In January, 2026 I received an email from Devon Rafanelli regarding the difference between “swung” and straight eighth notes in my medley arrangements. The question and my answer are below.
DR. My name is Devon and I am a percussion graduate student at the University of Washington in Seattle. I emailed you my freshman year of college asking about Girlfriends Medley and I am back again with a question regarding Bye Bye Medley. After listening to your performance of the piece, I noticed the difference in how you played the eighth notes and was wondering if you had any insight on how you choose when to play swung vs. straight eighths?
I’m interested to hear how you made these choices, so that I can bring that knowledge with me when I play more xylophone rags :)
BB. Hi Devon – thanks for your email. It’s an interesting topic in relation to 1920s style ragtime music. I generally use George H. Green as my reference for this issue, although I always add that I didn’t live during the 1920s, and I can’t do the Fox-Trot or Charleston. Also, there were other well-known and often-recorded xylophonists at that time, and they each seemed to have their personal nuances when it comes to triplet/dotted notes/straight feels. Green was very precise with his notation in his published solos, using each of these three styles, but when you listen to him play the pieces on his records, it’s not always so clear what differentiates them. In my medley arrangements, I did use straight eighth-notes in the rhythmic figures that are based on the 4 against 3 phrasing (double note – single – single, or its other two permutations). That’s usually what you find in Green’s pieces, as well as throughout his lesson books. I like the tension that results when that is contrasted with more melodic phrases in a triplet feel.
Having said all that, you have your own unique musical background, including a vocabulary of time feels and approaches to phrasing. Unless you are trying to copy exactly a specific historical player’s sound and style, your personal voice will probably come through in whatever you play. I’m the same way, and I was drawn to 1920s ragtime repertoire in large part because there’s a lot of latitude for improvising. I try to be aware of the tradition as far as I know and understand it, but I’m just as interested in exploring my own ideas within that context. I was lucky to be part of a group like Nexus, which always encouraged me to stretch the boundaries of any musical style.
