Effects of swing on music appreciation: A study on perceived impressions of various swing ratios

Abstract

Swing is a musical performance technique, whose magnitude is indicated by the swing ratio. This study examines the effects of swing on music-listening appreciation. In Experiment 1, 21 participants were presented with synthesized performances with three swing ratios, and were asked to rate their impressions using the semantic differential method. The results show that there exists a certain relationship between swing and the affective evaluation of music and tempo. Experiment 2 explored the relationship between swing and melody, another dimension of music, in perceived dynamism and preference for swing. Two musical instruments were used: piano and drums. Twenty-two participants were presented with synthesized performances and were asked to rate the degree of dynamism and their preference using Scheffé’s paired comparison method. The evaluations for five swing conditions were similar for those performed by the piano and by the drums. The discussion looks at the swing ratio and its psychological attributes as well as the relationships of perceived impressions of swing to tempo and musical instruments.