Backphrasing


hunter60
Humble student
Joined: 06/12/05
Posts: 1,579
hunter60
Humble student
Joined: 06/12/05
Posts: 1,579
05/04/2007 11:36 am
Are you familiar with this term? I've seen it pop up in several books on the blues and interviews with blues players and yet I can't find a decent explanation for it. I've been trying to work on my 'phrasing' and this one threw me for a loop.

Next, maybe someone can explain how to get a decent vibrato....
[FONT=Tahoma]"All I can do is be me ... whoever that is". Bob Dylan [/FONT]
# 1
ChristopherSchlegel
Guitar Tricks Instructor
Joined: 08/09/05
Posts: 8,328
ChristopherSchlegel
Guitar Tricks Instructor
Joined: 08/09/05
Posts: 8,328
05/04/2007 2:51 pm
Originally Posted by: hunter60Are you familiar with this term? I've seen it pop up in several books on the blues and interviews with blues players and yet I can't find a decent explanation for it. I've been trying to work on my 'phrasing' and this one threw me for a loop.[/quote]
I remember someone years ago using this term in a conversation. I think what they meant was actually called playing behind the beat.

One can play ahead of the beat, on the beat, or behind the beat.

Imagine a ruler and the inches mark the perfect passage of some increments of time. So as an example:

- Playing ahead of the beat would have you playing a note on the 15/16th before an inch mark.
- Playing on the beat would have you playing a note right on an inch mark.
- Playing behind the beat would have you playing a note on the 1/16th after an inch mark.

This implies that there is a steady pulse to play against; sometimes a band provides this, sometimes just as an implied tempo (hard!). Meaning that you have to be aware of where the pulse or beat actually is so you can play "around it". Many blues players typically employ "laid-back phrasing" to get an "elastic", or "swinging" sound.

The best examples, to my mind, are of jazz pianists like Art Tatum, Erroll Garner or Duke Ellington. They would sometimes do these beautiful swing things wherein they would play downbeats with their left hand in the bass and then with their right hand play slightly behind or ahead of the beat to build tension. Then, have their right hand "catch up to" their left hand thereby releasing the tension of the line.
[QUOTE=hunter60]Next, maybe someone can explain how to get a decent vibrato....

The best thing to keep in mind about vibrato is to bend, wiggle or shake the note (i.e. change it's pitch) in time with the music of the song. You can do it as 1/4, 1/8, or 1/16th notes. You can do it as 1/8 note triplets or whatever division you desire. But do it in a way that is relevant to the tempo of the song.

Hope this helps.
Christopher Schlegel
Guitar Tricks Instructor

Christopher Schlegel Lesson Directory
# 2
hunter60
Humble student
Joined: 06/12/05
Posts: 1,579
hunter60
Humble student
Joined: 06/12/05
Posts: 1,579
05/04/2007 6:44 pm
Thank you sir. Good explanations. I will keep working on it. :)
[FONT=Tahoma]"All I can do is be me ... whoever that is". Bob Dylan [/FONT]
# 3

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