I need help from all musicians in the world to find a universal word for what we in Sweden call "sväng". If you translate "sväng" into english it really means "turn", but in music it means that the music has a groove that makes you want to dance or at least nod your head up and down. Great musicians are often able to create great "sväng", but all you need is one musician in the band who is playing in a different style, and then there is no "sväng" at all.
You can have different opinions on "sväng". In my opinion there is a lot of "sväng" in music that comes from James Brown, Aretha Franklin and many of the african american gospelchoirs. Other people prefer the "sväng" in Rockabilly music or Country or other. I also like music with no "sväng", like some of the progressive artrock. Rush, Yes and Genesis are groups that I like a lot (their music from the 70´s), but there is no "sväng" in the music (except maybe "Yyz"with Rush and "Roundabout" with Yes).
The english closest word I know is "groove", but if we're splitting hairs the actual swedish word for groove is "stuk". The groove describes the certain feeling and rhythmic sense of a song, where as the "sväng" is just there or not. You can have a good groove or a bad groove, but with "sväng" you have it or you don't. Spanish people also talk about groove, or sometimes "sentimiento" which is better explained as "feeling". "Feeling" is vital for "sväng". First you have "feeling", then comes the "sväng". In german there is also groove, but I have not heard a german word which is close to "sväng". Maybe the english word "swing" is the origin of "sväng", but today it is two completely different things.
So are swedish people the only people that like to talk about "sväng"? Is there a word in another language which is similar, or should I try to implement "sväng" into all other languages? Or can we live without it?
You can have different opinions on "sväng". In my opinion there is a lot of "sväng" in music that comes from James Brown, Aretha Franklin and many of the african american gospelchoirs. Other people prefer the "sväng" in Rockabilly music or Country or other. I also like music with no "sväng", like some of the progressive artrock. Rush, Yes and Genesis are groups that I like a lot (their music from the 70´s), but there is no "sväng" in the music (except maybe "Yyz"with Rush and "Roundabout" with Yes).
The english closest word I know is "groove", but if we're splitting hairs the actual swedish word for groove is "stuk". The groove describes the certain feeling and rhythmic sense of a song, where as the "sväng" is just there or not. You can have a good groove or a bad groove, but with "sväng" you have it or you don't. Spanish people also talk about groove, or sometimes "sentimiento" which is better explained as "feeling". "Feeling" is vital for "sväng". First you have "feeling", then comes the "sväng". In german there is also groove, but I have not heard a german word which is close to "sväng". Maybe the english word "swing" is the origin of "sväng", but today it is two completely different things.
So are swedish people the only people that like to talk about "sväng"? Is there a word in another language which is similar, or should I try to implement "sväng" into all other languages? Or can we live without it?
If Duke Ellington was Swedish he might have said, "It don't mean a thang if it ain't got that sväng", Maybe "swing" in the 40s was closer to what you are describing, more than just an underlying triplet feel, but something that grooves and gets people dancing. There's a famous recording of Ellington teaching upper class white people how to snap their fingers on the offbeat-- how to swing. Now I would say "groove", the feeling when the whole band is playing as one and the sound is exciting. In Spanish (at least Latin America) there's a word "tumbao" which expresses the same thing: a kind of feel for the groove that you can't write on paper. You either have it or you don't.
SvaraRaderaHi there!
SvaraRaderaWell this is hard to explain for sure!
One of my 'mentors' in Music is Victor Wooten [ www.victorwooten.com ] In 2008 he wrote the book "The Music Lesson - a spiritual growth through Music"
http://themusiclesson.com/FirstMeasure/page14.html
On this page he talks about groove and I think he gets pretty close to the Swedish 'sväng'
Please read the whole chapter here if you want:
http://themusiclesson.com/FirstMeasure/Page1.html
…and why not buy the book as a paper back or maybe a digital download to your Kindle or whatever device you might use!
I can also recommend that you check out one of his camps that are held outside Nashville, TN.
I did! It was a really nice experience and a fresh look at learning to play Music!