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Don't Play So Many Notes....

Hey everyone,
I was just thinking/talking about phrasing and how many notes one can fit into a phrase.
I always remember teachers and mentors telling me to play fewer notes when I was in school, however I would listen to them play and there would be 4 million notes in a single measure. What i've learned since that time is that they should have told me to concentrate on phrasing. To Me, phrasing is the difference between an enjoyable and engaging solo/composition and an un-enjoyable one.

Basin Street Blues (Take Two) - Billy Novick & Ed Saindon (home video)

Guys, here's another version of Basin Street Blues for comparison. There are some different left hand comping techniques in this clip versus take one.

Some of the techniques include single note guide tone lines. For example, on the second last bar of the tune (Bb Bb7 Eb Eb-), I'm bringing out the line of Bb, Ab, G, Gb to F going into the last bar of Bb. Using the guide tone lines, we can play fairly sparse while still sounding the changes.