4/4 swing - Explanation (once and for all)

[Popup-Box]

What is the definition of the 4/4 swing rhythm? I'm wondering how the grouping of notes is different compared to standard 4/4.

Listen to Steve Vai - The Animal if you need an example of the rhythm. Also Rage Against The Machine, Audioslave and Stevie Ray Vaughan have incorporated this rhythm in some of their songs, if I'm correct.

Feel free to provide heaps of various explanations, as I've tried to understand this before, but without succeeding.

Let's say I'm playing a standard 4/4 rhythm on my guitar. "1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 1 - 2 - 3 -4...etc", no problem. How can I modify the rhythm slightly so it becomes 4/4 swing?

[halfdeadhippo]

It's tricky. I don't know exactly how to count it, but it's a quarter note followed by a quarter note triplet and an eighth note triplet. Then you repeat once more to finish out the bar.

[Popup-Box]

It's tricky. I don't know exactly how to count it, but it's a quarter note followed by a quarter note triplet and an eighth note triplet. Then you repeat once more to finish out the bar.

I'm afraid I'm not quite able to visualize how that would be.

A quarter note - OK. Quarter note triplet? I don't understand why there is a triplet in the picture.

[halfdeadhippo]

To clarify, when I use the word triplet, I mean an individual note that takes up one third of two beats. A quarter note triplet followed by an eighth note triplet (one third of a beat) produces the "shuffle rhythm" (common in most blues). If you alternate between a straight quarter note and the shuffle rhythm, you get the standard "swing rhythm" (common in a lot of jazz).

If you're thinking of the rhythm in SRV's "Pride and Joy", then you're thinking of a shuffle rhythm.

[Popup-Box]

So swing and shuffle is not the same thing? Well, I'm getting closer, but I'm still not quite 'there'. The worst thing is that I am able to compose swing rhythms.

I've got this composing application on my computer.

The applicatin is based on pages, with rows and columns. One instrument for each column basically. Then, different notes of the different instruments on the rows.

For standard 4/4 I use 64 rows (program default), and I add kickdrum on row 0, while I add a snare, for instance, on row 4. Then kickdrum on 8, snare on 12 etc. All the way, until I have to start over again on another page. I use to add hi-hat/tambourine on rows 0-1-2-3-4... etc or 0-2-4-6-8...etc depending on the feel I want for the track. Now, all this is fine.

Over to the 'problem'. I am quite convinced that this is the method for creating 4/4 swing:
Still using the same application. Edit the rows so you end up using only 48 rows. Place a basskick on 0, as well as on row 3, but a snare on 6. Then basskick on 12, basskick on 15, snare on 18 etc. Then, for the ultimate rhythm atmosphere, include a closed hi-hat in the following pattern: rows: Well, basically you put a closed hi-hat on 0-3-6-9-12-15-18 etc. But except for the hi-hat on row 0; you also add a hi-hat on the beat just BEFORE 3-6-9-12-15-18 etc, making it: 0-2-3-5-6-8-9-11-12... etc etc. Do you see the coherence?

Well I do - for what concerns the application. However, I always fail when trying to apply it when I only sit with my guitar!!

What do you think? I'm very close to understanding it. Maybe it's just me putting too little effort in it. It's late in the night, and I've been listening to music almost all day. I got to have break, and a new go tomorrow. In the meantime maybe someone has provided a few assisting words as well.

More later.

[Flamencology]

Instead of counting:

1 AND 2 AND 3 AND 4

Try counting:

1 And-Uh 2 And-Uh 3 And-Uh 4

[Krabsworth]

Are you talking for drums or guitar?

[joas]

Are you talking for drums or guitar?


Swing is swing-- it's a rhythm and not going to differ between drums or guitar.

[Krabsworth]

Swing is swing-- it's a rhythm and not going to differ between drums or guitar.

Well, for guitar, you will rarely find yourself doing it.

[Krabsworth]

http://media.putfile.com/swing31

Would you consider that a swing rhythm?

[Flopfoot]

Flamencology is right. You need to count 3 triplets for each beat instead of counting 2 quavers to play a swing rhythm.
Ie, count out One-and-uh Two-and-uh Three-and-uh Four-and-uh

You play on these beats. One_____ Two___Uh Three_____ Four___Uh

[Ned]

You know, swing is not just 12/8. We can do much better. Try again.

[Popup-Box]

Thanks to everyone for all of the replies.

I think Flopfoot had an interesting explanation in his last post. I'm going to try it.

[halfdeadhippo]

Flamencology is right. You need to count 3 triplets for each beat instead of counting 2 quavers to play a swing rhythm.
Ie, count out One-and-uh Two-and-uh Three-and-uh Four-and-uh

You play on these beats. One_____ Two___Uh Three_____ Four___Uh
Thank you. I believe we're saying the same thing, only you know how to actually count it. :thumb:

[HomeCatMickey8]

I had the same problem when we played swing in Jazz Band... I never did figure it out, but now I understand it a little more.

[Swede in L.A]

Instead of counting:

1 AND 2 AND 3 AND 4

Try counting:

1 And-Uh 2 And-Uh 3 And-Uh 4

GOOD ONE! It's more of a feeling, which then translates to how you are playing. My old guitar techer 15 years back tried to explain that whole triplet feel to me, I learned but it did take some time.

[KSas]

it's a quarter note followed by two eigth notes, but the eigth notes are swung, meaning it is the equivalent of a quarter note eighth note triplet.

[KSas]

But i guess if you don't know what swinging is, my explanation would probably be meaningless. I"m actually confusing myself with it.

[Caleb3221]

You absolutley must swing on guitar. You should find yourself swinging just as much as the rest of the band if you are playing a swing tune.

And swing is difficult to understand without hearing it in person. But basicly, it is based around triplets. If you can, try to find a good teacher for at least one session so you can really HEAR what swing is supposed to be like.

[Popup-Box]

It seems like the rhythm I've always thought of as 4/4 swing... may be shuffle rhythm. Or is it the exact same thing?

I hear great similarities between, let's say many of Stevie Ray Vaughan's music, and some of Rage Against the Machine. It's just that there is quite a difference in the approach. Maybe they use variations of the same idea, I'm not completely sure... I'll have to explore it further.

I just listened through several Rage Against the Machine songs, and I'm not sure if there is anything special after all. That said, a song like Guerilla Radio got a certain rhythm.

I think the best example of the rhythm I'm thinking about is to be heard in Steve Vai's The Animal. Especially notice how the hi-hat goes.

[something vague]

doo (hi hat/ride and bass)
doo/chh (hi hat/ride and bass)
doo-doo (hi hat/ride and bass)
chh (hi hat/ride, bass, and muted rim-shot thing)

That's my vague, simplistic view of it. Then again, it's not [i]that straight, because obviously it's swung. The bass drum goes, straight, for all 4 beats: 1-2-3-4, while the hi-hat is the "rhythms" that I wrote out as seen above, and the snare is on the fourth beat.

A lot of the time, drummers leave out the bass drum completely, and use the snare on the 2nd and 4th beats instead of just the 4th.

On guitar... I think I play this when I do swingier type stuff:

1 2 3 4-and

or

1 2-and 3 4

[Caleb3221]

That would be a shuffle. A shuffle is swung, but swing is not a shuffle.
What swing is is a modification of eigth notes(And sixteenths, etc). The thing that seperates a shuffle from a normal groove is the eigth note timing. The 8ths are played as triplets with the middle removed rather than straight 8ths(Kind of. Thats one of the close approximations of what it is, but its really a feel thing that can't really be techincally written). The rhythym being played is basicly unimportant, the swingingness of it is defined by the interpretation of 8th notes.

[Popup-Box]

I've just realized the importance of the hi-hat when creating these rhythms I'm speaking of.

Listen to this. When creating the rhythm in the music application I use, I place a kickdrum on row 0, snare on 6, kickdrum on 12, kick on 18 etc. Then, the hi hat comes in. It is quite important for defining the rhythmic atmosphere. I will at least put a hi-hat on every third row (0, 3, 6, 9 etc). Then, to emphasize the rhythm even more, I will add another hi-hat just before the 3rd row, 6th row etc. So it looks like 0 (the first hit) 2-3 5-6 8-9 etc. The hi-hat sound will be like: ch (row 0, beginning hit), ch-ch, ch-ch, ch-ch. As oppsed to regular 4/4, you'd probably get: ch, ch-ch-ch, ch-ch-ch, ch-ch-ch.

The hi-hat does the "icing of the cake", I think.

I'll provide three examples I have created. The first example is named "compgrooves" (using percussion instruments only) and compares regular 4/4 to the alternative rhythm. If interested, listen to the sample, and see if you can tell when the rhythm changes, and when it's standard 4/4 and when it's not.

The next I have called "Rhythm Explorer" and also compares two rhythms, but I also included a bass in this one.

The third and last one is based entirely on this special rhythm which I enjoy. It is just a basic track in which I hope you notice a swinging feel, or how to describe it.

Here are the links (BEWARE: right-click and choose 'save as...'):

Compgrooves: http://apple-joe.tripod.com/Compgrooves.mp3
Rhythm Explorer: http://apple-joe.tripod.com/Rhythm_Explorer.mp3
Rhythmic exploration: http://apple-joe.tripod.com/rexp.mp3



I hope the links work after all.

EDIT: By the way. Sample (instrument sounds) credits to "Archyx" for Rhythm Explorer and Compgrooves. Credits to J. Striker for Rhytmic Exploration.

[Ned]

Everything posted so far in this thread is simplistic and inaccurate:

1) The long-short ratio of swing eighths in not always 2:1 but varies considerably. In fast tempos swing eighths are closer to straight eighths.

2) When the eighths are swing eighths, the sixteenths are straight. A 4:3 feel is implicit.

3) A lot of the swing feel has more to do with subtle (and unsubtle) dynamic accentuation. There is a tendency for the odd eighths to be stressed.

[namesareoverrated]

Thanks, Ned

Anyway, swing is a very, very loose rhythm. Few musicians will play a perfect three-to-the-beat swing. While the definitions up to this point are not incorrect, in a real-life setting, swing is just the feel everyone in the band puts on their own playing. Moreover, swing music at high tempos tends to swing less, and slow swing swings more. Therefore, swung eighths, which is what we're referring to when we talk about this triplet business, could be defined as any rhythm that falls between two eighth notes and a dotted eighth/sixteenth.

To get even more complicated, swing music has an accent on the second and fourth beats of each measure. This is not a compositional device, however -- you won't see it written out on a chart. This accent comes from the common swing drum pattern and the natural rhythm of the song -- this accent is not always perfectly on the two and four. In fact, individual musicians, especially at the highest level, usually have their own interpretation of the beat, and can be said to play "behind" or "on top of" the beat.

The only way to get a personal understanding of swing is to stop all the technical talk and listen to the people around you, especially the drummer. Copy his eighth note; if you play straight eighths or even with a different interpretation of the swing it will sound wrong. As to writing it into a computer . . . well, that's why computers haven't replaced people yet, isn't it?

[what]

You can't notate "swing", you can kind of show it rhytmically what it's close to, but you can write it down exactly, all you have to do is listen to a lot of jazz and see how different players interpriate(sp?) swing.

[Popup-Box]

I've got Band-In-A-Box now, and I've listened through a few song examples. It seems like 'shuffle' is the thing. Each song with shuffle somewhere in the name got the special rhythm. I've found a swing song or two where the certain rhythm did NOT appear, so I'm leaning towards shuffle. At one point I thought there was no difference between the two of them.

[Lady Lex]

to understand the difference between shuffle and swing:
Shuffle is the primary beat/rhythm used in 1950s RocknRoll. (very simple, but easier to comprehend)

Rather than thinking Swing 4/4, think Swung 16ths. The last 1/4 note of each group is the note that has the final swung effect on it - if that helps! it would be so much easier if I could notate it.. oh well :)

[Popup-Box]

Well, how would the last 1/4 of a shuffled 16th rhythm be, then?

EDIT: I've understood lately, that one might be able to do a lot by defining the drums, especially the hi-hat's. There are several nuances which will make it groove even more. A thought I've got the recent days is; maybe that's all RATM/Audioslave is doing - maybe there is nothing special about the time-signature.

Have a listen to the following songs:

Renegades of Funk
Sleep now in the Fire
Guerilla Radio
Snakecharmer

What do you think? Shuffle/swing, or just tricky drum work?

[Kazass]

in respons to Popup-Box's question: Renegades of Funk for example definately isn't swing rhythm. It's weird, because i've met a lot of people who have deeply trouble with this swing rhythm but to me it's totaly normal. I can hear it and say straight away if it's swing rhythm or straight. It's so simple to me to hear the difference. I always thought everyone heras it aswell....O_O

[Popup-Box]

in respons to Popup-Box's question: Renegades of Funk for example definately isn't swing rhythm. It's weird, because i've met a lot of people who have deeply trouble with this swing rhythm but to me it's totaly normal. I can hear it and say straight away if it's swing rhythm or straight. It's so simple to me to hear the difference. I always thought everyone heras it aswell....O_O

I also mostly know when I hear a straight 4/4 rhythm. And I do notice when there is shuffle or swing instead of 4/4, but I obviously do not understand the difference between shuffle and swing.

[Lady Lex]

Well, how would the last 1/4 of a shuffled 16th rhythm be, then?


Shuffle rhythm is actually composed of triplets: 4 x triplets per bar (if in 4/4 time). So there is no last 1/4 beat.

The triplets are played on the cymbal or hats.
The bass takes on the first beat of the bar, with the snare taking on the 1st note of the 2nd triplet (gee... hope that sounds right - again WISH I COULD NOTATE THIS!!)

lets see... (with each group being 1 x triplet and the first note of each group being the beat in the bar)

1 2 3 2 2 3 3 2 3 4 2 3
1: Kick drum
2: snare

I think thats it... :)

[Popup-Box]

I think I understand, and I know how it sound. I have probably used it many times already when composing songs on the PC. However, it doesn't differ too much from the regular 4/4, does it?

As I see it now, it means that the last beat of each bar, is "empty".

[Popup-Box]

Do me a favour; listen to Steve Vai's song THE ANIMAL. How would you describe the rhythms that appear in this song? It's one of the best examples on the rhythm I mean.

[Lady Lex]

Do me a favour; listen to Steve Vai's song THE ANIMAL. How would you describe the rhythms that appear in this song? It's one of the best examples on the rhythm I mean.

examples of what?

I can only vaguely recall Animal (i DO love Steve). My first thoughts: it was produced in 1990 - so a bit too late (and a bit cheesy IMO) to be featuring shuffle rhythms. Its undoubtedly a rock rhythm and I strongly doubt it would be swing either. umm.. (please remember, this is off the top of my head) is there a double kick in there? ^^ If so.. definitely NOT swing or shuffle. Just plain pure unadulterated hardass ROCK! :)

[Popup-Box]

The kickdrum/snare relationship goes: kick - kick - snare, kick - kick - snare, etc. But it doesn't sound as the standard rhythm you hear in rock songs. It's the same idea, but slightly altered. You got to listen to the song over again, I'm sure you'll notice that it has something extra.

First, listen to The Animal by Steve Vai, then you listen to a random rock song like Deep Purple - Smoke On The Water or which ever AC/DC song, or perhaps another song by Steve Vai, which sounds more 'regular'.

I am positive there is something about it. Shuffle, swing - well something!

EDIT: I'm not saying that Deep Purple and AC/DC got no groove, because they do, but I have never heard the same rhythm in any Purple/AC-DC song, that's why I'm accentuate Vai's The Animal in this example.

Also, earlier mentioned songs by Rage Against The Machine tricked me into believeing that there was 'something' about the time signature, but now I'm not that sure anymore.

I should really learn how to read rhythms properly. Is there anyone who know any reliable resources for such a task? I'd appreciate website suggestions - I assume there are a few who know a site or three. In the meantime I'll search around on my own.

EDIT II: I've just finished two more examples. One is in 4/4, while the other is intended to be 12/8.

Listen to both. Which one do you prefer? Do you identify which one is the 4/4 and which one is not?

The one in (hopefully) 12/8; is it shuffle? Is it swing?

Here are the links (to download: right-click the link and choose 'save as...' for best effect!)

http://apple-joe.tripod.com/timesig1.mp3
http://apple-joe.tripod.com/timesig2.mp3

[Popup-Box]

Is there any specific, great examples on good old rockers/bluesers who incorporate shuffle rhythms in a satisfying manner?

Any concrete song examples?

[Lady Lex]

Anything 1950s RocknRoll is shuffle. Ignore the thousands of 'theorists' who say its not shuffle. It has been proven over the last two years that all RocknRoll beats are shuffle (as per a case study conducted by Dr Tamlyn).

Particularly Bill Haley and the Comets (except for Skinny Minny - thats the precursor to 1960s quarter rhythms).

Or if you like: Western Swing incorporates Shuffle - so Western Swing tunes. Thats like 1940s - 1950s. Hope that helps :)

Basically: Shuffle is the easier bastardised version of Swing. Mainly because Swing rhythms really are more difficult to understand and therefore, reproduce.

[Popup-Box]

OK. 12/8 - is this time signature considered to be closely related to shuffle/swing, or has the 12/8 time signature nothing to do with the shuffle/not shuffle issue?

[Ratboy]

Swing is usually notated in 4/4 with a note at the top to swing eigth notes. (This is usually denoted by Eigth Eigth = an eigth note triplet with the first two eigth notes tied together)

[namesareoverrated]

OK. 12/8 - is this time signature considered to be closely related to shuffle/swing, or has the 12/8 time signature nothing to do with the shuffle/not shuffle issue?

Swing is usually notated in 4/4. Shuffle is often notated in 12/8 for the following reasons:

--Early shuffles tended ot be very slow, and 12/8 makes it easier to see the micro.
--In 50s shuffle feels, the piano often played constant eighth notes to define the tempo

On the other hand, shuffle is sometimes written in 4/4, and swing could be written in 12/8. Time signatures, as with all written music, are simply there to describe the sound. It isn't a shuffle because it's in 12/8, it's in 12/8 because it's a shuffle.

[Popup-Box]

Swing is usually notated in 4/4 with a note at the top to swing eigth notes. (This is usually denoted by Eigth Eigth = an eigth note triplet with the first two eigth notes tied together)

Hm. I'm a little confused to how it is triplets if they are grouped in two's?

[Ned]

Hm. I'm a little confused to how it is triplets if they are grouped in two's?

Strictly speaking, they are not triplets. Imagine a quarter note and an eighth note collectively under a bracket with the numeral 3 in the middle of the bracket.

[Ned]

Swing is usually notated in 4/4. Shuffle is often notated in 12/8 for the following reasons:

--Early shuffles tended ot be very slow, and 12/8 makes it easier to see the micro.
--In 50s shuffle feels, the piano often played constant eighth notes to define the tempo

On the other hand, shuffle is sometimes written in 4/4, and swing could be written in 12/8. Time signatures, as with all written music, are simply there to describe the sound. It isn't a shuffle because it's in 12/8, it's in 12/8 because it's a shuffle.

I'd say the difference between a swing rhythm and a shuffle rhythm is that a four-beat shuffle rhythm could be conveniently notated in 12/8 whereas a four-beat swing rhythm could not. Why not? Because, as I've pointed out already, in (4/4) swing the sixteenths are straight and in swing the unevenness of the eighths is variable, not a fixed 2:1 proportion.

(Let's be more precise about time signatures, by the way. They aren't "there to describe the sound" so much as they're there to tell you how much relative duration is marked off by the measures, which has to do with notation, a visual thing, not sound, an aural thing. They tend to suggest something about the sound--the prevailing grouping of beats--, but only to suggest this something: they indicate the marking off.)

[Ned]

Anything 1950s RocknRoll is shuffle. Ignore the thousands of 'theorists' who say its not shuffle. It has been proven over the last two years that all RocknRoll beats are shuffle (as per a case study conducted by Dr Tamlyn).

Particularly Bill Haley and the Comets (except for Skinny Minny - thats the precursor to 1960s quarter rhythms).

Or if you like: Western Swing incorporates Shuffle - so Western Swing tunes. Thats like 1940s - 1950s. Hope that helps :)

Basically: Shuffle is the easier bastardised version of Swing. Mainly because Swing rhythms really are more difficult to understand and therefore, reproduce.


What "thousands of theorists"? Shuffle is a pop music term, and professional theorists don't generally concern themselves with pop music, at least not professionally. Musicologists sometimes concern themselves with pop music, which is a different matter entirely--a sociological matter.

Who is this "Dr [sic] Tamlyn", and where did he publish his findings?

[Popup-Box]

OK. I will create a short rhythm example. You'll decide whether it is swing or shuffle (or; none of them, if I fail completely).

EDIT: OK, file ready. Right-click the following link and choose "Save as...":

http://apple-joe.tripod.com/12-8what.mp3

What do you reckon the rhythm is?

EDIT: II: Don't think about the silly melodies, just think about the rhythm. And another thing. Sample/instrument credits to someone called Peter Kasting (Zero|DPX).

[Lady Lex]

OK. 12/8 - is this time signature considered to be closely related to shuffle/swing, or has the 12/8 time signature nothing to do with the shuffle/not shuffle issue?

12/8 is 12 x quaver notes (thank you Ned) per bar. It depends upon where the accents would fall, but more likely to be at 1, 5 & 9. And if you were to apply crotchets to it (for easier comprehension) it would come to 6/4 - which would then imply triple time - waltzes etc. I would say it wouldnt have much to do with shuffle or swing. The greater the subdivisions, the less musical freedom. :)

[Lady Lex]

What "thousands of theorists"? Shuffle is a pop music term, and professional theorists don't generally concern themselves with pop music, at least not professionally. Musicologists sometimes concern themselves with pop music, which is a different matter entirely--a sociological matter.

Who is this "Dr [sic] Tamlyn", and where did he publish his findings?

Sir, this one post may suggest to me of how ill-informed you are and all how ill-informed you wish to remain. What do you think shuffle rhythm was in its heyday? It was popular music. And shuffle has been in existence since Blues, as it is also known as the Blues Backbeat.

If you are so intersted: Check out Dr G Tamlyn as per the Institute of Popular Music, Liverpool the UK. His Doctorate Thesis was investigating the rhythms of RocknRoll.

I will also inform you: I AM a popular Musicologist - one who has done my Masters of Popular Musicology at a well reputed musical institution (a Conservatorium no less) with a full focus on educated music perspectives WITHOUT allowing such social-cultural matters to blind my intensive musical research. It in fact adds to the humour that I find myself applying to my research, because I find so many 'facts' are often 'not true'.

[Ned]

12/8 is 12 x quarter notes (quavers) per bar.
It depends upon where the accents would fall, but more likely to be at 1, 5 & 9. And if you were to apply crotchets to it (for easier comprehension) it would come to 6/4 - which would then imply triple time - waltzes etc. I would say it wouldnt have much to do with shuffle or swing. The greater the subdivisions, the less musical freedom. :)

I think you meant to say "twelve eighth notes per measure". A time signature of 12/8 implies groupings of four. Each of the four beats or pulses that make up a group is represented in this notation by a dotted quarter note and is in turn subdivided into three parts represented by eighth notes in this notation. Let's contrast this with 4/4: A time signature of 4/4 also implies groupings of four. In this case, however, each of the four beats or pulses that make up a group is represented in this notation by a quarter note and is in turn subdivided into two parts also represented by eighth notes in this notation.

Here's how you tell: Look at the "numerator" of a time signature. (I put "numerator" in quotation marks because a time signature is not really of fraction.) Is it divisible by three? If not it represents the number of beats or pulses in the implied prevailing grouping and these beats or pulses subdivide into two parts (which is the default subdivision). If so (with one exception, which I'll get to), the the number of beats or pulses in the implied prevailing grouping is the "numerator" divided by three and these beats or pulses subdivide into two parts. The exception is a "denominator" of 3. If "numerator" is 3, the number of beats or pulses in the implied prevailing grouping is three and these three beats or pulses subdivide into two parts. Why? Because three divided by three equals one, and you can't have groups of three.

[Ned]

Sir, this one post may suggest to me of how ill-informed you are and all how ill-informed you wish to remain. What do you think shuffle rhythm was in its heyday? It was popular music. Ahem. I said "shuffle is a pop music term." And shuffle has been in existence since Blues, as it is also known as the Blues Backbeat. Wrong again. Backbeat is an emphasis on two and four. It has nothing to do with shuffle or the lack of shuffle.

If you are so intersted: Check out Dr G Tamlyn as per the Institute of Popular Music, Liverpool the UK. His Doctorate Thesis was investigating the rhythms of RocknRoll. In other words, I'm assuming, his study has not been published. He's just some clown you happen to know.

I will also inform you: I AM a popular Musicologist - one who has done my Masters of Popular Musicology That's hilarious. ...at a well reputed musical institution... I once encountered someone who claimed to have a college degree in "calligraphy" (handwriting) and another someone who claimed to have a college degree in "hospitality". The world is full of pathetic someones. (a Conservatorium no less) "Conservatorium"? Is this your attempt to parody Vicky English?

[Lady Lex]

Ahem. I said "shuffle is a pop music term." Wrong again. Backbeat is an emphasis on two and four. It has nothing to do with shuffle or the lack of shuffle.
Yes: Hence it also being referred to as a BLUES backbeat.

In other words, I'm assuming, his study has not been published. He's just some clown you happen to know. Well.. He's a Doctor of Music. thats already better than you.

That's hilarious. I once encountered someone who claimed to have a college degree in "calligraphy" (handwriting) and another someone who claimed to have a college degree in "hospitality".
It is hilarious - and Id be ashamed to know anyone like that

The world is full of pathetic someones.
You would know - you already appear one.

I had the good fortunte to attend a Conservatoirum of Music in Australia, as well as having the good fortune of studying a few degrees. One in practical, the other in Musicology. Laugh all you wish at my lack of education. I feel extremely privlileged. And thank you - you are obviously a reminder for me to read over whatever I write. There are people on here who know their stuff - finally! A forum of informed peeps :)