https://www.arijayealexander.com/transcriptions daily 0.75 2023-08-11 https://www.arijayealexander.com/transcriptions/jazz-vocal-phrasing-and-the-importance-of-rhythmic-variation monthly 0.5 2023-06-12 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/6212959eb472991143afa78f/d21e9cec-ac27-4fb1-bc67-e5ef962daae1/Screen+Shot+2023-06-12+at+9.56.13+AM.png Transcriptions and Thoughts - Jazz Vocal Phrasing And The Importance of Rhythmic Variation - Make it stand out Similarly, in “Figure D” Ruth Etting again places every word in a stressed position except the one actually naturally stressed word “don’t.” Holiday, on the other hand, places “don’t” and “left in stressed positions as shown in “Figure E.” https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/6212959eb472991143afa78f/33adbdf6-b54a-4b08-b2a8-5af8761732d9/Screen+Shot+2023-06-09+at+6.24.12+PM.png Transcriptions and Thoughts - Jazz Vocal Phrasing And The Importance of Rhythmic Variation - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/6212959eb472991143afa78f/e18d1aff-992d-46bb-8a2e-538827ace10c/Screen+Shot+2023-06-12+at+10.15.21+AM.png Transcriptions and Thoughts - Jazz Vocal Phrasing And The Importance of Rhythmic Variation - Make it stand out Outside of rhythmic gestures, Holiday interacts with the lyric, melody and harmony in ironic and inventive ways. She uses the major 7th in the key to create melodic tension as seen in measure 9, 24 and 27. For measure 24 on the D major chord (the one time the V/V chord occurs in the form) the “B” is tension 13. This creates a lot of tension during the end of the B section, and she resolves this melodic and rhythmic tension on the last A where she sings 3 downbeats in a row on the 3rd of the key on the lyrics “it must be” in measure 26. Holiday also uses the blues to embellish the melody. The most notable place is measure 15 which is a bit tongue in cheek as she is singing about the blues literally. Further, measure 29 is also notable for being the only place where she sings the call and response contour from the “written” melody. Nevertheless, she is not singing the original melody notes here as she sings the b7 of the IV chord (F chord) on the lyric “for”; she is still incorporating the blues and loosely paraphrasing the original melody. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/6212959eb472991143afa78f/6906718b-1d2d-4237-877b-b9310153b624/Screen+Shot+2023-06-12+at+10.11.35+AM.png Transcriptions and Thoughts - Jazz Vocal Phrasing And The Importance of Rhythmic Variation - Make it stand out Beyond singing behind the beat, Holiday also utilizes back phrasing in interesting ways that stretch and condense the melodic phrases. “Figure J” displays how Holiday starts most phrases a quarter note or more later than the the written, intended melody; however, she almost always has the backend of the phrase aligned with a downbeat. This is genius and creates even more rhythmic push and pull throughout the form. Not only is she interacting with the melody, the rhythm of the lyric and the band but also the overall form. There are so many dimensions to her sense of rhythm and the way she articulates it. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/6212959eb472991143afa78f/ba975ffd-350f-4b76-93e2-32ae92808b57/Screen+Shot+2023-06-12+at+10.27.22+AM.png Transcriptions and Thoughts - Jazz Vocal Phrasing And The Importance of Rhythmic Variation - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/6212959eb472991143afa78f/f866a222-214d-412e-9a6b-a5c8e517c54b/Screen+Shot+2023-06-12+at+10.10.26+AM.png Transcriptions and Thoughts - Jazz Vocal Phrasing And The Importance of Rhythmic Variation - Make it stand out In Figure I, we see how Holiday largely abstains from this melodic contour. This also further supports my idea that she is more focused on bringing out the natural rhythm of the lyrics as this call and response contour gets in the way of the natural rhythm. The Teddy Wilson Orchestra emphasizes beat 2 and 4 in their groove, so gauging that Billie Holiday is consistently behind the beat is fairly easy. Therefore, it must also be taken into account that my transcription is only trying to clarify which rhythms she is implying rather than what is occurring metronomically. Contrasting to Etting’s tight beat, Holiday’s beat greatly varies. She constantly switches up which triplet subdivision she accents, and this creates a very fluid, conversational feel, and when she actually sings on the downbeats it feels incredibly compelling. The push and pull between her being in phase and out of phase with the band creates tons of forward motion. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/6212959eb472991143afa78f/44dd47a7-8362-44d6-82c1-edac9c4936d9/Screen+Shot+2023-06-12+at+10.13.56+AM.png Transcriptions and Thoughts - Jazz Vocal Phrasing And The Importance of Rhythmic Variation - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/6212959eb472991143afa78f/c4d00a37-2cdc-4895-a322-8a7215fa665b/Screen+Shot+2023-06-12+at+10.07.55+AM.png Transcriptions and Thoughts - Jazz Vocal Phrasing And The Importance of Rhythmic Variation - Make it stand out It is also worth noting that she and the rhythm section perform a straight feel on the B section which creates a contrast to the A sections (Figure G). Again, other than a call and response with a clarinet that continues a triplet figure, she is still more or less in sync with the band and not utilizing rhythm as a tool in her vocal phrasing. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/6212959eb472991143afa78f/7e4d3d39-0c7b-48df-bb95-6d3ae5941d10/Screen+Shot+2023-06-12+at+10.01.05+AM.png Transcriptions and Thoughts - Jazz Vocal Phrasing And The Importance of Rhythmic Variation - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/6212959eb472991143afa78f/ea66af92-af51-47a4-999f-f80fb0564224/Screen+Shot+2023-06-12+at+10.26.01+AM.png Transcriptions and Thoughts - Jazz Vocal Phrasing And The Importance of Rhythmic Variation - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/6212959eb472991143afa78f/5422f617-b283-4403-a6dc-957fe458d932/Screen+Shot+2023-06-09+at+6.27.06+PM.png Transcriptions and Thoughts - Jazz Vocal Phrasing And The Importance of Rhythmic Variation - Make it stand out Moreover, the quarter note triplets from the first and second A in “Figure A” highlight how she devotes the same three unstressed syllables in both sections. Then, her stressed syllable on the lyric “mean” and in the following “say,” sound incredibly emphatic and intentional. There is really no way that she could have stressed these stressed words in a more musical manner. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/6212959eb472991143afa78f/28b9ca62-a739-4a7e-911c-e06734107bb1/Screen+Shot+2023-06-12+at+10.27.28+AM.png Transcriptions and Thoughts - Jazz Vocal Phrasing And The Importance of Rhythmic Variation - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/6212959eb472991143afa78f/fc4b8d25-a9a5-4cee-b9d1-102e8af497a1/Screen+Shot+2023-06-12+at+10.25.55+AM.png Transcriptions and Thoughts - Jazz Vocal Phrasing And The Importance of Rhythmic Variation - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/6212959eb472991143afa78f/970f1bbe-1894-4a10-ab1a-6db346e654f9/Screen+Shot+2023-06-12+at+9.58.20+AM.png Transcriptions and Thoughts - Jazz Vocal Phrasing And The Importance of Rhythmic Variation - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/6212959eb472991143afa78f/056c01a4-0c45-4f17-9916-f02bf7fdceef/Screen+Shot+2023-06-09+at+6.31.32+PM.png Transcriptions and Thoughts - Jazz Vocal Phrasing And The Importance of Rhythmic Variation - Make it stand out Notice how in “Figure B” she has pronouns on every stressed syllable and the verbs are all on up beats (Figure B). Contrarily, notice how Holiday places all of the pronouns in unstressed positions and the “don’t know why” is all on stressed syllables. Holiday is using her downbeats sparingly, but this in turn makes them emotionally effective. https://www.arijayealexander.com/transcriptions/what-if-ella-fitzgerald-and-sarah-vaughan-took-a-solo-on-giant-steps-an-etude-quick-study monthly 0.5 2023-03-15 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/6212959eb472991143afa78f/0f232933-7f8d-4132-88f4-74c4a64f27a9/Screen+Shot+2023-03-13+at+3.26.27+PM.png Transcriptions and Thoughts - What if Ella Fitzgerald and Sarah Vaughan Took a Solo on Giant Steps? 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