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What is the difference between the 2? I think I know what dynamics are: loudness or softness of a note. But what about phrasing? Somebody said it's how you let notes breathe, but I am not sure what that means.
Phrasing is a more broad term that might included tone, vibrato, technique approach (how you attack or play or sing a note), connecting the notes with ligado vs detaching them with staccato, etc. We can admit that timing and dynamics play the biggest role in what will distinguish how a phrase is played of course. Dynamics really are just louder vs softer executed notes. It is impractical in many cases to signify one soft note, two loud, 5 VERY soft, one VERY loud, etc, especially with fast notes. That IS dynamics but most of the time dynamics refers to a general arc of a long passage getting louder or softer gradually or all at once suddenly. So the nuance of that language might favor "phrasing" to distinguish those to gradual or sectional dynamic approaches. But again, this is just a language issue and getting very very specific always clears things up.
here, "the PHRASING of your compás or rhythm playing will be the result of tempo+dynamics+technique (which strum pattern)". In spain they use "aire" and "soniquete" or "pellizco" in equally vague manner, lacking specifics. Hope that helps.
Although it has come to mean all the things Ricardo mentions, the essence of phrasing is the grouping of sequences of notes to clarify meaning in the music. This may refer just to written phrase marks in the music, or to the various means a musician uses to communicate that grouping in performance. The 'breathing' is a singer's breathing, the commas and periods in the lyrics.
Although flamenco hast strict rythm and rules, you are flexible inside that rule in your expression (length of notes, accents, silence, how you build tension and how you resolve that tension, etc.). Dynamics (loud, soft, etc.) serve phrasing and not the other way around.
The 'breathing' is a singer's breathing, the commas and periods in the lyrics.
Right, as in taking the breath or pausing is related to timing/rhythm, and the actual breath of singing vowels becomes "intensity" or dynamics (loud or soft). Since I am into both playing and singing, I often get a sense of "gearing up" mentally as I am performing in order to execute a difficult passage (perhaps the fast picado is coming, or the high held note that we don't want to run out of breath on produce a similar anticipation).
Phrasing is a more broad term that might included tone, vibrato, technique approach (how you attack or play or sing a note), connecting the notes with ligado vs detaching them with staccato, etc. ... timing and dynamics play the biggest role
'Phrasing' is the meaningful rendition of music (chiefly melodies), comparable to an intelligent reading of poetry - the separation of continuous melodies into smaller units varying in length from a group of measures to a single note. 'Articulation' refers to the technical components used in this division, as referred to above. (Harvard ).
But, though articulation will of necessity be used in phrasing, 'music' is that which results from the unidentifiable communion between the sensitivity of a player and instrument, other humans in the vicinity etc. It's not a combination of techniques. Words like honesty, listening (to yourself too) and giving are more appropriate than technique.
Frank Zappa once said 'make a jazz noise here'. Ditto flamenco - "oh look, I've emphasised a note and this one is a bit later than it should be. My phrasing (like my hair) must be looking good in the back!"
Guitarists are not great at this, as they mostly value technique, but think of Ella Fitzgerald, Frank Sinatra. Miles. I doubt they studied the individual components of phrasing much.