Swing

Regular musical notation is not designed to express the rhythmic energy of Jazz: in Jazz, notes played on the half-beat (the second half of each beat) are delayed, giving an irregular beat.

Of course, it is possible to write it using the regular notation, but this leads to complex and scarcely readable scores.

In Jazz scores, the notation is simplified by writing equal notes on the beats and half-beats, although they are played irregularly.

So when, in a Jazz score, you see two eighth notes beginning on a beat:

These two notes can be played as:

(depending on the swing level).

It is possible to use this kind of notation within the software.

To do this, first select the section to which you want a "swing" to be applied, using the lasso tool.
Thus, you can select the part of the score (or of the staff) you want this effect to be applied to.

Then select "Edit>Quantize>Humanize/Swing". In the window, you can then select a numerical value for the swing, or select it with predefined icons.

Note: In this window, you can also choose the imprecision in playing the music, explained in the following chapter: humanizing.

Question: How does this Swing tool work?

The"Swing" tool finds all notes beginning on the second half of a beat (second eighth note of each group of two) that lie within the selection range. It then applies a delay to these notes, depending on the swing value you asked for. The delay for all other notes is set to zero.

Question: How do I calculate a numerical Swing value?

The numerical value in the Swing window is the delay given as a percentage of an eighth note's duration.
Thus, if you set a value of 50, a delay of 50% of an eighth (i.e. a sixteenth) note is applied to all notes beginning on second half-beats.
For example, if you process two successive eighth notes:

the first note's duration will be increased by a sixteenth (making it played as a dotted eighth note), and the second one will be reduced by a sixteenth (making it play as a sixteenth note).
These two notes are still displayed as two eighth notes, but they are played as if you had written:

Question: How do I cancel the swing effect?

Apply a swing value of 0, or use the "Mechanize" option.