Andrea Gordon and I have been doing this class recently on the subject of common rhythmic feels that swing dancers encounter and some ideas to respond to them. I thought it’d be useful to try to distill it into a post for reference. This post is intended to familiarize you with some of the common rhythmic feels that jazz tunes played for dancers seem to have. It’s written with the hope that dancers can use them to deepen their connection with the music. While this is only a small sample of what you’ll hear coming from a bandstand, it’ll at least get you listening.
Many of you will undoubtedly think of exceptions or counterexamples — or might have a different way of relating to these feels. Please feel free to share in the comments. Links to songs are a plus.
Each section below has some suggestions for listening. Each of these songs are in this playlist also linked at the bottom of this post.
First, What’s a Rhythmic Feel?
These “feels” are rhythmic devices used by bands to elicit a certain emotional or auditory character in the music. They are generally expressed explicitly by the rhythm section (bass, drums, piano, guitar) but are also reflected in how the lead instruments (vocals, horns, etc.) phrase the music.
Rather than thinking of them as strict patterns, think of the feel as the groove or bounce of the song. It’s not just what rhythms are played, but how they’re played. The feel makes the song danceable, alive, and unique.
It’s said that when a band is truly locked in to a groove, they’re “in the pocket” – that magical zone where everything feels just right. As dancers, we want to find that pocket too – with the band and with our partners.
4 Beat Swing: The One You Know All Too Well
This feel represents four beats more or less evenly spread across a 4/4 measure. For Lindy Hoppers, this is often the foundational groove they practice to. You’re swinging out, and all eight beats of your step are honored more or less evenly.
In a typical rhythm section, the kick drum might hit each beat, and the bass player might “walk” by playing on all four beats. But even when they aren’t literally playing every beat, skilled musicians can imply that steady motion. The feel is about flow, not rigidity.
When I was first learning to play bass, I watched the great bassist Ernest McCarty with the Boilermaker Jazz Band. The band had a booming a four-beat feel, but neither he nor the drummer, Rich Strong, were playing every beat. Still, it was clear as day. I asked Ernest about it, and he said, “We know each other pretty well,” nodding to the drummer.
Listen: “Swingin’ on Lennox Avenue” to “Sister Kate” — four stylistically different takes on a solid 4 feel. Pay attention to how the whole band expresses that 1-2-3-4 in a solid bounce.
As dancers, we’re often told to “keep a consistent pulse.” This is probably what that advice is about. But as Ernest reminds us, we don’t have to be locked to it – we just have to know how to express it. Show the forward motion and fluidity in your steps, posture, and rhythmic choices.
2 Beat Swing: The Other One You Hear a Lot
2 Beat Swing emphasizes the 1 and 3 beats. The bassist or kick drum might only hit those beats – creating a light, buoyant, sometimes sentimental or mysterious vibe. You may find yourself standing more or floating rather than driving forward.
For dancers: There are lots of ways to embody this. Try triple steps where you emphasize the TRI or TRI-ple-step. Or don’t triple step at all – just step-hold across the two beats. The goal is to make it feel right, not match a formula.
Listen: “Look-A-There” to “On The Sunny Side of the Street” — both great examples of a 2 beat swing groove.
Early Jazz 2 Beat
Early jazz bands (think late 1910s and early 1920s) also often emphasize the 1 and 3. On paper it’s the same, but it feels different. There’s a drive and urgency to early jazz that you don’t hear in later, “cooler swing”.
Listen: “Dippermouth Blues” to “Cakewalking Babies From Home.” Some people call this “Charleston Music”, and they should stop – you can do much more than Charleston to this kind of sound.
As upright basses gradually replaced tubas in popularity, players could articulate faster lines without needing to breathe. That, in part, helped shift many bands toward a 4 beat swing feel and ushered in new rhythmic possibilities.
2 Beat with the “Big Four”: A secret sauce to new orleans music
Admittedly, this might not have too much direct relevance to many dancers experience, but I think it’s important and I’ve seen lights go on in people when they hear it. The Big Four is a hallmark New Orleans rhythm. It’s a 2 Beat with a slight accent or hit on beat 4 of every other bar—felt as 1 3 1 3 4. That “extra” beat on 4 adds propulsion and swing to what might otherwise be a marching 2 beat.
Listen: “My Josephine” and “My Bucket’s Got a Hole In It.” Hear how that hit on the fourth beat of the second bar calmly breathes the music forward.
Want to go deeper? Check out Geoff Clapp’s excellent video breakdown of the Big Four. Then ask yourself: how could you use that feel in your dancing?
2 vs. 4: Mixing Feels
Bands often shift between 2 and 4 beat feels within a tune. The first chorus might be in 2 to give space for the melody, while later choruses lock into 4 for drive.
Listen: “For Dancers Only” to “Baby Won’t You Please Come Home.” My favorite example is “The Dipsy Doodle,” which alternates clearly between 2 beat and 4 beat.
The Shuffle Rhythm
The shuffle rhythm is often vocalized as DAH-da DAH-da, giving a long-short, triplet-based pulse. It’s earthy and loping, most associated with blues, boogie woogie, and Kansas City swing.
Listen: “Shuffle Boogie Blues” to “Boogie Woogie.” Then check out Basie’s “Blues in Hoss’s Flat” for a subtler shuffle embedded in a swing groove.
Blues dancers often use a step-touch movement that nicely mirrors the shuffle – so, for some of you, this may seem familiar. For me, the Shuffle Rhythm grounds me but also inspires me to pick up my feet and show those triple-steps. Try moving around to this rhythm—what does your body want to do?
Afro-Cuban and Latin Rhythms
The influence of Afro-Cuban music – or what the great composer, pianist and wordsmith Jelly Roll Morton called the “Spanish tinge” – runs deep in jazz. You’ll hear these rhythms woven starting in early New Orleans music and beyond.
“If you can’t manage the Spanish tinge, you’ll never get the right seasoning for jazz.” – Jelly Roll Morton
Clave
The clave (pronounced CLAH-vay) is a two-bar rhythmic skeleton that underpins much Afro-Cuban music. The most common are the 3-2 and 2-3 son claves. The 3-2 clave sounds like: DA-da-da, DA-da.
Listen: “Amor Y Control” for a clear clave rhythm played on a pair of claves (yes, the instrument is also called a “clave”).
In the swing era, you rarely hear full clave patterns, but the “three-side” (first bar with three hits) shows up often.
Listen: “St. Louis Blues,” and “Caravan” — all have sections with that three-side feel. In “Goin’ Home” by Fats Domino, the horns and bass articulate that pattern unmistakably – a characteristic that became a hallmark of early rock and roll music. Jelly Roll Morton’s The Crave, also shows this “Spanish Tinge” he speaks of.
Dancer tip: When you hear this groove, maybe simplify your footwork. Try a grounded step-step-hold pattern.
Waltz
Waltz isn’t a feel so much as a meter—3/4 time instead of 4/4. Many swing dancers run from from it, but don’t! If you’ve made it this far in this post, you can literally do anything—dance to waltz time!
Listen: “Jitterbug Waltz” by Fats Waller. Start there.
Application: Getting in the Groove
Once you start recognizing these feels, you can sync more closely with the music’s nuances. And you can also choose to pepper them into your own dancing for flavor. Try fitting 3-side of the clave rhythm into your swing-out. Try dancing a shuffle-y body movement over a song where you don’t explicitly hear it.
That “consistent bounce” your teacher asked you to have? That was a stepping stone. Now you’ve got choices.
A Continuum in Your Body
Stylistic borders are often drawn in hindsight. Much of the music we dance to — and the dances we do — are part of a long continuum of Black American cultural expression. From jazz and blues to funk and hip hop, these style evolve, look back, and reach forward – all to express the now. So can your dancing.
Think of these rhythmic feels as tools — ways to hear, respond to, and physically embody the music more closely. You don’t need to memorize them all. Just get curious, listen deeply, and let your dancing grow in response.
Link to the Apple Music Playlist: https://music.apple.com/us/playlist/common-jazz-rhythmic-feels-for-swing-dancers/pl.u-qG9xCyMELX
