Hi,
I'm reading on classic and basic rhythms this week and I'm having some problems with them. Probably there is not a definite answer because all the styles I'm considering are quite similar and some ones became from others.
The main problem is with the boogie-woogie. Is it played with swing? Is it swing the correct term or must I use shuffle? By hearing some YouTube videos it seems some players do it but originally and according some sites it is a simple 4/4. If it is used, the difference between boogie-woogie and blues is very narrow.
Now, the classic rock and roll (Little Richard & Co). Sometimes the rhythm is similar to the boogie-woogie. Is the difference, perhaps, in the basic chord progression?
All types of explanations, tips, books or references are welcome. I already read the Wikipedia and my Spanish theory books do not cover those topics. :?
Thanks in forward.
The difference between styles can be pretty thin - you'll find people argue endlessly about the differences between death metal and black metal, etc. But maybe I can help a bit.
"Boogie" refers to the style originated with boogie-woogie piano players in the early 20th century: the left hand played a repeating riff, while the right hand took the melody. When the chord changes the bass riff moves to a new root, but the basic riff remains the same. So if you play something like this, it's a boogie:
-------------------------------------------------
-------------------------------------------------
---------------------------------------5-6-5-----
-------5-6-5-----------5-6-5-------4-7-------7-4-
---4-7-------7-4---4-7-------7-4-5---------------
-5---------------5------------------------------- etc
Boogies are often (but not always) played in straight eighths.
A "shuffle" is a subset of boogie - the pattern remains the same, but you're simply bouncing back and forth between two or three notes (or intervals - shuffles are commonly done with double stops on guitar). Shuffles can be done with broken triplets or straight eighths - or more even complicated rhythms with some syncopation; the thing that makes it a shuffle is the moving back and forth. So this is a shuffle:
-----------------
-----------------
-----------------
-2-2-4-4-2-2-4-4-
-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-
----------------- etc
"Swing" is when eighth notes aren't played as eighths - although they're written like eighths, they're performed like broken triplets. A lot of sheet music will write out the broken triplets, but I really think "swing" isn't a rhythm as much as an interpretation - the music is played with a loose feel.
Both "boogie" and "shuffle" refer to what a bass line does - whether it's done on piano, bass, or guitar. But "swing" refers to what the whole band does.
Classic rock tends to use both boogie and shuffle patterns, and it tends to use them in straight eighths - that's one way rock diverged from blues, which more often used broken triplet rhythms or dotted-eighth-and-a-sixteenth rhythms. The early classic rock tends to use one or both of two chord progressions: the I-IV-V of the blues, or a I-vi-IV-V. You'll even find tunes that combine both, using one for the verse and the other for the chorus.
Hope that helps.
Guitar teacher offering lessons in Plainfield IL
As usual, you explained it perfectly. I think I was trying to oversimplify and there are several links between them. At least, I understand the basics now.
Thank you very much!
