Swing music, or simply
swing, is a form of American
music that developed in the early 1930s and became a distinctive style by 1940. Swing uses a strong
rhythm section of
double bass and drums as the anchor for a lead section of
brass instruments such as trumpets and trombones,
woodwinds including
saxophones and
clarinets, and sometimes stringed instruments such as
violin and
guitar, medium to fast
tempos, and a "lilting"
swing time rhythm. The name swing came from the phrase ‘swing feel’ where the emphasis is on the off–beat or weaker pulse in the music. Swing bands usually featured
soloists who would improvise on the melody over the arrangement. The danceable swing style of
big bands and
bandleaders such as
Benny Goodman was the dominant form of American popular music from 1935 to 1946, a period known as the
Swing Era. The verb "to
swing" is also used as a term of praise for playing that has a strong rhythmic "
groove" or drive.