This principle of long-short extends throughout all of jazz phrasing and greatly depends on note value. It goes without saying that at faster tempos, this swing starts to straighten out. The relationship of the short note to the long one determines the degree of swing - the longer you wait to play the short note after the long one, the harder you swing.
You’ll find plenty of exceptions to the following of course). Here, I call this style of phrasing the ‘long-short’ rule (knowing full-well how controversial the word ‘rule’ is, especially in jazz, but hey, it sounds less pretentious than ‘tenet’ or ‘guideline’. playing some notes longer than other notes. Jazz, especially swing, works because of the long-short phrasing of notes, i.e. With that covered, before I list the markings that affect note value, there is a very important concept at the heart of jazz and other popular styles that underpin everything to do with phrasing and articulation in this style of music. Other variants such as shuffle, like swing, are best written as the word and with 8th notes. The alternative to playing swing is straight - as you’d usually play, with each quaver taking up the same amount of time. Saying that, swing is heard most accurately as this rhythm: The amount of swing you use and the ensemble you achieve when everyone is locked together aren’t things that are learnt easily, and really can’t be notated. Swing is a very personal thing to jazz players. Swing by default applies to 8th notes, but can apply to 16th notes if specified.
One of the most common ways of playing is swing. Note value and the character with which notes are played are really important in all styles of music - big band charts are no exception. Symbols and markings can be split into two categories: The rhythm section generally follows the same set of rules but I’ll be using horns here. These explanations will deal mostly with horns first. Of course, in any genre, a precise translation of ideas to notation is impossible, but indicating intention with these symbols is the closest we're going to get.
This fairly rigid standardisation of markings makes it easy to learn and implement. Arguably more standardised than the same symbols in orchestral scenarios where the players, orchestral default and historical context can play havoc with the most well-intentioned placement of articulations. The good news is that the articulation used by jazz musicians, and by extension in genres such as funk, R&B, soul and pop, is fairly standardised. It would be synonymous with turning up to a session and seeing an orchestral score place the strings above the brass - no matter how well it's orchestrated, it's difficult to be taken seriously when the stylistic fundamental are so wrong. Getting these wrong shows a player at first glance they'll have to figure out the phrasing on their own and that the arranger does not have their back.
Ignoring harmony, form and the eye-sore of a font that is Inkpen 2, the most immediately obvious symbols that tell you it’s a jazz chart are the liberal use of articulation markings. What's the biggest tell-tale sign of a non-jazz musician arranging jazz? Other than perhaps the infamous 'dotted-8th-note-16th-note' swing pattern, it's probably the use - or misuse - of articulation.
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