Swing (1930-45) Bebop (1945-50)

Purpose Dance music Art/Listening Music

Drums Bass drum on beat Ride cymbal on beat

Piano Stride Piano Comping

Chords Shell (Bud Powell) voicings
Right hand soloing

Guitar On the beat strumming Single lines with electric guitar

Bass Walking bassline Walking bassline

Size & Big Band Small group

Focus Focus on overall feel or groove Focus on individual virtuosity

Solos Arpeggiate 7th Chords Arpeggiate Available Tensions

Warm, lyrical Superimposition
Largely diatonic Vibratoless
Use of exotic scales
Largely 8th note runs
Start phrases off the beat

Harmony Simple Harmony - 7th chords with natural Complex Harmony -

tensions ♭5, ♭9, altered dominants, tritone
Largely diatonic with lot of ii-V-I’s substitutions)
Much more chromatic

Rhythm Even and predictable Complex & quasi-unpredictable accents

Mix of short and long duration Short note duration notes
 Swing (1930-45) Bebop (1945-50)

Melody Use of repetition Limited melodic cues and repetition

Lyrical & smooth Improvisational Phrases
Clearly outlining chords Complex, angular, irregular, asymmetrical,
Regular, symmetrical, with some serpentine
syncopation Predictable melodic contour
Easy to sing Harmonic outline less obvious
Difficult to sing

Composition Largely arranged Largely improvised

Tempo Slow to medium Fast paced with lots of notes

Rhythm Keeps the beat & plays the chords Interactive

section