Playing Swing and Sweet Music Of the 1930s and 1940s 

Rhythm playing is the subject of this essay. Old music bands have trouble finding good rhythm players who know the styles. Old music styles are not taught in school at any level, because the teachers don't know anything about the music or how it is supposed to be played. The following is an introduction to the art. 

Your job is Rhythm: to provide a floor for the horn men and the dancers to bounce on. Zap!! You are a floor. Physically and aesthetically rhythm persons sit BEHIND the horns, unlike top-40 and rock. Unlike modern jazz, you are not equal to the horns. In fact, there is a musical hierarchy: think of it as an upside-down pyramid: drums on bottom providing the basic beat. Bass and guitar augmenting that, plus harmony. Piano supports the rhythm, but also provides musical fills of all types. The horns are on top and are the main purpose of the band.

If you do your job they'll be so comfortable that they'll be too busy playing the ideas cascading from their muses to even notice you. And dancers will be liberated, inspired to groove the roof. You are not there to "express yourself". Comping is an art; a real artist will be fulfilled by making the band sound and feel better. (A good bandleader will, within the needs of the gig, try to give each musician, including the drummer, a bit of space to stretch out to relieve the boredom of straight comping.)

KISSS method: Keep it Simple, Solid, and Soft. A good rhythm section is a unit-- often one can hardly identify the pieces. Make sure you know and play first and foremost the basic rhythm strokes for the various dances. Busy without basic beat confuses the dancers and distracts everyone else!!

Swing rhythm is 4/4: nice, even strokes: bump bump bump bump! There's opportunity for diddly-do change-ups, but only one instrument at a time, and just now and then.

Drummers: maintain that 4/4 feel; don't drop a bunch of non-rhythmic strokes like the modern cats do--that clatter sabotages the beat; you are allowed change-ups at the end of 8-bars.  Big Band / swing uses the High-Hat, and moderate, selective rim and other zaps to propel the horns. Pop drummers use all sorts of Hi-Hat technique for rock and disco; use it for swing and even two-beat tunes! Stay off the ride cymbals (except, of course, for change-ups, or out-chorus dynamics)--many drummers automatically switch to them for swing tunes, and maintain a loud h-i-s-s-s that:

Most drummers have had some experience playing post-1950 Count Basie or other jazz big band styles that include a lot of various off-beat fills and zaps. That won't work, because 30s-40s swing is hard 4/4 rhythm–the tunes were usually wriitten with that in mind, the big band charts were arranged for it, jitterbug dancing rides on it, and no matter the size of the band, or whether you are using sticks or just brushes, the modern Basie style destroys the feel of the old music. Most drummers can't even play up-tempo tunes with all that clattery non-rhythmic crap without screwingup the almost non-swinging squarish 4/4 rhythm required, so back to simple 4...whack whack whack whack on snare and not-quite-closed hi-hat. You really ought to do 4 on the floor, but most drummers don't have the foot for fast 4/4.

If you just can't change your basic hand positions or basic ride-cymbal habits, at least dampen them to eliminate the hiss. Use a "butterfly" or similar paper clip to attach a piece of bicycle inner tube to the edge of each cymbal. There are plastic clips with soft material that may do the job. Eliminating the hiss enables everyone to hear the stroke–the ring dies almost instantly.

No loud back-beats (except perhaps on the out chorus of a raucous hot tune–best to check with the leader), riding oriental cymbals, or hokey country & western stick claps.

If you hear hear the piano go into a stride-type style for it's solo, back off into percussive 4/4 (brushes) so the pianist can ride on your beat.

Combo playing is basically brush work--percussive, not soup-stirring--if you want to do something besides just keep time, put some energy into it. (Ellington and Basie - type tunes give you more leeway, but check with the band leader.) One of the really neat swing sounds is the combination of 4/4 brush strokes with the "chunk" of the swing guitar. (Listen to Cozy Cole on the earliest Billie Holiday-Teddy Wilson sides.) If there's a rhythm guitar, that's a "ringing" instrument, so a ringing cymbal is in direct conflict, because it covers up the guitar.

Two-beat or "businessman's bounce" tunes should have a nice laid-back, lilting feel. Medium- to up-tempo show tunes often require square boom-chucking on the beat, but slow and moderate ones want a slightly syncopated snap, from the bass and piano. Control it -- this ain't honky tonk or saloon ragtime -- and keep it solid, and you'll see the older crowd do some pretty wild stuff. Slow tunes can be played with a variety of dynamics and "feels", so that even at the same tempo, dancers can be inspired to move differently: the laid-back lilt, the lightly played but solid four, the bump & grind, the whacking thumping 4/4 (everyone playing 4 on the beat.) The ideal set mixes the "feel" as well as the tempos and dances, so even if dancer response calls for a series of slow tunes, you pick tunes with different "feels" -- over the course of a set you are trying to make the dancers use every muscle in their bodies, as well as to set a mood. As soon as you hear the horns syncopating, go into a solid four. It will propel the syncops into the stratisphere.

Guitar:  Basically you do 4/4 chunk-chunk, choking it so it doesn't ring -- accoustic, into a microphone, not amplified -- and listen to the piano. Keep the chords simple so the piano has some place left to go. Well selected strokes can have an amazing effect on the overall sound and feel of the band. You can choke your chunks, play on the beat or slightly syncopate it after the top; 2 & 4; or 1 & 3, let the stroke ring for varying lengths of time to lighten the rhythm section's pervasive 4/4; do an occasional fill when there's space (on the 1935 Goodman Orch. records, the guitar is heard clearly, eg. "Goodbye"). But how effective all this is depends on how well you integrate it with the rest of the rhythm section. If you see your-self as a rhythm person, at least in this context, playing with the dynamics can be as much fun as fancy solos and runs.

Bass and Piano:  DON'T DOODLE!!! Play basically in rhythm. Bass: 2-beat starts 1 & 3 and STAYS there; don't switch to 4/4 on the second chorus. 4-beat tunes start and stay 4/4 except for change-ups -- remember the dancers, who don't dig sudden rhythm and tempo changes!! Piano:  Boom-chuck on non-slow tunes. You can strengthen Horn riffs by playing along with them, add riff patterns in out choruses like a Big Band horn section, zap here and there, add controlled fills. Work with the guitar for studied unity or coordinated contrasts. In a 4-piece section, the DBG playing straight 4, with the piano playing riffs, can very powerfully propel the horns and dancers, and make the band sound larger.

Everyone should be listening closely to what the others are doing. If you hear someone taking a fill, or solo, play straight rhythm. When nothing is happening, watch for your chance to fill or take a break. Learn what kind of rhythm or accompaniment each player likes during his solo.

Resources:

There's plenty of music and loads of CDs to help you learn the songs and style. For learning purposes, the literature may be divided into pop tunes and big band tunes. For the pop tunes, the "Ultimate" series, available at any good music store, are as good a source as any, except that the chords are often somewhat more modern; the "pop" tunes include 1920s-1930s classics such as "I've found a new baby" that were played by small swing and big bands alike; they're just regular tunes with standard structures. However, when it comes to the "big band" tunes, many tunes such as "In the mood" are really known by the Glenn Miller, etc., record, and so you have to learn the salient parts of the record. "In the mood" has a classic introduction which is a set piece and everyone must know it--the melody line and the rhythm zaps; if you screw it up everyone will know it. Other pieces such as "String of pearls" have a melody that audiences know, but if you don't play the arrangement ala the record, improvising on the blue chords of the solo section is basically bull. And there are no fakebooks of these classic charts from the commercial publishers. More often than not if you see those pieces in music books with titles such as "Songs of the Big Band Era", what you are getting is sheet music editions of the song, which in no way resembles fhe chart. So you may have to locate "stock" (published dance band arrangements) charts of the and do a lead line from the piano part, taking chords from the guitar part. Currently the only fake book that has some of the most popular big band tunes taken in whole or in part from stock charts is:
30s-40s Fake Book, which, along with  Codpiece Sweet and Swing Chords,  has the classic swing and sweet tunes. Dixieland Fake Book;  D-Cup Dixie Chords have the 20s tunes that were 30s jazz standards--eg. Benny Goodman Trio and Quartet.

There are hundreds of CD reissues of the classic swing tunes, and an increasing number of CDs with the sweet and 2-beat standard and show tunes. For the small group swing style, the Teddy Wilson Orchestra with Billie Holiday (most often found under Billie Holiday) are splended examples, as are the Lionel Hampton small group sides from 1937, where the sound of the rhythm section is very clear and the musicians are the greats of the era. For guides to records, go [ Back ]. (Check this site periodically, because eventually there will be a list of CD tracks of key tunes for beginners.)

And check out the essay on Dixieland rhythm playing for more tips.

In conclusion, remember: just because you think it sucks, doesn't mean what the other guy's playing is bad. And a request for Nu Yawk Gnu Yawk, doesn't mean the guest hates you. You are there to entertain; inspire guests to hire the band for their affairs; and make the boss hire you again. If you hate 'em, they'll know it. So love 'em and earn your bucks.

And for goodness sake, have fun!!!

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Revised 10/3/03. Copyright 2003 by David W. Littlefield