Swinging solos

[Sumguy7787]

I've been having trouble swinging fast lines in my solos. Does anyone have good advice and excercises to swing fast lines?

[lowendforlife]

"Fast" is relative...what do you consider "fast"? That might make it easier to come up with a solid answer to your question. I know that eighth note lines lose their swing at a certain tempo (think Coltrane's famous solo on Giant Steps), and eventually they come out as straight eighths...anyway, please clarify if you wouldn't mind

[Sumguy7787]

Lets just say, triplets at 100 BPMs. Do you just have to practice slow and then move your way up I guess.

Also, how does Coltrane's solos fit when he plays straight notes. Do they line up just right with the drummer?

[anonymous0726]

Originally Posted by Sumguy7787

I've been having trouble swinging fast lines in my solos. Does anyone have good advice and excercises to swing fast lines?

You have to be able to swing at slow and medium tempos.

There is no magic formula for swinging. You can't notate it or put it in some nutshell like "eights played like dotted eighth / sixteenth with a triplet feel", so don't frustrate yourself.

Do you have a teacher? Do you have some recorded examples of what you're doing now? What have you been listening to?

[Aaron Saunders]

Originally Posted by Sumguy7787

Lets just say, triplets at 100 BPMs. Do you just have to practice slow and then move your way up I guess.

Also, how does Coltrane's solos fit when he plays straight notes. Do they line up just right with the drummer?

Why not listen and find out? It's not like Giant Steps is hard to find.

[Sumguy7787]

I listen to John Coltrane, Miles Davis, Charles Mingus, Christian McBride, a lottttta jazz. I do swing for my walking and the majority of my soloing, but I just want to swing completely. For some reason when I play fast I just lose that feel.

[anonymous0726]

When you're playing 16th note lines, fast tempos? Fast can mean a few things. In the end, though, you have to feel it and hear it or it won't come out right.

[conte2music]

Put on a Jamie Aebersold or some other play along and try singing solos. This will give you a better idea of your actual ideas, because maybe it's not a matter of technique as so much just getting the style you want at your desired tempo in your head.