Re: [Harp-L] swingin 16ths

[Winslow Yerxa <winslowyerxa@xxxxxxxxx>]

I'm not where I can listen at the moment, but I'd recommend listening to Charlie Parker play 16ths for some ideas. But make sure you're hearing 16ths and not just blazingly fast 8ths at breakneck tempos. Perhaps listening to him play a ballad might be the most revealing.

Thinking about it, swung eighths are groups of two, so it makes sense to swing them in pairs. However, sixteenths are in groups of four, at least in time signatures where the quarter note is the beat. So it makes sense to find a way to swing the entire group, as opposed to pairs within the group.

That is, if you're going to swing them at all. Sixteenth notes have a flowing feeling that might be impeded by nudging their relative lengths too much. Perhaps making the first note in the group slightly longer, like it's a little sticky, and then releasing the remaining three in a little rush. Or . . . 
 
Winslow Yerxa
President, SPAH, the Society for the Preservation and Advancement of the Harmonica
Producer, the Spring 2014 Harmonica Collective
Author, Harmonica For Dummies, ISBN 978-0-470-33729-5
            Harmonica Basics For Dummies, ASIN B005KIYPFS
            Blues Harmonica For Dummies, ISBN 978-1-1182-5269-7
Resident Expert, bluesharmonica.com
Instructor, Jazzschool for Music Study and Performance


________________________________
 From: Music Cal <macaroni9999@xxxxxxxxx>
To: harp-L list <harp-l@xxxxxxxxxx> 
Sent: Wednesday, April 2, 2014 10:29 PM
Subject: [Harp-L] swingin 16ths
 

So I am guessing most players on this list know how to swing 8th notes to
get the lilting laid back feeling so characteristic of jazz. But how do you
(as in you) swing 16th notes? One could just "double time" the feel of the
8th note swing but IMO the result does not lilt. Or one could double time
the eighth note feel for every other pair of 16th notes - has a better lilt
IMO. So how do you do it? Or do you just play 16th notes straight.