Swing feel and uneven eighths – free music theory course

In jazz, blues and much American popular music, eighths written as equal are not played equal: the first is longer, the second shorter and lighter. This is swing. It is indicated at the top of the score by "Swing", "Shuffle" or by the symbol ♫ = a triplet ♩ ♪.

Written… and played

Here is what is written:

M:4/4
L:1/8
Q:1/4=120
K:C
CDEF GABc | c2 BA G4 |]

And here, roughly, is what a jazz musician plays: each pair of eighths becomes a "quarter + eighth" triplet (a 2:1 ratio).

M:4/4
L:1/8
Q:1/4=120
K:C
(3:2:2C2D (3:2:2E2F (3:2:2G2A (3:2:2B2c | c2 (3:2:2B2A G4 |]

In reality the ratio varies with tempo and style: very "hard" (almost 3:1) in a blues shuffle, nearly even in very fast jazz. Swing is also about accents: the off-beat eighths are slightly stressed, and the drums mark beats 2 and 4 (the backbeat). Snap your fingers on 2 and 4, never on 1 and 3!

A swung blues riff

M:4/4
L:1/8
Q:1/4=100
K:C
"C7"(3:2:2C2E (3:2:2G2A (3:2:2_B2A (3:2:2G2E | "C7"(3:2:2G2G (3:2:2_E2=E C4 |]

A French Baroque ancestor: in the 18th century French harpsichordists (Couperin, Rameau) already practised notes inégales: eighths written evenly but played "dotted", with elegance. The idea is strikingly close to swing — two centuries before jazz.

To get the swing feel: listen a lot (Count Basie, Oscar Peterson, Ella Fitzgerald), sing phrases as "doo-ba doo-ba", and play over one of the site's jazz or blues backing tracks. Swing is learnt by ear far more than with a metronome.

Common mistake: swinging like a stiff, bouncy dotted rhythm (3:1). Swing is round, relaxed, "sitting back" in the beat.