JAZZ ARTICULATION (Not just for trumpet players!)

[@chasesanborn]

The concept of offbeat tonguing as discussed in this video applies to all wind players, and non-wind players might consider how they might (or do) implement it on their own instrument. Let me know how it relates to you!

[@JesseEngelGuitar]

Guitar player here, thanks for your video, I found it really eye-opening. It was helpful for me when I started hearing how players would articulate upbeats to be louder than down beats in general. It's nice how the tonguing example you give naturally encourages that. I think the analogy on guitar would be using a hammer-on a pull-off or a slide to slur, which also naturally has the second note being quieter than the first note. Of course, that also lends itself more to two notes and four notes per string fingerings instead of the typical three notes for a string fingering, but it's something interesting to practice.

[@chasesanborn]

Thanks for that. Happy to have the guitar perspective. I mentioned Bill Evans in the video--one of the things that always strikes me about his playing is how he seems able to continually vary the articulation or relative volume of individual notes within his lines. Is there a guitarist who stands out to you in that regard?

[@JesseEngelGuitar]

@@chasesanborn for modern players, it's hard to beat Julian Lage in terms of variety of dynamics and articulation (kzbin.info/www/bejne/bpKWonSmbZapj5ofeature=shared). Big fan of Jim Hall before him, who actually did a duo record with Bill Evans.

[@chasesanborn]

I'm with you on both Julian and Jim! The cut you linked is a great example not only of dynamics and articulation, but the power of restraint and space, especially in the opening. Brad Mehldau is another one I point to for those.

[@pickinstone]

@@chasesanborn Jim Hall, Julian Lage, and Bill Evans are great players who vary their articulation to accentuate the pulse and the rhythm. Glad that you mentioned in your video the need to vary articulation and not follow rules on "autopilot." I play guitar as well, and there is a habit to imitate "mainstream articulation" with techniques that lend themselves to the instrument. The issue is that the guitar is a staccato instrument when played without any effects. The tonguing technique sounds good when there is an even-ness to the note length, and that is extremely hard to come by for those of us who play guitar without any pedal effects or cranking up the reverb. So what ends up happening is this very uneven sound that hurts your time feel on the guitar if you aren't careful... Especially when we try to mimic "tonguing the offbeats" with hammer on's and slurs with everything we play. Even John Scofield didn't play like that and he put some distortion on his tone and played with more legato technique. Jimmy Raney is the king of bebop guitar, and even he didn't turn all of his articulations into a systematic articulate into the offbeats. IMO, Donna Lee can sound weaker on the guitar if we're always trying to mimic horn articulation. Similar issues on the piano--Bill Evans and Barry Harris found ways to articulate bop lines without sacrificing the groove of their playing. I hope everyone watches your whole video and heeds what you are saying--rules can fail us with articulation. Instead, think the of how accents create syncopation and push/pull the pulse. End of the day, rhythm is king and rhythm colors how our notes sound within the pulse (articulation, accents, all of that affects the rhythm of the line). Great videos as always, Chase!

[@PeterDeMarco]

I don't feel that this is brass specific. As a woodwind player this all resonates for me. It's funny, you don't really think about it too much but then you hear it broken down like this and it makes you _really_ think about it. Good practice ideas out of this. Thanks.

[@chasesanborn]

It certainly is applicable to all wind players who use our tongues for articulation, and as I said in my pinned comment, non-wind players may find ways to implement the concept on their instruments. Thanks for your comment!

[@dennisnajoom9387]

Yet an other terrific video from Chase! Man! I got a lot of work to do.

[@chasesanborn]

You've got to stop wasting time watching people clean your gutters...:)

[@dennisnajoom9387]

Just had them cleaned. Very fascinating. 😮

[@chasesanborn]

Tim Walz would approve.

[@paulc.gekker2251]

Brilliant, thank you. Interesting that the Baroque-era Italian trumpet instructional writings describe a very vocal, soft palette articulated sound, almost like scat singing for quick passages. And the Arban "tu" sounds more vocal and non-choppy when pronounced by a native French speaker.

[@chasesanborn]

Spoken language clearly influences articulation. Compare Moto Perpetuo as performed by Mendez, Wynton and Sergei, among others.

[@victormills3562]

Interesting, helpful advice, also challenging I think for me to execute those scales at your tempo

[@chasesanborn]

Practice at a speed which allows you to execute precisely. You are ingraining a technique.

[@normalizedaudio2481]

Robin Ford is talking about it on guitar.

[@chasesanborn]

Good to know!

[@orbroder1004]

Really love the video. As a classically taught trumpet player transitioning to jazz I'm sure that this video speaks to a lot of players. Being very devoted to the our trumpeter's bible, it seems very tough for me to get rid of the Arban's articulation. Is there any other book that might assist in this. it seems that none of the jazz books i found are thorough as Arban's

[@chasesanborn]

Since articulation is so individualistic for a jazz player, recorded solos represent the true training ground, and then only if we learn them by ear, because a published book of transcriptions doesn't come close to representing the articulation any more than it does tone quality or time feel. This is similarly true of the topic in this video--offbeat tonguing makes up a goodly percentage of the articulation in many players' lines (mine included), but it's the variances from the repeated pattern that really make the line interesting, a la the tap dancer analogy. As with everything related to jazz, you've got to hear it to understand it.

[@cisraels]

If I played the way your video, and many others, are edited, I’d have had no career. How can you justify giving musical advice while demonstrating breathless lack of phrasing?

[@Kevin-jj3rf]

Bro chill, if you don't like the video just ignore it or make a better one. Being salty whitout clear statements makes you look infantile. Good day sir

[@chasesanborn]

The point of editing is to impart information in a concise way, in this case how to apply the articulation to various scales. If you take exception with how I play in the final (non-edited) demonstration, or many of my other videos, that is your prerogative. Somehow I managed to have a career in spite of it, but nobody should take anything I offer on this channel as anything other than one person's perspective.

[@cisraels]

@@chasesanborn I apologize.

[@chasesanborn]

I appreciate that. I struggled to grasp what you were objecting to, which goes beyond the one video. While I edit for brevity, which does sometimes include eliminating breaths to speed up a demonstration, I never intend to give a false impression.