What makes that song swing? At last, physicists unravel a jazz mystery
For nearly a century, jazz musicians have debated what gives songs that propulsive, groovy feel that makes you want to move with the music. The secret may lie in subtle nuances in a soloist's timing.
For nearly a century, jazz musicians and scholars have debated the answer to a musical mystery. As legendary jazz trumpeter Louis Armstrong once put it, "What is this thing called swing?"
Swing has long been considered an essential component of almost all types of jazz, from traditional to bepop to post-bop. As Ella Fitzgerald and many others have sung, "It don't mean a thing if it ain't got that swing." You might describe swing as a rhythmic phenomenon in jazz performances — a propulsive, groovy feeling that makes you want to move with the music.
Still, a precise definition about swing, "Describe it? I'd rather tackle Einstein's theory."
