Sangeet Yatra

Swing and feel

Swing is when the first of each pair of eighths is longer than the second. How much longer is the swing ratio. The shuffle below is the classic 2:1, and the slider lets you move from straight to hard swing and hear the difference.

From theory: Western theory: note values

The shuffle

Twelve triplet pulses. Play the first and third of each group of three. That is exactly 2:1, and it is the base rhythm of blues and early rock and roll.

In notation: a shuffle is written as a quarter note and an eighth note in each group of three. Played in 12/8 these are two-thirds and one-third of a beat, which is the 2:1 ratio. Musicians often write swing as plain eighth notes and say “swing it” in the corner, because the ratio is a feel.

How long is long? The swing ratio

The ratio compares the two notes in a pair. 1:1 means they are the same length, which is straight eighths. 2:1 means the long note lasts twice as long as the short one, so the long note takes two thirds of the beat. 3:1 means three times as long, three quarters of the beat. Press play, then drag the slider while it plays and listen to the & arrive later and later.

  1. Press play with the slider at 1:1 and tap the count with your foot. The hi-hat is steady, two equal notes to each tap.
  2. Move to 2:1 while it plays. Each pair becomes long-short, like a rocking horse.
  3. Go to 3:1. The short note gets sharper and sits closer to the next beat.
  4. Go back to 1:1 and say “1 & 2 &” out loud, then say it again at 2:1 as “trip-let, trip-let”. Your mouth finds the swing before your head does.

Swing on the ride

A jazz ride pattern is the same swung eighths with a skipped note in the middle of every second beat.

The mirror

Swap long and short and you have the Scotch snap: short first, then long. It is in Scottish strathspey tunes and in a lot of modern phrasing.

In notation: the Scotch snap is a sixteenth note then a dotted eighth: short first, then long. The mirror of the swing pair is written with the shorter note first.

Real players do not hold one ratio. Measured drummers play nearer 3:1 at slow tempos and close to 1:1 when fast, so 2:1 is a convention, not a rule. Slide the ratio above to hear the whole range.
  1. Go back to triplets on the threes page and say “trip-le-let”.
  2. Say it again but skip the middle: “trip - let”. That is swing.
  3. Tap the beat with your foot and clap on the first and third pulses.
  4. Flip it: clap the first and second pulses and you have the snap.

Before you go on

  • Say a shuffle count aloud: one-(and)-a, two-(and)-a
  • Tell straight eighths from swung eighths by ear
  • Play the shuffle against the click for a minute

Play it on your instrument

You have been clapping this. On an instrument it is the same rhythm, with each clap played as a note or stroke while you keep tapping the count.

  • Drums: The swung ride pattern and the shuffle. Shuffle · On the ride
  • Guitar: The blues shuffle: long-short eighths on the strings. Blues

Every lesson on every instrument: Take it to your instrument.