Introduction

The term “phrasing” has many musical applications. Players of every instrument (including voice) use the term, adapting it as appropriate to the instrument.

For this lesson, which deals with phrasing in hymn playing at the organ, phrasing may refer to either or both of the following:

• PHRASING THE TEXT--the division of the text into meaningful parts, called “phrases” or “sentences.”
• PHRASING THE TUNE--the division of the music into meaningful parts or “phrases.”

Phrasing either text or tune involves the idea of dividing a larger number of items into smaller “meaningful parts.” In both text and music this is accomplished by the idea of breathing.

We must breathe between phrases of text for both survival and comprehension. Following that human model, we should breathe between musical phrases (even though our fingers do not necessarily need air) for the sake of “natural phrasing.”