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Talking swing rhythms

by Taura Eruera

Swing rhythms--or triple rhythms--are those that are not evenly divisible.

Triple rhythms are typical of blues and jazz styles.

They are typically presented in a hierachy as displayed here with their numerical names.

Fig 4:

Their divisible relationships are shown here.

Fig 5:

Their talking names are shown here.

Fig 6:

Swing Rhythm Note Names

You'll notice:

Whole note takes the "e" vowel as in de
Half note takes the "u" vowel as in du bu
Quarter note takes the "o" vowel as in do bo
Eighth note takes the "a" vowel as in da ba
Sixteenth note takes the "i" vowel as in di bi

Vowel Pronunciation Guide

You'll notice:

Whole note takes the "e" vowel as in [bed]
Half note takes the "u" vowel as in [blue]
Quarter note takes the "o" vowel as [go]
Eighth note takes the "a" vowel as in [path]
Sixteenth note takes the "i" vowel as [bit]

Triple Vocabularies

You will learn to talk two triple rhythm vocabularies.

1. The Dobobo's
2. The Dabadabadaba's

You will learn them as separate vocabularies then you will learn them as combined vocabularies.

Talking Rhythms

These three duple rhythm vocabularies and two triple rhythm vocabularies are the five basic vocabularies that pop musicians use.

Your first task is to learn to talk these rhythms.

One vocabulary at a time.

Starting with the Dobobo's.

Have fun!