Technique Tuesday is a collaboration by Lauren Pierce and Double Bass HQ that explores techniques from Lauren’s best-selling books, Scales, Scales, Scales, Please Play in Tune, and Basstudes.
Over the next four lessons, we’ll dive deep into one of the most crucial aspects of musical expression: phrasing. Specifically, we’ll explore how to build a phrase that truly communicates with your audience.
Step One: Choosing the Height of Your Phrase
The foundation of effective phrasing begins by choosing the height of the phrase. The height is where we place our emphasis, and it’s similar to how we naturally speak.
Emphasizing In Your Speech
Think about this sentence: “I didn’t steal your cheese.” Now consider the same words with different emphasis: “I didn’t steal YOUR cheese.” Both sentences contain identical words, but the meaning shifts based on where we place the emphasis.
The same principle applies to musical phrasing—emphasis gives our musical sentences their meaning and emotional impact.
Putting It Into Practice
Let’s examine this concept using the opening from the second movement of the Dragonetti Concerto. This piece provides a foundation for understanding how phrase height works in practice.
The Freedom of Choice
Here’s the exciting part about phrasing: you get to decide where the height is.
There’s no single “correct” answer—it’s an artistic choice that shapes the entire character of your performance.
In our Dragonetti example, we might choose to make the highest (pitched) note in the phrase our height. Once you’ve made this choice, that note becomes your “watershed note”—the pivotal point around which everything else revolves.
Using Your “Watershed” Note
Once you’ve identified your watershed note, the phrasing structure becomes clear:
- Everything before that note moves towards it
- Everything after it moves away from it
This approach creates a natural arc that listeners can follow intuitively, making your musical storytelling more compelling and organic.
Your Assignment
Take this concept and run with it! Whether you’re working on the Dragonetti Concerto or any other piece, experiment with different heights and emphasis points. Try placing the height on different notes within the same phrase and notice how it changes the entire character of the music.
What’s Next?
In our next Technique Tuesday lesson, we’ll explore specific techniques for building towards those heights using time—how to manipulate timing and rhythm to make your phrasing even clearer and more organic.
Until then, keep experimenting with different phrase heights. Remember, there’s no wrong choice—only different artistic expressions waiting to be discovered.
Happy practicing, and I’ll see you next time for another Technique Tuesday!
This post is part of our four-lesson series on musical phrasing. Stay tuned for upcoming lessons on building towards phrase heights, dynamic shaping, and bringing it all together for maximum musical impact.
For more of Lauren’s insights, visit her Technique Tuesday series and sign up for the Double Bass HQ newsletter to have the series delivered to your inbox each week.
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