Getting Your Rhythm Section To Swing Ronald E. Kearns
Vandoren Performing Artist Conn-Selmer Performing Artist
dcsax@aol.com
a successful jazz ensemble or combo is to help them understand the concept of swinging. The first step in this pro- cess is to provide audio and video re- cordings of model groups. The second thing is to help each player understand the function of their instrument and their responsibilities as players. You- Tube has a wealth of videos of live per- formances and entire albums to listen to and watch. If you are near an area where there are professional jazz per- formers, invite them to your school or go out to one of their live performanc- es. If you get to be around these pro- fessionals, arrange for your students to ask them about how they view their function in the group. There’s noth- ing like one on one contact for your students to learn firsthand. With technology, you can arrange Skype or FaceTime interactions. Whatever you do, make listening the first step. Let’s explore the function of each
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instrument in the rhythm section. My model rhythm section for large jazz ensembles comes from the Count Basie Orchestra. The players in this great group defined what swing was to be. They include William “Count” Basie (piano), Freddie Green (gui- tar), Walter Page (bass) and Jo Jones (drums). Each of these players had a style that has been imitated and re- fined over the years.
TEMPO
ne of the most impor- tant
things a jazz in- structor can do to have It is the func-
tion of the bass to keep the time. One of the prob- lems young jazz groups have is for the drummer to attempt to be the time keeper. This
usually creates a “vertical feel” with ac- cents on one and three. For a jazz group to swing the strong beats have to be on two and four. This gives a linear feel that doesn’t start over every time you get to a bar line. Walter Page achieved this by playing lines where the strong notes fell on two and four. Think of playing a major scale starting on the seventh degree. If seven is on beat one, leading to eight means the resolution from seven to eight leads you from a weak note (demanding resolution) to a strong note (the resolution). Now all of the accents shift and two and four are the notes of resolution or strong beats. You feel constant motion in a horizontal line rather than a vertical line with accents on one and three. This is the foundation of the swing feel but it can’t stand alone.
Drum Set
The function of the drum set is to complement the bass and give em- phasis on two and four. Jo Jones did
32 Bass
this with the hi- hat (sock cymbal) by clapping the cymbals on two and four. He also used patterns on the ride cymbal to play eighth notes
with emphasis on the second eighth note in a two-eighth note pattern. Years later Kenny Clarke developed a pattern he and others called “spang a lang” because that’s how the pattern sounds (two eighth notes followed by a quarter note). One of the first things I do with young drummers is to remove the bass drum pedal. Drummers play- ing the bass drum on one and three negates all that the bass is doing. The bass drum will be used for kicks and accents that will add emphasis to horn lines that have nothing to do with swinging. Once the drummer listens to recordings he/she learns to use hits on the snare drum for added emphasis and to push the swing feel forward.
Piano Count Basie used a pattern known
as “comping” short for complement- ing. Besides pro- viding the chord progressions the piano accentuates the “back beat” which comes on two and four.
MARCH 2016
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