Swing Feel

Time & Groove

Also called swing, swung eighths.

Swing feel is playing eighth notes unevenly on purpose. The first note sits on the beat and the second lands late, closer to the next beat. Think in triplets and keep the first and third of each "1-trip-let", skipping the middle. What comes out is a long-short lilt instead of a march.

How far you lean depends on tempo and tradition. Slow ballad swing leans toward dotted-eighth-plus-sixteenth territory. Fast jazz swings less, because at 250 BPM there is barely room to swing at all. Trust your ears. If it sounds like a robot marching, swing harder.

In jazz the ride cymbal carries the swing: "ding-da-ding, da-ding", with the hi-hat chick on 2 and 4 and your bass foot walking the time. None of it lands dead-centre on a metronome click, and that is the point. Swing lives between the clicks.

Tip: sing the phrase before you play it. If you cannot sing it with a lilt, your hands will not play one. Record yourself against a record. If your swing sounds like a bad triplet, the "&" is almost always landing too early.