[Dixielandjazz] phrasing

[LARRY'S Signs and Large Format Printing]

Really good points Jim especially the part about speaking a line vs. singing
it.

So far as commas are concerned the player needs to occasionally put a big
comma over the music where the breath is and that's for a BIG breath.  You
learn this if you play Bari sax much.

I was actually looking at it from the soloist / small combo angle where the
music if it exists isn't marked and neither are solos.

I have great difficulty remembering words to songs but this isn't a problem
but I do know that for a lot of guys this is a real help.

A lot of phrasing is intuitive and some people just never learn.  I
understand that the first time a person does a tune that the phrasing might
be a little off but after that the player should have it nailed.

Section phrasing in a big band is something else where top notch listening
skills are needed to match the lead players phrasing.  After awhile you get
favorite lead players or you learn their phrasing.  It's hard to get it
right if you are playing in a new band or with a new lead player unless your
ear is glued to the lead player.  This is a chair that I never play because
you need someone who is very accurate rhythmically and phrases correctly who
will play what the music says.  This is typically not a jazzer but a more
classically oriented player.  I have always been a lead tenor player in big
bands which is an entirely different set of skills.  Section people can't be
independent of the lead player if it's going to work right.  This is
especially true in soli lines.  I tend to interpret music constantly and I
just can't turn it off but when I'm in a section I'm a great follower.  If I
were the leader of the section I would be doing the same thing which would
confuse the section.

Anyone who is in charge of personnel of a big band needs to know what each
chair's requirements are, what each player does best to have a good section
that can phrase together.  Trouble is too many leaders just want a body to
fill the chair.  I work occasionally with an alto player who is dead on with
his phrasing, articulation and rhythm patterns.  He is a joy to work with
but he can't play a jazz solo worth a hoot but that, typically, isn't his
job. His sections swing and are tight because he's solid.
Larry Walton
St. Louis
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Jim Kashishian" <jim at kashprod.com>
To: <dixielandjazz at ml.islandnet.com>
Sent: Wednesday, July 20, 2005 1:10 PM
Subject: [Dixielandjazz] phrasing


>
> Larry wrote:
> It's like talking in complete thoughts that have meaning to the listener
so
> it's not just a string of notes played for a certain length of time.
>
> A musical phrase is very much like a speaking phrase.  I find it amazing
> that so many singers breath at the most unusual places, but if they were
to
> speak the vocal, instead of sing it, they would never, ever breath in that
> spot.
>
> Good to know the words of songs, also, even if you're honking it.  The
words
> will hint as to where the breathing should be.
>
> Remember the charts that used to have the breathing marks, using a small
> coma at the top of the notes?  I always found those useful, and of course
> worked well in a big band situation.
>
> Jim
>
>
>
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