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by voyager2000 on July 16th, 2006

voyager2000

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What makes swing music swing?

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  • by Anon on October 5th, 2006

    Anon

    In most music, a beat is divided evenly into equal parts whether it is two equal sized eighth notes, or into triplet eighth notes, four sixteenth notes, etc. In swing, though, the first part of the beat is held longer. In other words, the first eighth note of a beat lasts longer than the second eighth note. While the exact ration can vary, the first eighth note is held for about twice as long as the second, or about the length of two triple eighth notes.

    Another thing that helps things swing is that there is a lot of syncopation, that is to say, notes tend to be more accented on the "and" of the beat (as in 1 AND 2 AND, etc.) or on the off beat (beats two and four of the measure) than on the beat and whole music lines often start on the "and" of the beat.

    Furthermore, notes tend to be played very smoothly within a line, instead of being broken up by too much articulation. One common form of articulation is to articulate the note on the off beat and then slur to the down beat note and continue with this pattern through the line. This further enhances the feeling of syncopation.

    Another way syncopation is enhanced is that not only are the down beat notes often less accented in a line of eighth notes, but also some notes are made especially quiet or "ghosted" so that the next beat really sounds accented. This is common in the second to the last note of an eighth note line.

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