Phrasing over the Bar line - Hemiolas

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Instructor: Tom Quayle Level: Advanced Topic: Rhythm Style: Fusion

Excerpt: Hi there! Welcome to this tutorial on phrasing over the bar line! This is the first of a set of tutorials where we'll be covering phrasing and more specifically phrasing over the bar line and developing independence from bar lines in general. This tutorial will deal with the concept of the Hemiola. But before we get into that, what does 'phrasing over the b...

Media Length: 3:34

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Instructor: Tom Quayle Level: Advanced Topic: Rhythm Style: Fusion

Excerpt: So here I'm going to demonstrate how a hemiola works. I'm starting with a very simple 3/4 rhythm consisting of a quarter note followed by two 8th notes finishing with a final quarter note. This gives us an unmistakeable 3/4 sound. When played in 4/4 this 3/4 rhythm moves over the barline and starts on a different beat each time it's played before completing...

Media Length: 1:27

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Instructor: Tom Quayle Level: Advanced Topic: Rhythm Style: Fusion

Excerpt: Okay, so here we go! Here's our first rhythm. It's a simple 3/4 rhythm which we're going to superimpose over a 4/4 groove in order to make a our phrases go over the bar line. Getting the feel of 3/4 over 4/4 can be very tricky to achieve. Start by learning the 3/4 rhythm slowly and making sure it feels natural to you. Then, very slowly, with a metronome se...

Media Length: 0:52

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Instructor: Tom Quayle Level: Advanced Topic: Rhythm Style: Fusion

Excerpt: Now here's another rhythm in 3/4. The same rules apply and you'll see me improvise in double time again. By doing this you can confirm whether the rhythm has become part of your improvisational repertoire. My timing could've been better in parts of this video but I've left it in because it serves to demonstrate how precise your time has to be to execute the...

Media Length: 1:13

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Instructor: Tom Quayle Level: Advanced Topic: Rhythm Style: Fusion

Excerpt: Here's the first of our 5/4 rhythms. The same rules apply as for previous rhythms - just take your time and free yourself from those dastardly bar lines!! Again, I go double time when I improvise.

Media Length: 0:57

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Instructor: Tom Quayle Level: Advanced Topic: Rhythm Style: Fusion

Excerpt: So now we'll practice 2 different superimposed rhythms in one exercise. In this example I start with a 5/4 rhythm followed by a double time 6/4 rhythm. Both are written out underneath. Again, take your time to assimilate the rhythm first before trying to superimpose it on top of the original 4/4 groove. Remember to try to keep things as tight and natural as...

Media Length: 1:11

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Instructor: Tom Quayle Level: Advanced Topic: Rhythm Style: Fusion

Excerpt: Make sure you refer to the text and music/TAB for each example as it's often easier to 'see' these rhythms than to hear them at first. It might help to print or write the rhythms out and then identify each 3/4, 5/4 or 6/4 rhythm repeat within the 4/4 marking them off as you go. Good luck with these ideas. You can experiment almost without limits here. The v...

Media Length: 0:53

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Instructor: Tom Quayle Level: Advanced Topic: Rhythm Style: Fusion

Excerpt: Here's the backing track to practice some of these ideas over. It's intentionally very simple with just drums and bass in order to leave you plenty of space to play some great rhythms over. Having no chord changes at all leaves you some freedom to choose the tonality but the bass is grooving around a C root with a minor 7th, 4th and 5th. Try dorian, mixolyd...

Media Length: 4:06