Microtiming Deviations and Swing Feel in Jazz

George Datseris,Annika Ziereis,Viola Priesemann,Thorsten Albrecht,Theo Geisel,York Hagmayer

doi:10.1038/s41598-019-55981-3

Abstract

Jazz music that swings has the fascinating power to elicit a pleasant sensation of flow in listeners and the desire to synchronize body movements with the music. Whether microtiming deviations (MTDs), i.e. small timing deviations below the bar or phrase level, enhance the swing feel is highly debated in the current literature. Studies on other groove related genres did not find evidence for a positive impact of MTDs. The present study addresses jazz music and swing in particular, as there is some evidence that microtiming patterns are genre-specific. We recorded twelve piano jazz standards played by a professional pianist and manipulated the natural MTDs of the recordings in systematic ways by quantizing, expanding and inverting them. MTDs were defined with respect to a grid determined by the average swing ratio. The original and manipulated versions were presented in an online survey and evaluated by 160 listeners with various musical skill levels and backgrounds. Across pieces the quantized versions (without MTDs) were rated slightly higher and versions with expanded MTDs were rated lower with regard to swing than the original recordings. Unexpectedly, inversion had no impact on swing ratings except for two pieces. Our results suggest that naturally fluctuating MTDs are not an essential factor for the swing feel.

Highlights

The swing feel is a major feature in most jazz music performances, but what is it that makes a piece of music swing? For many years, musicologists have attempted to describe and explain this phenomenon
We found the following definition based on an average swing ratio to be most appropriate for this study
In this work we studied the impact of microtiming deviations (MTDs) on the listening experience

Summary

Introduction

The swing feel is a major feature in most jazz music performances, but what is it that makes a piece of music swing? For many years, musicologists have attempted to describe and explain this phenomenon. Many musicians argue that MTDs are important for the swing feel as reflected in Charles Keil’s theory of participatory discrepancies (PD-Theory[26]) According to this theory it “is the little discrepancies within a jazz drummer’s beat, between bass and drums, between rhythm section and soloists, that create ‘swing’ and invite us to participate”[26]. From this perspective, MTDs create tension[3,27], liven up the music and elicit swing, rather than reflecting inaccuracies. Recording Alfie’s Theme Blue Monk Don’t Get Around* Doxy Four In a Mellow Tone Jordu Now’s The Time Paper Moon Serenade to a Cuckoo So What Yardbird Suite s

Methods

Results

Discussion

Conclusion