Giant Steps 2026

[James W]

FWIW here I am playing my own two chorus etude which I posted above -

Giant Steps etude - YouTube

[Question]

Hi James,

you are always improving!

If you are interested in suggestions, here are a few.

The length of the notes greatly affects the swing. How short are the short notes and which ones are short/long? Deciding how a line lays well for you is a personal thing, but in any case the short/long articulation decisions in a line are something that I feel is something that will help your phrasing sound better.

Also, the dynamic difference/accent patterns in a phrase will also affect how a line feels. This is a very Be-Bop way of thinking, which may not be what you are going for. Parker is probably a good example of this inner rhythm accent concept where the dynamic difference between the accented and ghost notes is pretty extreme and helps create this poly-rhythm effect.

I have a feeling that the way that your guitar is set up, with little resistance, together with your light pick attack is the reason that the inner dynamics of a phrase are lacking a bit for me. When I watch your right hand picking motion, I feel that you might want to consider using the weight and pendulum effect of your hand more as opposed to just using the fingers in your circular picking technique to create the accents.

I know guys like Adam Rogers and Pasquale Grasso use a technique with extremely little movement, but this doesn't seem to work for my purposes. As always these are just my suggestions and there is no right or wrong ways to do it; just some things to consider.

Hope that helps!

[GuyBoden]

Unfortunately, articulation is rarely good with most Jazz guitarists.

Sax players work on articulation, a lot more than guitarists.

Sax can use 'Dah' and other sound techniques.
"This type of articulation will allow you to play smooth and flowing melodic passages."
Simple 'Dah' Sax video below.

The Basic Sax Rules (to be broken)
"Running eighth notes should be played with a very legato approach (smoothly connected), articulating every upbeat note with a “Dah” tongue and slurring to the downbeat notes. Exception: top notes of contours are always tongued and accented; when the top note is a downbeat, at least 3 notes in a row will be tongued. We never slur more than two notes in a row, but many notes in a row may be tongued if legato."

[jameslovestal]

[befiddled]

Wow! Doug Raney. The articulation he uses on this track is amazing and as close to horn-like as any guitarist I’ve ever heard. I’ll spend some time this evening, listening to more of him.