BASS LINES: Reading The Swing Eighths

Reading The Swing Eighths…

Hello bass players and bass fans! In this issue we are going to study how to read the swing eighths.

In popular music, straight eighth-note notation is commonly used. It’s understood that all notes falling on the “and” of the beat are to be played as though they were the last note of an eighth-note triplet.

*This eliminates the need to write the rhythms in triplet form.

Fig. 1 – This symbol is often displayed on charts to indicate that the music is to be played with a swing or shuffled feel.

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See you next month for more full bass attack!