Notate swing for the treble staff only?
First a general question: I'm arranging a ragtime piece and would like to know if you generally play rags with swing in the melody or not?
In my case I'll go with swing anyways, because in this piece it sounds a lot better with swing than without, but therefore I have another question.
How would you notate swing for the melody (top staff) only?
In ragtime you have your 'steady bass' to keep the rhythm on the beats. In one walking bass line I used 16th notes, which would also be played swing then if notated, but to maintain the steady bass, I don't want them to be played with swing.
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I think ragtime is generally more effective not swung. Several 'horse's mouth' examples here. Take your pick! Joplin seemed to have :-)
midimusic.github.io/joplin/rolls/index.html#self
So if that's what you want, mark the upper stave 'Swing 16s' and the lower 'straight 16s' Don't use that horrible Metric Modulation notation. For a start Swing isn't triplets.
Bernstein notated fast 6/8 to make it perfectly clear. See West side stories opening...Its not easy to read though and looks unfamiliar.
You give the correct clue in your header, that the 16th should be swung. The experienced player will know that the pulse (your eigth notes) must be steady and even flowing. In my view it is sufficient for professional notation as you show it here...
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