Swinging eighths on the piano

Question

When I play jazz on the saxophone, I use a technique I was taught called "Jazz Articulation" (I'm sure that's not its only name) which is basically an articulation where you slur every other note with a tongue in between while playing straight eighth-notes to give your sound a swing feeling.

I was also taught that "faking" swinging eighth-notes, which is basically intentionally shortening and lengthening the notes to give it a swing feel, is bad practice and should be avoided

This jazz articulation works all fine on the saxophone but on the piano, this isn't really possible as my air flow isn't controlling the sound coming out of the piano. How do I swing eighth-notes on the piano and not make it sound like I'm trying to create a "fake" swing sound?

And/or, is the advice I was told incorrect/inaccurate?

Answer 1

I've honestly never had to explain swing other than, "Hear that? That's swing. DO THAT."

You could try by starting with your 16th note vocalization:

1 e + a | 2 e + a | 3 e + a | 4 e + a

Now get rid of all e's. Then push the "a" closer to the down beat, further away from the +.

1 x + a|2 x + a|3 x + a|4 x + a

That's a rough outline of what swinged 8ths sound like. If you're European you probably use hemi demi semi quaver instead of 1e+a.

Now I know you said that you heard this method is bad practice, but that's literally what's going on. I'll refer to my Harvard dictionary of music when I have a chance to see what it says.

It would help to practice swing using other percussion instruments that are not chromatic. Even if it's just clapping or thigh slaps.

Answer 2

The concept of a "swing feel" is very much more about timing and dynamics than it is about articulation, though you clearly can accomplish an approximation of the feel by tonguing a note.