Jazz Guitar Course

Module 5: Rhythm and swingLesson 3intermediate⏱ 75 min + 10 min daily for two weeks

Syncopation and reading rhythms

Read and write syncopated rhythms with confidence: ties across the bar line, dotted-quarter (3-3-2) patterns, two rhythm-reading études, the rules for notating rhythms clearly, and playing kicks from a chart.

Why reading rhythm is a separate skill

Most guitarists who "read a bit" can find the pitches but fall apart on the rhythm. Jazz charts make this worse: the melodies and the rhythm-section figures are full of syncopation, accents that fall between the beats, and the notation for them (ties, dots, rests on downbeats) looks harder than it sounds. The good news is that syncopated jazz rhythms are built from a small number of cells. Once you can recognise the cells, you read them in chunks, the way you read words rather than letters.

This lesson works on one note for most of the examples so that nothing distracts from the rhythm. Count aloud, tap your foot on every beat, and never let the foot stop when the rhythm gets busy. If you need to revise note values, dots and ties, do that first with the foundations module's rhythm-reading lesson; this lesson assumes you can count "1 and 2 and 3 and 4 and".

Syncopation in one sentence

A rhythm is syncopated when an accent falls on a weak part of the beat, usually an "and", and is then held through the following strong beat. The holding is what makes it feel syncopated: an eighth note on the and of 2 followed by a rest on 3 is a small push, but the same eighth note tied through beat 3 makes beat 3 disappear, and the listener feels the absence.

So the two tools of syncopation are the upbeat attack and the tie (or the dot, which is a tie in disguise). Everything in this lesson is made of those two things.

Ties across the bar line

The most common jazz syncopation is the anticipation you met in the previous lesson: a note on the and of 4 tied into the next bar. Reading it is a matter of two habits:

  1. When you see a tie, play the first note and count through the second: do not re-attack it.
  2. Keep counting the bar that the tied note crosses into. "4 and (1) 2 3" with the "1" silent in your hands but loud in your head.
Ties across the bar line
Swing the eighths. Every and-of-4 is tied into the next bar; say the count aloud, including the silent downbeats in brackets: 1 2 3 4-and (1) 2 (3)-and...
alphaTex source
\tempo 96
.
\ts 4 4
:4 5.3 5.3 5.3 r.8 5.3.8 | -.3.4 5.3.4 r.8 5.3.8 -.3.4 | r.8 5.3.8 -.3.4 5.3.4 r.8 5.3.8 | -.3.2 5.3.4 r.4 |

Practise this bar by bar. In bar 2 the tied note lasts through beat 1, then a quarter on 2, an eighth rest, an attack on the and of 3 held through 4. In bar 3 the and of 1 is held through 2, beat 3 is attacked, then the and of 4 is tied into a half note in bar 4.

Dotted quarters and the 3-3-2 pattern

A dotted quarter is three eighth notes long. Two dotted quarters and a quarter fill a bar of 4/4: 3 + 3 + 2 = 8 eighth notes. This 3-3-2 grouping is everywhere: the Charleston is its first two attacks; the bossa nova and the Cuban tresillo are built on it; and countless big-band kicks are variations of it. Count it as "1 (2) and (3) 4", attacking on 1, the and of 2, and 4.

The first two bars below write the pattern with dotted quarters; the second two write exactly the same rhythm with ties, showing beat 3. Both are correct and both appear in charts. The third bar's version with the tie is the "textbook" notation in 4/4 because it keeps the middle of the bar visible; the dotted-quarter version is standard in Latin charts and in most lead sheets, where it is understood as a 3-3-2 cell.

The 3-3-2 pattern two ways
Bars 1–2: two dotted quarters and a quarter. Bars 3–4: the same rhythm with the second dotted quarter written as an eighth tied to a quarter. They sound identical. Swing the eighths.
alphaTex source
\tempo 100
.
\ts 4 4
5.3.4{d} 5.3.4{d} 5.3.4 | 5.3.4{d} 5.3.4{d} 5.3.4 | 5.3.4{d} 5.3.8 -.3.4 5.3.4 | 5.3.4{d} 5.3.8 -.3.4 5.3.4 |

Now the same pattern as chord hits over a ii–V–I in F. The 3-3-2 cell is one of the best comping rhythms there is when you play it for one bar and then rest for one.

Gm7Gm7strings 5432 · 1st inversion×b3b7R5×BbFGD
ii: 3rd in bass
C7C7strings 5432 · 3rd inversion×b735R×BbEGC
V: 7th in bass, one finger from the ii
Fmaj7Fmaj7strings 5432 · 2nd inversion×5R37×CFAE
I: 5th in bass
3-3-2 chord hits over ii–V–I in F
Swing the eighths. Attack on 1, the and of 2, and 4. Short on the and of 2, longer on 4.
alphaTex source
\tempo 116
.
\ts 4 4
(1.5 3.4 0.3 3.2).4{d ch "Gm7"} (1.5 3.4 0.3 3.2).8 (-.5 -.4 -.3 -.2).4 (1.5 3.4 0.3 3.2).4 | (1.5 2.4 0.3 1.2).4{d ch "C7"} (1.5 2.4 0.3 1.2).8 (-.5 -.4 -.3 -.2).4 (1.5 2.4 0.3 1.2).4 | (3.5 3.4 2.3 5.2).4{d ch "Fmaj7"} (3.5 3.4 2.3 5.2).8 (-.5 -.4 -.3 -.2).4 (3.5 3.4 2.3 5.2).4 | (3.5 3.4 2.3 5.2).2{d} r.4 |

How to read a syncopated bar

When a bar looks dense, do not start at the left and hope. Use this procedure:

  1. Find the beats. Mark (mentally or in pencil) where beats 1, 2, 3 and 4 fall. In well-written music, beat 3 is always visible; a tie or a rest will show it.
  2. Find the attacks. Every note head that is not the second half of a tie is an attack. Say the counts of the attacks only: "1, and-of-2, 4".
  3. Clap the attacks while counting all eight eighth notes aloud.
  4. Add durations last. Whether a note is held or stopped changes the feel, not the placement; placement comes first.

The two études below are written for this procedure. Read each one away from the guitar first: count, then clap, then play.

Étude 1: quarters, eighths and ties
Swing the eighths. Tap your foot on every beat without stopping. Read it before you play it: mark the beats, find the attacks, clap, then play.
alphaTex source
\tempo 100
.
\ts 4 4
:4 5.3 r.8 5.3.8 5.3.4 r.8 5.3.8 | -.3.4 r.8 5.3.8 -.3.4 5.3.4 | r.8 5.3.8 5.3.4 r.8 5.3.8 -.3.8 5.3.8 | 5.3.4{d} 5.3.8 r.4 r.8 5.3.8 | -.3.4 5.3.8 5.3.8 r.8 5.3.8 -.3.4 | r.4 5.3.8 r.8 5.3.8 5.3.8 -.3.8 5.3.8 | -.3.4 5.3.4 r.8 5.3.8 -.3.4 | 5.3.2 r.2 |
Étude 2: triplets and syncopation
Swing the eighths; the triplets are real triplets. Watch for the quarter-note triplet in bar 6 (three equal notes across two beats) and keep the foot going through it.
alphaTex source
\tempo 96
.
\ts 4 4
:8 5.3{tu 3} 5.3{tu 3} 5.3{tu 3} 5.3.4 r.8 5.3.8 -.3.4 | r.8 5.3.8 5.3.8{tu 3} 5.3.8{tu 3} 5.3.8{tu 3} 5.3.4 r.4 | 5.3.4{d} 5.3.8 5.3.8{tu 3} 5.3.8{tu 3} 5.3.8{tu 3} r.8 5.3.8 | -.3.4 r.4 5.3.8{tu 3} 5.3.8{tu 3} 5.3.8{tu 3} 5.3.4 | r.8 5.3.8 -.3.4 5.3.8 r.8 r.8 5.3.8 | -.3.4 5.3.4{tu 3} 5.3.4{tu 3} 5.3.4{tu 3} 5.3.4 | 5.3.8 5.3.4 5.3.8 -.3.8 5.3.4 5.3.8 | -.3.4 5.3.8{tu 3} 5.3.8{tu 3} 5.3.8{tu 3} 5.3.2 |
Tip

An eighth-note triplet takes exactly one beat; a quarter-note triplet takes exactly two. When a triplet follows a tie, the foot still lands where it always did. If you feel the tempo lurch at the triplet, you were counting the notes instead of the beats: go back to counting "1 and 2 and" and let the triplet sit on top.

Writing rhythms clearly

You will write rhythms for your own études, for charts you give to other musicians, and when you transcribe. A rhythm that is written badly is read badly. The rules are few:

  • Show beat 3. In 4/4, do not write a note that starts before beat 3 and ends after it as a single note (except in the 3-3-2 pattern, which is so common that everyone reads it). Split it into two tied notes so the middle of the bar is visible. The same applies to beat 1 across a bar line: always tie, never write a note that "spills over".
  • Beam eighth notes by the beat, or in pairs of beats, never across beat 3.
  • Rests follow the same rule: a rest should not hide a beat. Write a quarter rest on 3 rather than a half rest starting on the and of 2.
  • Dots within a beat are fine (dotted eighth plus sixteenth); dots across a beat are better as ties, apart from the 3-3-2.
  • Use the simplest spelling that follows the rules. Two tied eighth notes within one beat should be a quarter note.

The next example shows the same syncopated rhythm written two ways. Bar 1 is a common shorthand you will see in handwritten charts: an eighth, three quarters and an eighth. The second quarter starts on the and of 2 and crosses beat 3. Bar 2 is the correct notation: the crossing quarter is split into two tied eighths so that beat 3 is visible. Train yourself to write bar 2 and to read bar 1 as if it were bar 2.

The same syncopation written as shorthand and correctly
Both bars are the rhythm: and-of-1, and-of-2, and-of-3 (held), and-of-4. Bar 2 shows beat 3 with a tie and is the version to write.
alphaTex source
\tempo 100
.
\ts 4 4
5.3.8 5.3.4 5.3.4 5.3.4 5.3.8 | 5.3.8 5.3.4 5.3.8 -.3.8 5.3.4 5.3.8 |
Practice

Take the first étude and rewrite bars 3, 5 and 6 on paper (or in alphaTex) with the attacks on different eighth notes but the same number of attacks. Then play what you wrote. Writing syncopation is the fastest way to learn to read it, because it forces you to decide where every beat is.

Playing kicks from a chart

A kick is a rhythmic figure that the whole rhythm section plays together, usually written above the staff as slash notation with rhythm stems, or in the guitar part as chord symbols over rhythmic notation. Big-band charts are full of them; small-group arrangements usually have a few at the ends of sections. Reading them is the practical application of everything above:

  1. Read the rhythm first, on one muted chord, exactly as you would the études.
  2. Add the chord symbols. If a kick is written on the and of 4, the chord is the next bar's chord, exactly as with the anticipation.
  3. A kick written with a long note (a tie, a half note) is held; one written as a short note with a rest after it is stopped. Arrangers mean it.
  4. Where the chart says "fill" or shows only slashes between kicks, comp freely with the patterns from the previous lesson, but make sure you arrive on the kick.

The example below is a typical four-bar kick figure over a ii–V–I in Bb, of the kind you would see at the end of an A section.

Cm7Cm7strings 5432 · root position×R5b7b3×CGBbEb
ii
F7F7strings 5432 · 2nd inversion×5R3b7×CFAEb
V, 5th in bass
Bbmaj7Bbmaj7strings 5432 · root position×R573×BbFAD
I
A four-bar kick figure over ii–V–I in Bb
Swing the eighths. Bar 1: hits on and-of-2 and 4. Bar 2: and-of-1, 3, and the and-of-4 pushing Bbmaj7. Bar 3: the push is held, then a dotted quarter on 3 and a push on the and-of-4 into bar 4, held.
alphaTex source
\tempo 120
.
\ts 4 4
r.4 r.8 (3.5 5.4 3.3 4.2).8{ch "Cm7"} r.4 (3.5 5.4 3.3 4.2).4 | r.8 (3.5 3.4 2.3 4.2).8{ch "F7"} r.4 (3.5 3.4 2.3 4.2).8 r.8 r.8 (1.5 3.4 2.3 3.2).8{ch "Bbmaj7"} | (-.5 -.4 -.3 -.2).4 r.4 (1.5 3.4 2.3 3.2).4{d} (1.5 3.4 2.3 3.2).8 | (-.5 -.4 -.3 -.2).2 r.2 |

Note how the chord symbol for Bbmaj7 is placed on the and of 4 of bar 2, where the chord is actually struck, and the tie carries it into bar 3. If you were reading this from a chart with the symbol written over bar 3, you would still play Bbmaj7 on the push.

Exercises

  1. Ties across the bar (first example) at 80, 100 and 120 bpm, counting aloud, click on 2 and 4.
  2. 3-3-2 pattern on one note, then on the Gm7–C7–Fmaj7 chords, then in the keys of C and Bb with the same shapes moved. 100–130 bpm.
  3. Étude 1 and étude 2, each read cold once a day: count, clap, play. Note the bars you miss and loop only those.
  4. Write your own eight-bar étude using at least four ties across bar lines and two triplets, following the notation rules. Play it the next day as if it were new.
  5. The kick figure at 100 bpm, then transposed to F (Gm7–C7–Fmaj7) and C (Dm7–G7–Cmaj7) with drop-2 voicings on the same strings.
Practice

Daily, 10 minutes, metronome on 2 and 4:

  • 2 min: ties across the bar line and the 3-3-2 pattern on one note, 100 bpm.
  • 4 min: one of the two études, read from the top without stopping, at 96 bpm. Alternate days. In week 2 raise to 120 and add the subdivision-free metronome setting.
  • 2 min: the kick figure in Bb, F and C at 110 bpm.
  • 2 min: write two bars of a new syncopated rhythm (paper or alphaTex), then clap and play them.

Progress check at the end of week 2: read étude 2 at 120 bpm with no more than two mistakes on the first attempt.

Quiz