Guitar Phrasing Explained - The Basics

This weeks guitar lesson is Guitar Phrasing Explained - The Basics. If your solos sound like scales, or you simply want to improvise in a more musical manner, this lesson is for you. We'll be covering ideas such as motifs, call and response, leaving space, acquiring vocabulary, and how to change that vocabulary on the fly. Although basic, these concepts are the secret to better guitar phrasing and the best way to take your solos to the next level.

📚 Lesson Chapters
0:00 Intro Jam
0:37 Lesson Overview
1:13 What's A Motif?
2:19 Phrases
4:16 How To Acquire Vocabulary
6:55 Motif Demo
7:15 Call And Response
8:32 Call And Response Demo
9:01 Leaving Space
10:39 Modifying Phrases With Pitch
11:22 Modifying Phrases With Pitch Demo
12:53 Modifying Phrases With Rhythm
13:26 Modifying Phrases With Rhythm Demo
13:53 Modifying Phrases With Articulations
14:31 Modifying Phrases With Articulations Demo

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[OlicanaMusicGuitar]

Got any topics that you would like me teach? Let me know!

[isaiah.s]

dude i’m not even joking, this genuinely the most helpful video on phrasing i’ve ever seen. The whole language analogy was way more helpful than i thought. Thanks man!

[hitesh_blues]

John Mayer; "It’s my failure to sound like my heroes that’s allowed me to sound like myself.” :)

[john]

Thanks for this lesson. After ages of pratting about trying to copy others note for note, or just rambling, this has given me a real lightbulb moment. Again thanks.

[evilmikeb]

I’m 60+, and just learning. I think you’re explanation of phrases and everything in this video is helpful and inspiring. Thank you.

[JacksonSanders]

In awe of how much I’ve absorbed from this video. I’m in the process of learning my third language and memorizing all the notes on the fretboard so you just set off some fireworks in my brain. Thanks for taking the time to make this!

[mskima]

There are now so many good musicians on Youtube who gives 'good' lessons that helped normal players all over the World. Players like myself who'd benefitted massively, learning new things and also correcting our mistakes or flaws. God bless all you amazing people for helping us. Also, this video could be shortened to just 5 - 7 minutes minus the unnecessary examples, telling personal experiences or off topic jokes and short stories !!! THANK YOU.

[Multiabuse]

What a great metaphor - copy the "words" that speak to you. As you master the language, you end up using the words you once blatantly copied, but now they reflect your own take on the story.

I can't tell you how inspiring it is to have someone so young take the central pillar of my own approach and "phrases" it so perfectly that I now better understand my own methods. I've told students for 30 years to steal EVERYTHING, and the more they steal from different sources, the easier it is to find their own voice.
They way you explain it works on so many levels. BRAVO!!

[Sd-yokd]

I've been watching guitar instruction videos since YouTube was invented and this is my favorite

[Luketheripper]

As others have said, you just helped me understand a huge part of my problem with soloing. I think I’ll be advancing more than I’ve ever been able to. And it’s all because of the way you described this.

[niguel]

Just watched Rick Beato interviewing Andy Sommers. He said you can be a great guitarist without understanding phrasing and leaving spaces. So I went in search and found your video. Many thanks for explaining so well.

[donweightman]

Humble enough to use a Squirer, kudos mate

[streetlegal]

Lots of great tips in this to keep in mind. Another one would be emphasising a certain note or note within a phrase - just as people use emphasis in their speech patterns. Also just playing the melody lines from songs - and think the words when sounding the notes.

[phayzyre]

This here is the meat and potatoes of playing guitar and the way you explained it was excellent! Guitar scales are important but just going up and down a scale all the time leads to boredom. Knowing how to apply them like he’s doing here is the key to breaking out of a redundant scale pattern boxes and actually making music.

[therealremo]

Yes, my old band partner and I used to always play one acoustic set per night, and we used to do a similar thing that we called 'yes or no'.
We pick a key and one of us would start with a phrase and if the other person liked it it repeat it for usually about eight bars and then in enhance it or completely change it. Sometimes we do it with a cover, Paul Simon's 'Me and Julio Down by the Schoolyard' worked well!
Thank you for stirring a fun old memory for me!

[ancient_living]

Mind == Blown ! I think this is the best secret of music language given to us so easily. No one has evr put it like this...This is how one should train and think about training !!

[frankdardano]

Phrasing is the only way to sound original. Copying to use a lick, is just that, copy, but if you can put it together in your language on guitar, its a part of you, l like the way you think, you must be gold to beginners!

[zenlandzipline]

This is a great video. This guy is awesome.
One thing I would like to point out is that when speaking words in conversation, we pretty much do it chromatically. There isn’t a big variance in pitch. It’s more like done in micro pitches. When people speak using a high variance in pitch, it’s called “singing”.
So, basically I’m just saying that emulating a singer on your guitar would be more beneficial than emulations of conversation.
Just a small point, really.
I loved the way this guy uses analogies to connect ideas.

[starfighter]

This was a great video. I learned so much very quickly. I had no idea what phrasing was. Now I think I can actually do it.

[deeminor]

First of, u r a fantastic guitarist! U make it look easy! Your explanation was very lucid and gives a logical base or discipline to playing. Thank u so much.