Mastering Swing Feel and Finding That Perfect Swing

Learn Jazz Standards Podcast

Brent Vaartstra: Jazz Musician, Author, and Entrepreneur

Music Commentary, Jazz, Jazz Improvisation, Jazz Saxophone, Jazz Theory, Jazz Bass, Jazz Piano, Education, Music, Jazz Guitar, Jazz Solo, Jazz Standards, Jazz Trumpet, How To

4.8 • 536 Ratings

🗓️ 19 April 2021

⏱️ 28 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Welcome to episode 266 where today we talk about swing feel, what it is, how to properly swing, and some common mistakes musicians make. Swing is the most unique style of jazz, despite there being multiple straight eighth styles associated with jazz. But what exactly makes up a swing feel, and how do we find the balance between "over swinging" and "under swinging." This episode gets you headed in the right direction. Even though jazz has a lot of different styles and grooves associated wit...

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	This episode is sponsored by the Learned Jazz Standards Inner Circle.
0:03.8	If your goal is to level up your jazz playing this year and feel confident improvising over
0:08.5	jazz standards, the inner circle has everything you need and more.
0:13.0	With monthly jazz standards studies, a library of powerful courses, and a vibrant community
0:17.3	of like-minded musicians, you're guaranteed to improve your playing every
0:21.7	single month. Podcast listeners can get 50% off their first month when you go to LJSinterCircle.com.
0:29.5	That's LJSinnerCircle.com or find the link in the show notes. Now, on to today's episode.
0:36.7	Even though jazz has a lot of different styles and grooves
0:39.3	associated with the genre, the most unique to the style is swing. The idea of swing your eighth notes.
0:46.4	And then, of course, all the other rhythmic associations that come with that. I mean, even a bass player
0:51.2	just playing quarter notes can swing really hard and have that
0:56.0	feeling underneath it. But I hear a lot of musicians not really quite hitting the mark, not
1:01.0	really getting the swing feel correct. And so I want to dive into that in today's episode,
1:05.9	really kind of discover the rhythmic background to the swing feel, and then try to figure out
1:10.6	what is the sweet spot
1:11.9	with swinging and playing eighth note lines that are straight. What's the beautiful, perfect
1:17.0	match between those two of those that will really make us groove really hard? Let's dive right
1:21.6	into that. Welcome to the LJS podcast where you get weekly jazz tips, interviews, stories, and advice for becoming a better jazz musician.
1:32.7	And now your host. He's a jazz musician, author, and entrepreneur, Brent Bartstra.
1:39.3	Hey, what's up everybody? Brent here from LearnJassstandards.com, which is a blog, a podcast, videos, and a membership all geared towards helping you become from learn jazz standards.com which is a blog a podcast videos and a membership
1:45.1	all geared towards helping you become a better jazz musician and in today's episode we are indeed
1:51.0	talking about swing the swing feel something that's really important to most styles of jazz and
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Brent Vaartstra: Jazz Musician, Author, and Entrepreneur, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of Brent Vaartstra: Jazz Musician, Author, and Entrepreneur and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.