Vocal Jazz 101:
Swing When You Sing!
In this lesson, Rachel once again sings “Summertime”, this time explaining how develop a strong sense of swing using three techniques: pulse, triplet/shuffle feel and swung eighth notes.
Steps:
Feel all four beats in the melody. Make sure you always know where you are in the measure so you never get lost. This is an important skill; you can take more liberties with the melody as long as you are grounded in the quarter-note pulse.
Feel the triplets: tri-pl-et, tri-pl-et, tri-pl-et.
Feel the eighth notes as swung: doo-vah, doo-vah, doo-vah.
Listen to other vocalists/instrumentalists and how they swing!
Tips:
If you are feeling unsure about feeling the basic pulse of the tune, try to sing it “straight,” or without any swing feel so that you can emphasize each beat and really feel them all individually.
As you practice swinging, imagine you are a drummer. Make your swing feel have the same energy and attack as their ride cymbal pattern or their hi-hat beat.
Emphasizing specific words within a phrase with breath energy or more articulation may help you swing more. Many times just bringing more emphasis and energy to each phrase you sing helps your swing feel immensely.
There is not one way to swing. When you listen to other vocalists, you’ll notice differences in how they approach swing feel. The more you listen to other vocalists, the more swing ideas you’ll have in your own style!
Want to send this video to your students? Use this link: https://youtu.be/CLUMkyXWeJo