What Coltrane plays on a 4-bar phrase

Reader,

A couple months ago, Dave Frank joined us for a masterclass (replay). Our session ran long. Near the end, when most people had already dropped off, he mentioned "short, medium, and long phrases," and how mixing all three gives a solo real variety.

I think he was responding to Jeff's playing at the time, but honestly, I felt like he was talking directly to me. I'm guilty of playing too many short phrases back to back. So, I took this to heart and have been working on it.

Jazz phrasing works like speech. Short sentences land with punch. Longer ones have more arc. But a long sentence only works if something shifts inside it: rhythm, direction, emphasis. Otherwise it just runs on.

Most of the variety in my solos was coming from between phrases, each one doing something different from the last. But my long phrases were monotonous.

John Coltrane Example

Here's one time through the head on John Coltrane's solo on his recording with Sonny Rollins.

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Download the Transcription: Tenor Madness - Coltrane Solo.pdf​

This transcription is a lot to take in. Without getting too consumed by the notes being played, take a blurry eyed look for the phrases. You can see the variety in length. The first line being 2 short phrases, but then the last 2 lines being one long one.

I encourage you to listen to the full solo and see if you can hear these phrases throughout.

3 Things to Practice This Week

I want you to use our blues language to practice creating phrases of different lengths. Consciously take a breath between each phrase. During that break, be aware of how the line feels. Did you wrap it up completely, or leave it hanging?

1. Short Phrases - 1 bar long
2. Medium Phrases - 2 bars long
3. Long Phrases - 4 bars long

If your lines sound a bit dull or boring, explore ways to add more variety between, and within them. Vary the register of the piano and the range of the solo. Or, vary the rhythm, introduce triplets or 16ths. Or vary the direction of the line. Or, vary the starting and ending beats of the phrases. Or vary the articulation. There's many variables you can play with to unlock new sounds.

We'll dig into this together, nice and slow, at this Friday's workshop.

Friday Masterclass: This Friday we’re applying this to Tenor Madness, working through all three phrase lengths over the blues and what makes a longer line actually hold together.

You are on the list.

See you Friday, Mar 6, at 1:00 Eastern.

Happy Practicing,