths, which are at a considerably slower tempo than the first part’s swing eighths.Īfter a quick transition in the trumpets, swing eighths return for the third part of the overture, which begins at 1:39. The first few minutes are swung this is easiest to hear at 0:36 when all the instruments in the ensemble play swing eighths together ( Example 2).While listening, tap along to the swing eighths-and note that the tempo is very brisk, so you’ll be tapping quite quickly.Ĭontrast this with the straight eighths in the middle section of the overture, which begins at 0:52 ( Example 3). The overture from the musical Anything Goes contains passages with both straight and swing eighths. This rhythm, with straight eighths, occurs in a drum part throughout the second part of the Anything Goes overture. The entire ensemble plays the notated rhythm at 0:36 of the overture to Anything Goes. While in some sense it may be more accurate to notate the eighth notes of a jazz tune as a triplet rhythm as notated in Example 1, imagine how cluttered that would be! Instead, swing eighth notes in jazz are always written as straight eighth notes, and performers are expected to know to swing them.Įxample 2. This is illustrated with notation in Example 1. Swing eighths are performed as uneven eighth notes in a quasi-triplet rhythm, shifting the proportion from 1:1 to, roughly, 2:1-that is, the first eighth note is about twice as long as the second eighth note. One of the most recognizable features of swing rhythms is swung eighth notes. Swing eighths are performed so that the first eighth is roughly twice as long as the second. The Basic Swing Groove Swing eighths Example 1. This chapter introduces two especially signficant rhythms-swing eighths and the backbeat-and discusses syncopation generally. Jazz has many characteristic uses of rhythm that define it as a genre. Syncopation occurs when the hierarchy of the meter is obscured.Backbeat, a syncopation created through accent on beats 2 and 4 of a quadruple meter, is common in jazz.Swing eighths are notated as regular straight eighths but performed unevenly, in a quasi-triplet rhythm where the first note is twice as long as the second.
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