You are on page 1of 2

124

6ZLQJHLJKWKVDUHZULWWHQDVVXFKDVDQH[SHGLHQFH

3UDFWLFLQJ6ZLQJ)HHO

The Swing Era was a big band arranger`s medium, requiring much sight-
reading. It was commonly Ielt that iI the musicians learned to interpret written
eighths as eighth-note triplets, it would be less diIIicult to both notate and to
sight-read. Swing rhythm is the traditional regional rhythmic style oI
continental United States. Although written in 4/4 meter as an expedience,
swing rhythm is in reality in 12/8 meter, a compound duple meter containing
Iour groups oI three eighth-notes occurring within each measure oI 4/4 meter.
The slower the tempo, the more marked this subdivision is Ielt. A prerequisite
to creating swing Ieel is that every attack be placed metronomically within this
12/8 continuum. We can see below how a chromatic targeting group is
normally notated vis-a-vis how it should be interpreted. Written in 4/4,



the above Iigure will be interpreted as Iollows:



To practice playing swing Ieel, start by running choruses in which you
improvise swing eighth-note lines with a metronome. Imagine a 12/8
continuum. Accent the Iirst eighth note oI each triplet subdivision; then shiIt
your accents oII oI the beat to the third eighth note in each triplet subdivision;
then practice mixing accents. Learn to control these accents by improvising
within the 12/8 rhythmic continuum while applying the basic targeting
examples to the reduced melody oI a standard tune.

125
The Iaster the tempo, the more swing eighths tend to Ilatten out and become
even. The swing Ieel is really a long-short, long-short pattern; the Iirst note is
a quarter note, while the second is an eighth in an eighth-note triplet. The
Iaster the tempo, the less time there is to articulate this, and practitioners then
tend to play closer to even eighths.

You might also like