Welcome to Jazz-School

swing phrasing

Introduction
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We distinguish here between Swing (the musical style) and swing (the rhythmic phenomenon). Without swing, jazz would probably not have been able to inspire people as strong as it has since the 1930s. Swing is a mass phenomenon that temporarily became a way of life. This was particularly evident in the Swing era, when young and old folks danced to the new rhythms. People wrote scientific essays on swing. In Germany, we had Joachim-Ernst Behrendt, who spent his life trying to scientifically decipher swing in great detail. We are not making this look like an exam paper, as we are approaching the phenomenon of swing from a less mathematical perspective. Of course, I'll explain how to count triplet swing, but this doesn’t apply so much as the tempo gets faster. Ultimately, it's the feeling of swing that this lesson is about. This feeling can be achieved more easily when you listen to a lot of swing. Never stop to listen to everything from the heroes of this genre: Miles Davis, Chet Baker, Bill Evans, Coleman Hawkins, Count Basie, Duke Ellington, Ella Fitzgerald, Wes Montgomery, and Joe Pass, to name just a few.

Level 1

Level

Basic
Song

Lessons

3 Lessons | min

Lesson 1Introduction

Duration: min

Let me introduce you to the topics covered in the course "Swing Phrasing".

Lesson 2Triplet swing and Medium swing

Duration: min

Using short but concise examples of well-known Swing melodies, I'll explain the difference between music played straight (binary) and rhythms played in triplets (ternary). With the help of the metronome, you'll get a clear idea of how you can approach swing using your sense of rhythm. I play and count the rhythms sometimes in straight and sometimes in triplet feel to illustrate the difference.

Lesson 3swing at a faster tempo

Duration: min

If you apply the insights of triplet swing to music played at a faster tempo, you'll notice that - when reaching a certain tempo – quavers (eighth notes) might start to sound "twitchy." In some Jazz genres (e.g., Gypsy Swing), a little "twitch" is actually desirable. In mainstream Jazz, this characteristic would practically be toxic. Swing is meant to sound relaxed and fluid, and this also comes from a certain amount of laid-back feeling that gives the music an additional coolness. Here, not only the odd eighth notes (off-beats) are delayed, but all notes.