How to Play the Swung Eighth Note in Jazz Guitar

Swung eighth notes in modern jazz are considered the standard way of playing a series of eighth notes. This type of rhythm is easier to "swing" or shuffle dance and gives jazz its characteristic feel. The following steps will show how to play the swung eighth note in jazz guitar.

Difficulty: Challenging

Instructions

1. Identify swing eighth notes. The first of a pair of eighth notes is accented and played longer than the second, but the degree to which this is done in jazz can be highly variable.

2. Play swing eighth notes even when the music is in straight time. These were so prevalent in jazz during the big band era of the 1930s and '40s that the music is understood to be played in swing time (3/4 or 6/8), even though the score is usually written in 4/4 time.

3. Study the use of swing music for dancing. The most obvious forms of swung eight notes appear in music specifically intended for dancing. This rhythm allows the partners to dance with a more natural relaxed movement whereas dancing to straight time can appear mechanical.

4. Look at ways of playing swing eighth notes. These notes are occasionally played as the first and third notes in a triplet in which the first note is twice as long as the second. Extreme cases may make the first note three times as long as the second as in the case of a dotted eighth note and sixteenth note.

5. Examine the use of swung eighth notes in modern jazz. Today, jazz music is played for listening more than dancing and as a consequence, the first eighth note is only slightly accented.