Introduction to swing music

Exploring Swing Music

So, swing music in the 1930s was the pop music of its day.

Introduction to Swing

Now, don't get around much anymore. One of the tunes we're going to look at today reached number eight in the pop charts. Can you imagine Ed Sheeran releasing a tune like that? No, I don't think so.

What is Swing Music?

Swing music has a really strong melody, usually performed by the horns. Imagine the big band:

• The horns playing that incredible melody
• The bass driving it down with the powerful bass lines
• The great drums keeping the rhythm

It's music that people can dance to, music that my grandparents would have been jiving to.

This was my introduction to this incredible genre: my grandad's 30-piece big band. I fell in love with the swing sound, enjoying all the classics:

• Glenn Miller
• Sinatra
• Duke Ellington
• Count Basie

I just love this music so much!

Key Elements of Swing

Today, we're going to look at some real staples that make swing, well, swing. This includes:

• The dominant seventh in the chords
• The really strong melodies
• The syncopation of those melodies

These elements are all quite important, and we'll explore each of them.

A Note on Rhythm

Before we dive into the course, let's talk about the tune we're going to look at first:

• It will be written straight, like this.
• You'll get the sheet music.

If you read music, great! If not, don't panic. Even if you can't read music, it will still be accessible.

But remember, while it may be written straight, we don't want to play it that way , we want to swing it!

The Swing Feel

We want it to sound like this: with that little lilt and touch of syncopation.

So, anything we do today: the beauty of this music is that you can take it where you want to. You need to learn it up here, but make sure you play it from here.

Let's Get Started!

Here we go! Let's open the door into swing, and I can't wait to get started.