Quick Tip #2: Rhythmic Phrases

The quick tip today is about using rhythmic phrases to create some sense of purpose within your solos. In the clip I talk briefly about using this technique, but what does it mean and how would you practice this?

This topic has unlimited potential for you to explore. But for now let’s get a basic foundation for it. A rhythmic phrase could be a set rhythm or it could be, more simply, a grouping of notes. To use the clip as an example, let’s look at groups of 3 quavers.

With a quick look at the possibilities just with 3 quavers, in 4/4 time you could start the phrase on beat 1, 2, 3 or 4. Or you could start it on the off-beat of 1, 2, 3 or 4. That’s 8 different starting points to choose from! Then the next group of 3 notes could start on any one of those starting points as well. This could then create a feeling of tension or of lagging behind, or even altering the time signature, for example you could play the groups of 3 notes starting on beat 1, then beat 4, then beat 3, then beat 2 and this would give the feeling that you’re playing in 3/4 time. To practice this I would recommend playing with a backing track that you like and every bar you play starting on beat 1. Then the next time round the progression you could play on beat 2, next time round beat 3, and so on until you’ve practised all 8 starting points. This is just using quavers, but of course it could also be used with semi-quavers or triplets.

The next part of this technique is to look at what you’d play melodically. Working with 3 notes, you could play a starting note and play up, then up again (this could be any notes and the interval is not important). Or you could play down, then down. Or it could be up, then down, or down, then up. That’s 4 more variations on this. You can practice each of these options separately thinking about the direction of travel (rather than what actual notes you’re playing).

So there you have it. Unfortunately there’s not enough room to go into this in loads of detail on a blog post, but I’ve written a jazz improvisation textbook on this idea but using 5 notes, which can be found in the shop. I’ve also written one with 3 notes which is available from the shop.

Thanks for reading and watching, I hope you’ve gained some insight from this.