Swing Rhythm 👏

Clap on 2 and 4, then clap the swung eighths, and see where every clap landed.

Two and four

In swing the weight sits on 2 and 4. The drummer's hi-hat closes there and the bass player leans there. A crowd that claps on 1 and 3 is clapping against the band.

Start with the backbeat. The metronome below clicks every beat, with beat 1 a little higher. Clap on 2 and 4 only. When that is easy, set the clicks to 1 and 3, so the metronome gives you nothing on the beats you clap.

How the grade works

Each clap is measured against the beat it was aimed at. Within 25 milliseconds is in the pocket. Within 60 is close. Past that is loose. A clap nearer to 1 or 3 than to 2 or 4 counts as the wrong beat, and a beat you skip counts as missed.

The score line gives your average offset. Late is laying back, early is rushing. The spread is how far your claps scatter around that average, and it matters more than the average does. A player who sits 10 milliseconds behind every time sounds relaxed. A player who scatters by 40 sounds unsteady.

The swung eighth

Swing splits each beat into a long note and a short one. The second eighth, the "and", arrives late. We write two even eighths and play something closer to the first and last notes of a triplet.

Level 2 asks you to clap only the "and" of every beat, on the last note of the triplet, two thirds of the way through the beat. If your claps land early, your eighths are too straight.

Then set the clicks to 2 and 4 only. That is how most jazz players set a metronome, and it leaves every downbeat to you.

Setting up

Headphones work best. On speakers the mic hears the clicks too, and the page has to tell your claps from its own sound. Clap at arm's length from the computer, short and sharp.

The first time you press Start, the page measures the delay between its clicks and what the mic hears. On speakers it listens to its own clicks, so stay quiet for a few seconds. On headphones it asks you to clap along with eight clicks. The browser keeps the measurement. If you switch between headphones and speakers, press Recalibrate.

If you would rather not use the mic, pick Tap and use the space bar or the tap pad.

How to practice

Start slow, around 80. The metronome runs until you press Stop, and the score covers the last eight bars, so keep clapping and watch it settle. Each clap leaves a mark on the scrolling view. If the marks sit right of the dark lines, you are dragging. If they sit left, you are rushing. Move the tempo up by 8 when eight bars in a row stay in the pocket.

Then take it to the piano. Set the clicks to 2 and 4, play the shells from Left Hand Shells on 2 and 4, and listen for whether your chords and the clicks land together.