How to describe occasional non-swing eighth notes using swing notation?
Suppose I have a melody using triplets, which has a swing feel:
To simplify the notation, I want to use eighth notes, and mark "Swing feel" somewhere on the sheet:
This is all good, but what if I have an occasional triplet in my melody, which doesn't fit the "swing model"?
I don't want to notate all these triplets. How can I use notation without triplets to describe the rhythm in this melody?
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A common way to write swing/shuffle rhythms is to use dotted-eigth/sixteenth pattern as shorthand for triplet-quarter plus triplet eighth. Things written as triplet eighths or as straight eighths should be played as written.
X:1
L:1/16
M:4/4
K:C
%%score T1
V:T1 clef=treble
% 1
[V:T1] C3D E3F C2D2 E2F2 (3C2D2E2 (3C2D2E2 F4 |
would thus be equivalent to
X:1
L:1/16
M:4/4
K:C
%%score T1
V:T1 clef=treble
% 1
[V:T1] (3C4D2 (3E4F2 C2D2 E2F2 (3C2D2E2 (3C2D2E2 F4 |
But with one triplet bracket marking each of the first two triplet quarter/eighth pair (I can't figure out how to make that display properly)
If there's no need for actual sixteenth-note durations, this may be easier to read than trying to use triplet-quarter triplet-eight or relying upon performers to recognize which eighth-notes should be longer, shorter, or balanced length.
I would use a duplet for this. If it we notated the groove in 12/8, this would be the standard notation:
X:1
L:1/8
M:12/8
K:C
%%score T1
V:T1 clef=treble
% 1
[V:T1] C2 D E2 F (2GA B2 (c | c4)
...which is actually nothing else but
X:1
L:1/8
M:12/8
K:C
%%score T1
V:T1 clef=treble
% 1
[V:T1] C2 D E2 F G3/2A3/2 B2 (c | c4)
By extension, I think it would be understood what's meant if you write
X:1
L:1/8
M:4/4
K:C
Q:"Swing"
%%score T1
V:T1 clef=treble
% 1
[V:T1] CD EF (2GA B(c | c4)
I'm not sure if that's actually what you were asking about though. If you actually mean
X:1
L:1/8
M:12/8
K:C
%%score T1
V:T1 clef=treble
% 1
[V:T1] C2 D E2 F G zA B2 (c | c4)
then this would probably best be expressed simply with a staccato mark:
X:1
L:1/8
M:4/4
K:C
Q:"Swing"
%%score T1
V:T1 clef=treble
% 1
[V:T1] CD EF .GA B(c | c4)
I'm not quite clear what you're after, but all these notations are used and understood. (Though they don't all mean the same thing!)
Swing is not triplets. If you don't believe me, listen to 'Blueberry Hill'. If you really want triplets, write them, or use 12/8 meter.
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