Re: [Harp-L] swingin 16ths

[Winslow Yerxa <winslowyerxa@xxxxxxxxx>]

Swing is not the same as shuffle.

Shuffles always divide the beat into 3, and then presents mostly the first and third notes of the triplet, per Michael's statement quoted below.

Swing is not so rigid. Charles Mingus expressed it best when he characterized swing as two notes in the same beat, with the second note being someplace later than halfway, but flexible in its location. Nailing it down any further is too rigid and frequently wrong.

Listen to two different soloists on the same tune. Often they will place that second note in a beat very differently, anywhere from just a hair past the 50% mark to something that's almost a dotted8th/16th, with the second note somewhere around the 85% mark.

One of the mistakes inexperienced jazz players make is to assume that swing = shuffle, resulting in a wishy-washy rhythmic expression.
 
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: Michael Rubin <michaelrubinharmonica@xxxxxxxxx>
To: Arthur Jennings <timeistight@xxxxxxxxx> 
Cc: Harp-L <harp-l@xxxxxxxxxx> 
Sent: Thursday, April 3, 2014 11:18 AM
Subject: Re: [Harp-L] swingin 16ths
 

I think of a beat as 100 points.

<snip>
Most often, swung eighth notes have the  upbeat at 66%.

66% divided by 2 is 33%.

<snip>