Swing music

Swing music is a form of jazz that developed in the United States in the 1930s and 1940s. The name came from the emphasis on the offbeat, or weaker pulse. Swing bands usually featured soloists who would improvise on the melody over the arrangement.

Swing music is considered one of the biggest evolutionary stages in the history of jazz, and was, at one point, one of the most popular forms of dance music in the United States.

Swing music is one of the most recognizable styles of jazz music. Some key elements of swing music include:

1. Danceable: Swing music was the quintessential dance music of the 1930s and 1940s, known for its quick pace and high energy. People turned to swing music as a feel-good fix in the midst of the Great Depression. The upbeat tempo of swing music made it the ideal dance groove, and a number of different dances — like the jitterbug, Lindy hop, and boogie-woogie — emerged during this time to accompany the jumpiness of swing.
2. Call-and-response riffs: Swing music is often anchored by a rhythm section of piano, drums, and bass, with the accompanying brass and woodwind sections playing in call-and-response. Call-and-response is a compositional technique that works similarly to a conversation. A “phrase” of music serves as the “call,” and is “answered” by a different phrase of music. These phrases can be either vocal, instrumental, or both.
3. Uses formal arrangements: Unlike the group improvisation found in traditional jazz, swing musicians in a big band stick to strict composition and arrangement. Soloists often improvised over the band with their own melodies, although bandleaders would typically notate the parts they liked and include them in the composition.