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Fig. 4 1 2 3 4
Figure 4 The above tab demonstrates visually how a swing feel impacts timing. Strict time plays directly on the beat, while swing time delays every other note a bit. Swing feel 3 is the dotted quarter/eighth note feel, which really emphasizes the swing. Feel 2 is the triplet approach - dividing the beat into 3rds and playing on the 1st and 3rd divisions. Feel 2 falls somewhere in between this and strict time and would actually be a bit difficult to notate.
fig 5
fig 5
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The V chord is also called the '''''Dominant chord'''''.
G C
V I
The above example is pretty boring, both to listen and to play. Let's get into strumming.
C |G |C |G |C
q q q q |h q q |h h |h. q |w
So admittedly this isn't the most entertaining chord progression or strumming pattern, but it adds more variety than figure 2. The chord changes each measure. The first measure is just 4 quarter notes - there is no rhythmic variation, just a direct on-beat strum. The 2nd measure mixes it up a little, using a half note for the first two beats, then 2 quarter notes to finish the measure. This gives a bit more emphasis to the downbeat.
The third measure has a note duration we haven't talked about yet. This is a ''dotted half note''. '''Any note that has a dot behind it gets 1.5x its normal lengh.''' So a dotted half note lasts as long as one half note + one quarter note. A dotted quarter note lasts one quarter note + one eighth note. In this case, the dotted half note takes up the first 3 beats of the measure. The final measure is just a whole note on the C Major chord.
There are no strict rules to a swing feel. You may choose places where you abandon the feel and play strict time. You may overemphasize or underemphasize the swing feel by making the first note far longer than written or just a touch longer.
Strict Time -x-----x-----x-----x-----|
Swing Feel 1 -x------x----x------x----|
1 2 3 4
Similarly, sometimes musicians play ahead or behind the beat (even on the 1 and 3 beat, not just the 2 and 4). This means they are technically off-time, but if done very subtly, it sounds musical instead of sounding like a mistake.
Another way to make simple chord progressions more interesting is to play a ''bass/strum pattern''. This is where you play the bass note on one beat, then strum the rest of (or whole) chord on the next.
C G C
E----0-----0-|---3-----3-|0--------
=== Inversion Bass/Strum ===
C C/G C C/G G G/B G G/B C
E----0-----0-|---0-----0-|---3-----3-|---3-----3-|0--------