Definition, types, and examples of phrasing in the jazz language.
Updated 2023
Phrasing, in this post, is the placement of the melodic lines in different parts of the bar.
An effective way of organizing the phrasing is playing from weak bars to strong bars or from weak part of the bar to strong part of the bar, imitating the dominant-tonic cadence or tension-release.
Jazz Language: Phrasing
Phrasing: Forward Motion
Phrasing: from weak bar to strong bar
Willis “Gator” Jackson. “Blue Gator” (1959).
Phrasing from weak bar to strong bar. Min 0:00-4:00 and min 7:28-end.
Eddie “Lockjaw” Davis. “Comin´ Home Baby” (Ben Tucker).
Phrasing from weak bar to strong bar. Min 0:55-3:04 and min 4:12-end.
Phrasing: from weak part of the bar to strong part of the bar
Kenny Burrell. Midnight Blue (1963). “Chitlins Con Carne”.
Phrasing from weak bar to strong bar. Min 0:58.
Phrasing from weak part of the bar to strong part of the next bar. Min 2:05.
Trading bars, call and response between sax and guitar from weak part of the bar to strong part of the next bar. Min 3:50.
The silences frame the melodic lines and the melodic lines frame the silences.
Phrasing combinations
Kenny Burrell. Midnight Blue (1963). “Wavy Gravy”.
12 bar blues. Time signature: 6/4.
Alternate phrasing from weak bar to strong bar and from weak part of the bar (beats 4-5-6 of the 6/4) to strong part of the next bar.
Tip: phrasing isn´t an advanced concept, it must be studied from the beginning.
Phrasing in the composition of the jazz standard
1. “In A Mellow Tone” (Duke Ellington)
2. “A Night In Tunisia” (Gillespie-Papparelli)
Phrasing: Down Beat
Louis Armstrong. “Basin Street Blues” (Spencer Williams) (1928). Accents on down beats, min 2:36.
Charles Mingus. Mingus Ah Um (1959). “Jelly Roll”.
Jazz standard composition beginning on downbeat.
Static perception of the movement.
Kenny Werner: Phrasing Masterclass
Phrasing in bar groups depending on the tempo.
Slow Tempo: “Ballad”. From weak part of the bar to strong part of the next bar. Min 0:00.
Medium Tempo: “Days of Wine And Roses” (Henry Mancini). From weak bar to strong bar. 2 bar groups. Min 1:00.
Fast Tempo: “Milestones” (Miles Davis). From weak bar to strong bar. 4 bar groups. Min 2:33.
Up Tempo: “Impressions” (John Coltrane). From weak bar to strong bar. 8 bar groups. Min 4:09.
Kenny Werner. 1/2/4/8 Bars – Phrase And Resolutions. 5:45 min.
Catch the resolutions. Feel the resolutions.
Kenny Werner
Phrasing: Tempo Rubato
Tempo rubato (stolen time): the performer alters the expected tempo without changing the original composition.
Ahmad Jamal. “Marseille”.
1
Phrasing from weak bar to strong bar in two bar groups, with straight tempo.
2
Phrasing from weak bar to strong bar in two bar groups, with tempo rubato.
Phrasing exercises
Play over a Play-A-Long. Start with one note. Interiorize. Play melodic lines.
“When you start playing a line, an idea, you not only have to be mindful of where you´re starting from but at the same time where you´re going, where´s that line going to end, point A and B, and then you have to decide what´s going to happen in between all that, it has to be logical, how you go from F7 to Bb7, you have to resolve that, start with one lick, one idea, analize it, learn how to phrase it, once you decide that make it your own and everybody will say: “He played that like he meant it.”
Mulgrew Miller
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