Article 2 Phrasing (Copyright) Stephen Housden

In 1977 my frustration with my guitar-playing reached a peak. My imagination seemed to have shot ahead of my technique. In my head I was hearing myself playing notes from scales that weren’t yet in my musical vocabulary.

I was listening to a lot of jazz-saxophone at the time and I was envious of the way the great players seemed to be at one with their instrument. It seemed to be a direct extension of their thoughts. Not only that, they also had incredible dynamic range: unlike their mild-mannered guitar counterparts, the jazz saxophone player could build up, during a solo, to a raging aggressive wail just like a rock player, except the sax player seemed to have more control and use a more interesting choice of notes.
Don’t get me wrong, I love listening to a great jazz guitarist, but in a rock situation its the jazz sax lines I could always imagine being played on guitar.

At that time I was playing in a 10-piece band (The Marcia Hines Band). They were all excellent players and it was a great opportunity for me to learn.

One piece of advice that sticks in my mind was to do with how to think when you’re improvising. I was talking to our saxophone player, Richard Gawned, and telling him how I would love my playing to have the flow that good sax players have. Instead of telling me to transcribe sax solos and practice, he said this: “Think in phrases and the notes will follow.”

In other words, tell your fingers what to play rather than playing old patterns out of habit. Focus on what you want to sound like.Don’t be distracted by mistakes and for that matter don’t be distracted when you play something exceptionally well either. Listen to the ideas in your head and play them. If you play rhythmically what you hear in your head, the notes will eventually fall into place. Naturally this won’t happen overnight, in fact it’s an on-going process. Once you have achieved one goal you will find another and on it goes. Some of the goals I was aiming at 20 years ago with my playing took me years to achieve and things are still falling into place. That’s what keeps it fresh and exciting.

Improvisational goals work on a different level to technical goals. A technical goal can be achieved with disciplined practice, in other words, if your timing is bad, practice with a metronome. In a few weeks you’ll notice a difference and so will your fellow band members.

Improvisational skills depend not only on technical practice but practice at achieving the right state of mind in all situations including those where everything goes wrong.

If I’m playing badly it’s usually because of one of two things: I’m trying too hard, or I’m not trying at all. Once I become aware I’m doing one of these things I go back to thinking in phrases and things start to fall into place. Good playing can only happen when you’re focusing on the present moment. You may have to remind yourself to do this night after night but with persistence it will come naturally.