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Hello Richie.
I am back and am finally starting on Module 2. The first module was very helpful in advancing my cause. Since, I joined last year, I now have access up to Module 6 or so. I peaked ahead at the various etudes and a question rose in my mind.
I noticed that you don’t play the etudes with swing time but rather straight 8ths. I have been playing your etudes and chord resolution exercises with a swinging rhythm as well as straight.
Could you comment on your decision to not swing in these early example thus far?
Thanks, and by the way, it seems you have added some more videos in response to the feedback you have received. I appreciate your effort to address issues that may affect us. I really enjoyed the one about stretching fingers. It is so beneficial to hear a pro just talk and share little golden nuggets of wisdom. Sometimes they apply to me, sometimes the nuggets don’t, but I enjoy them just the same.
Hmmm….
Maybe I am off base here.
To my ears, there is the traditional Blues Shuffle with that 1 AND 2, with the “1 and” being more like a triplet where only the first and last notes are played and you skip the middle triplet. There there is the Jazzy swing like Charlie Christian inspired:
When I think of Jazz Blues, I always think of swinging the note division. I was wondering how you felt about making a video in which you swing the notes and maybe talk about the feel. Maybe this will come later in the course?
Heck, maybe your videos swing and I just cannot detect it. I would love to hear your thoughts on swinging, whether it be a light swinging or “swinging hard,” as I have heard some Jazzmen enthusiastically say.
Thanks in advance.
I think what is throwing you off is the tempo at which I’m playing the etudes. The swing 8th notes are there as explicit as they could possibly be at that tempo (120bpm and 85bpm). Your Charlie Christian example is at a much higher tempo. I chose not to teach “swing 8th notes’ at that tempo and for that matter play the etudes faster, because it makes it very difficult for most students to internalize the feel and at the same time master the technical aspects of learning how to improvise. Everyone can pick up the given tempo and take it to 160 bpm or whatever at their own pace when thy feel they are ready.
To teach how to swing your 8th notes, the slower tempo you start with, the better! That way you can learn how to feel the inherent triplet feel that defines swing 8ths. When I studied with Red Rodney who played with Bird, he would always set the metronome or play a backing track at a medium to slow tempo in order to emphasize this concept. Once you start getting higher up in tempo, the 8th notes start going by so fast that they become “straight” 8th notes. At that point quarter notes become the basis for the swing feel. So you see, its all relative.
Some musicians talk about a swing tempo referring to 160bpm and up. This is independent of whether or not we can “swing” in our playing at slower tempos. We definitely can and should! There are hundreds of recordings that exemplify this. As a guitarist, listen to Joe Pass rendition of Satin Doll and for that matter several other cuts on the album “Portraits of Duke Ellington”:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FfqTIOwmi7U
It’s at a medium tempo, not necessarily the conventional “swing” tempo that some musicians refer to, yet it swings like mad!!Have you watched the videos in the Rhythm lab on swing 8th notes and syncopation? These are the rhythmic elements I believe we need to get down in order to “swing”, regardless of the tempo.
Hopefully I’ve clarified the concept unless I’ve misunderstood your question.
You have answered my questions, and added some nice background and additional thought on “swinging.”
Thank you and enjoy your weekend.
Hopefully, you have some good, competent players to play with. 😉
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