👉What is the best way to work on Phrasing? What helped you the most? Content: 0:00 Intro - Notes vs Phrasing 0:43 Simple examples no chromaticism or hip scales 1:02 Example 1 - Dynamics and articulation 2:00 Example 1 without phrasing 2:21 Analysis - Legato 3:34 The Most important rule for bop phrasing 4:13 Example 2 4:29 Analysis 4:45 Getting into you playing - Learning Phrasing 5:19 Bebop Themes 5:52 Au Privave analysis 6:28 Learn to play it with a (good) recording 6:49 Transcribing - Learning Solos by Ear 7:19 How I learned by checking out solos 8:14 What solos have you checked out? 8:37 The most effective tool to understand your own phrasing 8:45 Like the video? Check out my Patreon Page
For me, just trying to stay very relaxed somehow helps with the phrasing. Imagine a beginner at a jam session who is tense and sweating bullets, petrified about how he/she is going to play - it will probably be not so great from a phrasing perspective even if they make the "correct" notes (I remember I would sometimes miss the string!). When you're relaxed, it seems you're more receptive to the sound as opposed to the execution. Just my .02.
Thanks as always Jens. I think I've learnt a huge amount on phrasing from Miles Davis, Esbjorn Svensson and Henry Johnson. Obviously only Henry is a guitarist but I dont think that matters. It's the feel and the space between the notes that really makes a difference
One thing that helps me with phrasing is singing along as I listen to music and when I practice. Singing forces me to use my ear and immerse myself in the music in an active way. It has done great things for my playing in terms of learning and creating new ideas. I think that as guitarists we can sometimes forget how much jazz phrasing was influenced by singers and wind players.
Just listening to you talk and how you say it is spot on. Not too slow and you get bored, and not too fast whereby you lose the whole point. Thanks for your time and sharing.
Big YES! It ain't just the notes! It's the phrasing! Speaking of phrasing, I love the video but... You may have missed one vital piece to the puzzle: phrase length. Standard phrases last two measures or four measures in length. What I've learned in the never ending quest to play jazz is that it's not how you start the phrase, it's how you END the phrase. A great way to practice this skill is to set your metronome to give you a click every 8 or 16 beats. The math isn't too involved. To play 2 measure phrases at 120, you would do 120/8 (because there are 8 beats in two measures of music). That would give you 15bpm (you need a metronome that can go into the single digits for this exercise). This way, you teach yourself to internalize how the SPACE of two measures of music sound like. This exercise REALLY helped me with my phrasing, but it was really challenging for me at first (still is).
This was a really good video for me as a beginner in jazz guitar. The first half was gratifying as you spoke about things that I am already doing and then the second half showed me where I could go next.
Thanx for sharing your insights & experience ! Always interesting videos. I used to play trumpet and the solo that got me hungry for improvisation was Chet Baker playing Autumn Leaves. For guitar i got hungry because was when memorizing Kenny Burrell's 'Gee baby, ain't i good to you' I love the sexy, smooth sound and conversation in his playing. The way he plays it, makes it sound like songs played in those stripjoints of the 40s. I also like his piece called 'Be Yourself'.. such an awesome theme & solo.
I've transcribed quite a few tunes by great players (and also many lesser known). For example, one of my favorites is "West Coast Blues" (Wes), a great tune in ¾ time. I am sure that the transcription and playing of great solos has had a subconscious effect on me. That said, I've found it difficult to distill that into a concrete foundation that I can draw on in my own attempts to solo. This is where your videos have been so helpful to me. Your focus on the various facets of jazz soloing, and practical approach to working on these has helped me a lot. It has provided a kind of meta structure that has helped me analyze and think about the phrases I've come across during transcription. That's been invaluable... Thanks, Jens!
This video reminds me of a phrase my old teacher said "the only guitar that sounds good is a practiced one." granted that his sentiment was referring to brand allegiance and price but I feel it is synonymous with the point in this video that it's not what you play, scales and guitar type, but how you play it that is the importance. Take the time to make friends with your instrument and it's scales. After all, baking a cake is never fun if you've no idea of the ingredients - it all becomes motivating once you know the parameters.
I notated and performed Donna Lee in school last semester. It's a good song to see how Bebop looks and sounds. I practice playing off beats as a daily warm-up using the metronome and start lines on the 4+ and utilizing upstrokes to keep it going, though it's easy to go back to the one when changing strings.
This is a very good lesson. Its been too long now, but when I was in high school choir, I now remember the amount of time that we spent on phrasing and dynamics. In fact, I think we usually learned the basic song structure within a few minutes. the rest was dynamics. weeks and weeks of it.
"Time After Time" by Chet Baker. It' so simple and yet so effective. My teacher (Nathan Hiltz) suggested that and my ability to actually learn it was a great confidence booster too.
I'm used to learning solos by ear, I think it's excellent for the phrasing and when that becomes part of your playing, you become a better Guitarist, for sure !
I started out on banjo and wanted to play jazz. There's an album called "New Dimensions in Banjo and Bluegrass" (Eric Weissberg, Marshall Brickman, Clarence White) Brickman's solo on Shuckin' the Corn, an Earl Scruggs 12 bar blues, was so jazzy, with 5 note phrases and outside harmony. I learned it note for note. Phrasing is the thing.
Thank you Jens. It's interesting to me that I already do a lot of these things intuitively. But it's really good to kind of understand what's going on so that I can analyze it and improve
The first time I sat down to learn a solo from a "classic" tune it was Donna Lee, and it really affected the way I play and I pay much more attention to what I'm playing (even if it's not in a jazz context). I grabbed the Omnibook and I had it on my screen while I played the tune off of youtube, when there were parts I didn't quite get by just reading the chart, I went to the audio, and after learning a phrase from the chart I played it over the tune to try and get it sounding as close as possible.
Thanks yet again Jens for sharing a brilliant insight with a view to a better understanding of how to approach jazz in an inspiring and methodical way 🎸😊
Fantastic video Jens.This is what we always come to learn,its all about phrasing and delivery,play the music first,study the harmony 2nd,you have to sound authentic for yourself and the listener too.Im a sax player and the tune that unlocked the door for me was a cover of an Al Green tune. The solo is very arpeggiated,but sounds lovely.It was easy to pick out the arpeggios and it was actually quite startling to realise that you could build a great solo,even sticking to the chord tones.For me it illustrated the transition between an exercise being put into a musical form.You do great work on here.
Great! Transcribing by ear the tunes that are originally played not on a guitar is super useful to master the phrasing & dynamics, you can learn from other instruments and then apply it on jazz guitar
The first solo I learned by ear was Miles Davis on 'Straight, no Chaser' live from 1958 Newport. Just on CD - I didn't have internet back then - now it's much easier with you tube, being able to slow things down!
I've started to transcribe and just finished one with "Route 66" 12 bar blues sung by ilya serov. Jazz is really my thing, but I've been told by many professionals that starting with a 12 bar blues is a good way to ease into improvisation. I actually transcribed the melody because I like the phrasing of how he sang it and then I added a walking bass line to the tune. As you mentioned, I practiced some of the improv part by playing it instead of writing it down. Something I noticed is that when he improved with his horn, he simply played a G minor blues scale, but he did it in such a way that it had a catchy sound. Anyhow, your video has influenced me to do more solo practice by just listening and emulating what I hear. You have given me so many things to work on and think about!
Thank you! I think I'm getting a little obsessed about it. Sometimes I get so into it, that it's already almost dinner time and I later realize that I practiced right through lunch time. It's great if you happen to be on a diet! Does that happen to anyone else?
My favourite solos that I enjoy working on (both sax solos so not sure how useful they are for guitar practice) are Joe Henderson on Song for my Father, and Dexter Gordon on Watermelon Man. Lots of motif development. Not too difficult for us beginners. :)
EXCELLENT, YOU DA MN JENS !!! I’m still very much a guitar novice, but one solo that I have been working on is the tenor solo on Mingus’s Goodbye Pork Pie Hat.
Phil Dawson that is some great phrasing on that number! He makes good use of space which is something so often neglected in jazz guitar but His Black Orpheus solo is a good example of how tidy and deliberate space makes a solo sound. Jim Hall always nails it though 😁
I'm more of a composer, but I've been wanting to get into improv and jazz world, and this was very eye opening (as simple as it is) for writing solos or some melodic lines and my practice on guitar.
I have been DYING for a lesson like this. Thank you so much for starting diatonically and building the phrasing from there. It really helps rockers like me get hip!
Jens I love Miles' solo on "Ah-leu-cha" from his " 'Round About Midnight" LP. IUt is a model of succinct phrasing, balance and space. There are a lotta cool devices in cadences using the #5 . The bridge is all long tones. For guitar what to do? Maybe play sustaining notes and not be afraid of space. Mebbe play long notes in tremolo. A solo with similar devices is Miles "No Line"on the "Collector's Items" LP )
Hi Jens; Excellent video-concise. I appreciate this, as I do all of your videos. I'm must beginning the jazz guitar journey but I think the song that most caught my attention, and that I attempted to learn by ear, was "So Little Time" per Kenny Burrell.
Great video. Would love to hear your take on Larry Carlton's version of "So What" on his "Last Night Album". The note choices are intriguing and Larry's phrasing is very inventive, and it needs to be since the piece is basically an open sound canvas.
The solos that I recommend to anyone, are the ones from Joe pass. He definitely knew how to keep a solo interesting with a lot of variety of techniques and ideas.
This was GREAT Jens, THANKS! I've always subscribed to the theory that it's phrasing that makes you recognize a player vs. the "tone is in the fingers" theory. I think what's most important is to play what you hear and how you hear it, in your head. The problem for me is changing what I hear in my head (too much pentatonics). LOL! As for solos, I could choose at least 100 each from Wes and Kenny Burrell, but a good one, amongst many others he's done, is Lee Ritenour's solo in "78th and 3rd", from his album "Rit's House". Cheers, MB
I agree that you have to play what you hear, but I do also very often have to help students to be able to hear the right things by giving them lots of listening and transcribing homework
I record my practice sessions to see what areas I need to improve. One of the areas is phrasing. A frequent problem with phrasing is lacking expressiveness. I will take out my keyboard and play the bars where I had the most trouble. Playing the phrases on the keyboard usually results in a solution for how to play it on guitar. Another way is to transcribe the phrase and sing it as someone like Chet Baker would sing it. As Jens says in this video, higher notes are often accented, and louder. A phrase should have an arc like a story. You need to have enough variation in dynamics to keep it interesting.
Man, I'm still so far off from being able to learn a jazz solo by ear :-) I'm working on my ear a lot lately but I am still working on simple little melodies from like children songs. Thanks for all your wonderful tips Jens, really enjoy your videos and attitude to teaching. As an aside, your inlay at the third fret is really interesting, depending on the angle it almost disappears from view! Really weird.
Something I also like to keep in mind is that phrasing is a bit like speech. When we talk, we naturally use a lot of dynamics, hitting certain syllables louder and others softer. If we didn't do that we would sound really flat and robotic.
When we speak, we (hopefully) also stop and listen frequently. I'm trying to learn how to do this in my playing, i.e., not fill up every measure with eighth note phrases. Any recommended songs that demonstrate good use of pauses and space in between phrases? So many of the great soloists seem to play non-stop start to finish, yet my instructor admonishes us to take pauses, create space, think about what you're "saying", and listen to the rhythm section while soloing.
Hi Jens, Here's a link to a song you might like. It has a foundation in Jazz, but is actually referred to as the "House Music" genre of music. It's a tune which I don't think you would ever come across if I didn't give you this link. Have you ever heard Jazz being used in this way before? Here's the link... ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-etNVutmfXKI.html The song is called "Wake Sally Baker" by "Wattie Green". The theme kicks in at 1 min 14 seconds into the song.
Great video Jens. I've always thought the main differences between different types of music was in the approach I mean there r only 12 notes no matter what style u play but it's like u said it's how u play those notes.
These lessons are so helpful. I was wondering if u can recommend a standard that would be good to nail from start to finish so I have an actual song to practice along with all of these other excellent lessons. Thanks !
a question from a new to jazz person - Accent the off beats . ok but other lessons also suggests that chord tones sounds best when played on down beats and passing tones on off beats. i mean aren't we then accenting the non chord tones then??
Nobody is saying that you can't play a chord tone on an off beat. Maybe think a little about that 🙂 (and practice some arpeggios in 8th notes in between 😁) I don't agree that it is a rule that passing tones have to be on an off beat, that doesn't fit with solos if you analyze what is played. The way you think about it now, you have put yourself in a corner where you can only emphasize the downbeat. Does that sound like the Jazz music you listen to? 🙂
@@JensLarsen That good dont worry Only i want when you do the exercise at the guitar make them slow also then fast. I dont konw play jazz but you make me like this rythme. Good teacher God bless you
Hello! I've found your channel after listening to a few jazz albums :) Congrats for your work, clean editing and how you play! I've studied piano for around 8 years by taking lessons (solo lessons, not in a school). I remember that years ago I stumbled upon a jazz tutorial mentioning that a way to obtain "jazz musical scales" (if that makes any sense) was to get any major one and then apply the alterations as if the first note was actually the second one of the scale (e.g.: D major but played with no alterations since D is II of C major). This method actually made a couple of classical pieces I studied sound jazzy and I was happy and amused (even though after watching the video... it's all about HOW you play^^) Unfortunately I never studied the subject apart from that but I always enjoy listening to any Jazz record, especially the vintage ones with the LEFT/RIGHT panning of the mix. Might consider getting something you're offering on Patreon! Any suggestions for a """pianist""" to start with?
Glad you like the lesson. If you are just starting out then maybe check this out: jenslarsen.nl/how-to-learn-jazz-guitar-suggestions-to-begin-studying/
@@Hicky33 When you practice you need to hear the band and the chords inside. A backing track works against your timing and ear training. Just make your own, use those for a bit and then just a metronome. You will get a lot further like that :)
This is beautiful Jens:) what you do think makes Stan Getz phrasing so wonderful?. I've learnt his stella by starlight one and his solo on desafinado by jobim and even thought they different tunes, when you hear it , it just sounds getzy:) hahah. Think he's kinda always making the changes prominent but there's just sth that makes him sound so marvelous like that, do you know where to start looking besides his recordings? :) beautiful video Jens as always, thank you for your teachings and your loving attitude towards sharing everything:)
I recently transcribed a Dexter Gordon solo from his song Devilette. I learned that how relaxed and laid back you can sound at medium fast tempos by just learning his phrasing. The song is around 160bpm and he plays it with such a relaxed feel. Here is a sample of me playing his solo along with the tabs. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-Ade4FQkXxWs.html Thanks for the great video, I your ideas and practice tips are a great help to me. Phrasing is something I need a lot of work on. Thanks again.
Jens good job breaking down this sometimes esoteric concept. One of the solos I learned was the first couple of choruses of West Coast Blues. It is amazing how many concepts are packed into these two choruses. Listen at ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-Lvf2e6hm9lU.html
@@JensLarsen Exactly. I am just now finishing Music Theory 3 and it is quite complex and I am finding that I am only gaining the most superficial aspect of the possibilities, but it is more than I knew before. I now I can appreciate J.S. Bach that much more.
