Swing and Shuffle
In some types of music, especially blues and jazz, the partial or divided beats studied in the previous lessons are treated in a special way. The down part of each divided beat is often held longer than the up part of each divided beat. This can be demonstrated by saying each number (down part) a little louder and holding it for a little longer than each "and" (up part). Emphasizing the down part in this way is known as "swinging" the beat, and makes for a livelier feeling rhythm. Practice saying the following new rhythm. Notice that the beat, as indicated by the timing slash, falls on the "one", "two", "three", and "four". The "ands" occur in between the slashes which represent taps of your foot. You may wish to listen to the cassette tape to confirm that you are playing the swing beat correctly.
Try a similar rhythm saying "ta ta" or "da da" instead of "one and":
There are different ways to divide up a swing beat. The style usually used in blues requires the down part of the note to be held for three-quarters of a beat, and the up part for one-quarter of a beat. This is often called the "shuffle" beat. Try tapping out and tonguing a single shuffle beat as though it were a fast four beat rhythm. Then tap only on the first slash mark, while maintaining the exact same tonguing, to provide one shuffle beat. Once again, listen to the cassette tape to ensure that you play the shuffle beat correctly.
Now tongue the following rhythm through your harmonica (using "one and" or "ta ta" or any other double syllable that you prefer). Any of these "two syllable" rhythm patterns may be referred to as "doublet" rhythms. Breathe during the up part of the fourth beat.
When exhaling on these rhythms begins to feel natural, practice some inhaled versions, using whichever tonguing you prefer. From now on, swing beats will be represented by placing a dot after the timing slash, which tells the reader to hold that part of the beat longer than the following note (which does not have a timing slash above it). Breathe during the last part of the fourth beat, which is not a swing beat, since it is not a divided beat and thus cannot be swung.
Don’t feel frustrated if you feel "tongue-tied" at first. Just practice, then go on to the next section, but return to your inhaled swinging rhythm for a moment’s practice each day.
The following rhythms will be used in the blues lessons. They are based on the Blues Rhythm Patterns from Lesson Fourteen, but incorporate swing beats.
It is not necessary to swing every beat of a rhythm. Often, a rhythm or song is made more interesting by swinging only selected beats.
You may wish to practice the Stop Time Rhythm without a swing beat (Lesson Fourteen) before attempting to swing this somewhat complex rhythm by holding the swung note.
