Working the beat
Swing: shifting the position
Written by a guitar teacher who runs a private studio in Japan. Published October 2, 2026
Swing moves positions inside the beat later — not the beat itself. The diagrams below divide one beat into twelve steps and put a ● where a sound plays (the ● at the right end is the next beat). Divisions and the grooves you step to are covered in Feeling the beat with your body.
1/2 swing (moving the middle of the beat)
Start from a groove with notes on the beat and on the middle of the beat (the 1/2 point), then move that middle note later.
How far to move it depends on the piece and on where the performance is heading. The further it moves from the midpoint, the “heavier” the swing is said to be. Most often it moves to two thirds of the way through the beat, which fits so well with a groove divided in three that the two are often played without distinction. Shuffle and bounce are used as near-synonyms.
1/4 and 3/4 swing (moving the 1/4 and 3/4 points)
Start from a groove with notes on the beat, the 1/2 point, and the 1/4 and 3/4 points. Leave the 1/2 point where it is and move the 1/4 and 3/4 points later by the same amount. Most often the 1/4 point moves to 1/3 (2/6) and the 3/4 point to 5/6.
The moved 1/4 point lands on a point of the three-way division. But because there is a 5/6 point and the midpoint stays put, it does not sit comfortably with a groove divided in three, and we treat it as a different thing. This is the so-called bouncing sixteenth feel, used in grooves such as the half-time shuffle.
What all of this is for: Pulse, pattern, and why a metronome is only a scaffold