In jazz, rhythmic placement is very important. The idea is to place the notes on the beat, or a little « laid back », that is to say a little after the beat. It’s the opposite of what we naturally want to do !

The general tendency is to play notes in front of the beat and to accelerate. To counter this tendency it is easier to try to place the notes directly on the beat.

Exercise n ° 1: PLAYING ON THE BEAT
This is just about playing quarter notes that are on the beat and not ahead. We place the fingers at the same time, with the metronome.

Exercise n ° 2: PLAYING TERNARY/SWING EIGHTH NOTES
In this exercise you will try to accentuate the syncopated note (push beat), but thanks to the bowing it should come naturally.

Exercise n ° 3: VOCALIZATION OF SWUNG EIGHTHS
Accentuate the syncopated note! No need to make the notes sing. Mark the pulse by tapping your foot and try to feel the pulse in your body. You can choose an onomatopoeia that suits you: dougadou, doubadou, dongadon etc … for singing
What is important is to have good time.

Exercise N ° 4: VOCALIZATION + MOVEMENT OF THE BOW ON THE UP BEAT
Make the pull-push movement in the air with the bow and vocalize the rhythm like in exercise 3.

Exercise N ° 5: VOCALIZATION + BOW + VIOLIN
We resume exercise 4, then during the exercise we take the violin and put the bow on the string.

Exercise n ° 6: ADD NOTES (re-mi-fa # -sol-la-sol-fa # -mi-ré) (D-E-F#-G-A-G-F#-E-D)
We play each note on the 4 beats of a measure. Before that, we do exercise 5, then we add the left hand with the notes …

Exercise N ° 7: WALKING / INTERNAL DANCE

It is necessary to try to be very anchored in time and to feel the dance of the swing in you body. You can stand up and do a kind of dance walk, to help you feel the swing.

These exercises can really help you feel the swing better; walking can possibly be difficult, but try to do it anyway while dancing a bit. As soon we are swinging in our music, the swing becomes a deep sensation that you should constantly feel, and never lose …