Jazz Phrasing Exercises for Guitar


In this jazz guitar lesson, you discover 6 exercises that expand your phrasing vocabulary over any jazz standard. 


One of the popular questions I get is, “How do I know when to play lines now that I know how to solo over jazz chord changes?”


To answer this question, I’ve designed phrasing exercises that you can use over any ii V I, jazz blues, or jazz standard progression in your practice routine. 


Apply any/all of these exercises jazz tunes you’re studying to instantly level up every solo you play over that tune. 


A mature sense of phrasing makes everything you already know sound that much better in a jazz guitar soloing situation. 


Listen to greats such as Miles Davis and Jim for examples of how these exercises are applied to a real life, musical situation.

Jazz Phrasing Exercise 1 - 2 + 2


To begin, you solo over the first two bars, and then rest for two bars. 


Though it’s not that fancy on paper, you might be surprised how challenging it can be to stop soloing at a specific bar in every 4-bar phrase. 


When you know that your lines end on a specific beat, it forces you to be succinct in your ideas. 


As well, you play in sentences with a defined starting and ending point, rather than randomly noodling until you find something that sounds good.

Jazz Phrasing Exercise - 2 + 2 (2)


Now we’ll reverse the previous exercise, as you rest for two bars and then solo for two bars. 


Though it’s similar to the first exercise, you might find yourself flipping the order if you aren’t careful, by soloing over the first two bars instead of resting.

Jazz Phrasing Exercise 3 - 1 + 3


Now, after working on even phrases, you break up the four-bar phrase into unequal sections with 1 bar of soloing and 3 bars of rest. 


Here, you solo for one bar and then rest for three bars. 


But. 


Don’t think of the rested bars as wasted space. 


Instead, use those bars to plan. 


Think about what you want to play next and hear a line in your head. 


Then practice bringing those sounds into your solo over the first bar of each phrase. 

Jazz Phrasing Exercise 4 - 1 + 1 + 2


In the next exercise, you start with a bar of rest, then solo for one bar, followed by rests in the last two bars. 


By doing so, you focus on placing your lines in non-traditional places in the phrase. 


Because this might be new, feel free to count, either in your head or out loud, to keep your place when soloing in this exercise. 


As well, record yourself to check that you’re soloing in the right place. 


Sometimes with these phrasing exercises, you get lost in the form and don’t know you’re off the form in the moment. 


Recording is an effective way to check your progress and accuracy with oddly phrased exercises such as this one.

Jazz Phrasing Exercise 5 - 2 + 1 + 1


The next phrasing exercise has soloing in bar three only, with rests in bars one, two, and four. 


In this exercise, you count 75% of the time when running it over a backing track. 


Because of this, use that counting time to plan your next line. 


It will be tough to plan at first, but with time you’ll find yourself planning every line you play. 


First by thinking through the line, then hearing it in real time. 

Jazz Phrasing Exercise 6 - 3 + 1


The last phrasing exercise uses 3 bars of rest followed by one bar of solo in each four-bar group. 


Remember, since you have a long time to wait to play in bar 4, use the first three bars to think ahead and plan the notes you’re going to play. 


Are you going to play loud, soft, in the upper range or lower range, will you use scales or arpeggios or a bebop lick


These are the things that you can think about and hear ahead of time while you are leaving space. 


Remember, it’s not just empty space. 


It’s time for you to engage in the music, make choices about your next phrase, and take the sounds from your inner hear onto the fretboard. 

As you can see, these are straight-forward exercises on paper, but they are tricky to apply. 


And. 


They’re worth the effort, as they produce big results when applied to any jazz standards you’re learning.