What is swing rhythm? Some people find playing swing rhythm a little tricky. In this music theory lesson, we explain what swing rhythm sounds like, how to play swing rhythm and how to count swing rhythm. Swing rhythms appear in jazz and jazz-influenced music. Swing means, for example, that rather than playing a pair of quavers with equal length given to each note, the player or singer assigns two-thirds of the combined length to the first note and one-third to the second. Many musicians misunderstand swing rhythms by performing them as notated, rather than as a triplet formation (2+1). Others turn a pair of quavers into a dotted quaver semiquaver rhythm, thus over dotting the figure. This music theory lesson explains exactly how swing rhythms work and demonstrates how to play them in order to achieve the laid back feel of swing rhythm.