Loco Motion - 02/2002

By Dickey Betts

The Art of Phrasing

I'd like to start this column by saying a few things about the importance of phrasing. Phrasing is, simply, the way in which a melody is articulated. Phrasing a melodic line properly entails things like the loudness or softness of each note in the lick, and where each note sits in relation to the beat-behind the beat, ahead of the beat or square on the beat-as well as every possible aspect of how a melody line is "spoken" on the instrument. On the guitar, articulation includes the use of bends, slides, hammer-ons, pull-offs, a combination of all or picking each note individually. I've always drawn a close correlation between guitar lines and vocal lines because the same musical e lements come into play whether one is singing a line or playing it on the guitar. One aspect common to both instruments that comes to mind is "scooping" into a pitch: when singing a melody, it's not uncommon to sing a note by starting a bit below the "target" pitch and gliding up to it. On the guitar, we can emulate this scooping sound by bending a string. When I bend notes, I tend to play behind the beat a little bit. I'll start a fret or two below the pitch I want, and I'll bend up to the note so that the desired pitch comes in just behind where the downbeat falls. To me, this gives the guitar line more feeling and emotion than you get when you play right on top of the beat or in front of the beat. (When playing at a fast tempo, you'd want to play in front of the beat a little.) To hear what I mean, try playing the examples shown in FIGURES 1a and 1b.

Figure 1A MP3 Figure 1B MP3 In FIGURE 1a, each bend falls squarely on the beat; in FIGURE 1b, the bends are purposely played behind the beat. Experiment with this idea using bending licks of your own.

Another important factor in phrasing is the use of vibrato. More than any other factor, a good vibrato can really give a guitar line a nice vocal feel. To begin developing a controlled vibrato, start by fretting any note on the guitar and pick it using no vibrato whatsoever. Then, add a slight amount of wrist vibrato by holding the note firmly with the tip of the finger, anchoring the edge of the fretting hand against the bottom side of the neck and rocking the wrist back and forth in a steady, even manner to bend the string slightly. Whether you're bending and releasing the note slowly, quickly or somewhere in between, strive to keep the sound of the vibrato even and uniform. Then, try the same thing using bent notes. The result is definitely worth the effort, though, as this is one of the most pleasing kinds of vibrato on the guitar. Another type of vibrato forearm vibrato: after a note is fretted, the forearm and wrist are held stiff and the entire arm shakes back and forth, essentially using the weight of the guitar for leverage. When using this type of vibrato, leave some space between the palm of the fretting hand and the back of the neck. Again, try using different speeds with this type of vibrato. Let's take a deeper look into phrasing ideas using the six-note hexatonic scale that I outlined in last month's column. FIGURE 2 illustrates the A major hexatonic scale (A B C# D E F#) in the fourth position. I like to think of the major hexatonic as my "major" scale because it's a scale I use often when soloing over major chords. The A major hexatonic scale is essentially the A major scale (A B C# D E F# G#) without the seventh, G#.

Figure 2 MP3 Another way of approaching this scale is through the use of its relative minor. If I'm playing in the key of A, I'll shift down three frets to the relative minor, F#, and play F# minor pentatonic with the inclusion of D, the minor, or "flat," sixth. FIGURE 3 illustrates how these two scale patterns overlap each other. Using the relative minor scale in this way affords me another way of looking at the guitar neck when improvising. Figure 3 MP3 I don't think about any of these things when I'm actually improvising - I just let my ears lead the way! At this point, my playing has developed to the point where I naturally combine a variety of scale positions within any given solo. FIGURES 4a-c show different examples of how I'll connect A major hexatonic in the fifth position and its "relative minor" position three frets lower. Connecting scale positions in this way can really open up a lot of new creative ideas.

Figure 4A MP3 Figure 4B MP3 Figure 4C MP3 Next month, I'll demonstrate how to add chromatics to the mix. See you then. Visit Dickey Betts on the web at: DickeyBettsBand.com