[Harp-L] Re: Swing vs. Shuffle

[Dan Hazen <bluesmandan76@xxxxxxxxx>]

Slim wrote: ["Someone else can hopefully provide a better description, but
I'll take a shot at it...Starting with 4 beats to the bar, divide each beat
in 3. Count it out in slow motion: 123 123 123 123... Now, leave out the
'2' (but leave rhythmic space for it): 1_3 1_3 1_3 1_3..... Now, _accent_
the 3 and you have the basis for a shuffle.Swing is similar, but it tends
to have fewer of the '3' accents actually stated - a more relaxed feel,
looks more like this: 1__ 1_3 1__ 1_3, with the accent on '3'.]

That's a great breakdown, Slim. I'd like to add, though I might be wrong...
the general tendency in the shuffle sound is start low in the first
measure, and then go high in the second measure, keeping the pattern
alternating, but in swing you start with a higher sound in the first
measure, and go lower in the second measure, with the pattern
alternating... I'm thinking as a guitarist the way I would play the
pattern....
/low ... low/ high...high/ for a shuffle,
/h-i-g-h/low... low/h-i-g-h/low...low
I imagine there are many exceptions, but as a generalization, I think
that's the tendency... It's funny, swing and shuffle can be quite alike in
feel, but they are sort of opposites in execution...