To master phrasing, start by ignoring the bar lines
Did you know that you already know everything you need to know about phrasing?
That’s right: far from being a murky, elusive concept best left to singers and pianists, phrasing is something you already do quite naturally. Just not when you have a violin in your hand! At least, that’s how I feel much of the time…
But then I go back to the spoken word, or to simple songs, and I remember how deeply ingrained the phrasing impulse is in all of us. To prove it, all you have to do is to sing “Happy Birthday” and you’ll see what I mean.
In fact, I invite you to sing it with me! But we can do a lot more than that. I’ve prepared a set of three songs for you, and I’d love for you to download them so that you can mark them up in a brand new way.
Then play them along with me, just to prove to yourself how easily you can phrase any song… whether it has words or not. Just tell me where to send the PDF:
And to lead you through the process, yours truly:
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6 thoughts on “To master phrasing, start by ignoring the bar lines”
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Thanks for sharing this, it’s what I have Recently been thinking about. Adding phrasing and better tone to my music.
Many thanks.
Hey there, loving this video. When I print the sheet music, it’s cutting off the actual notes, leaving staff lines and the top lines of the notes. It looks as if the lines are being printed too close together. Is this an problem on my end or are others having this issue? Never seen this in a PDF. Many thanks!
Yes, I’ve occasionally seen that behavior depending on what program opens the PDF. Seems to defeat the purpose of a “portable” document format, but I’ve seen it a time or two! Glad you were able to see it correctly in Preview, that’s what I would have suggested.
NEVER MIND! I opened it in preview and was able to print it correctly from there.
This is so helpful and clear. Thank you very much for sharing!