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Comping: NYC Jazz Guitar Masterclasses

The document discusses the art of comping in jazz guitar. It explains that there are two fundamental skills for comping: controlling harmonic movement and stacking notes to accentuate specific tones. The focus will be on the first skill. There are four basic types of harmonic motion that have been used for centuries: dominant, diminished, chromatic, and diatonic. Musicians who have developed strong control of harmonic movement enjoy comping more and can find many ways to navigate chord progressions, while those who have not get stuck playing the same changes. Rules for each type of harmonic motion are provided.

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Shuai Li
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194 views2 pages

Comping: NYC Jazz Guitar Masterclasses

The document discusses the art of comping in jazz guitar. It explains that there are two fundamental skills for comping: controlling harmonic movement and stacking notes to accentuate specific tones. The focus will be on the first skill. There are four basic types of harmonic motion that have been used for centuries: dominant, diminished, chromatic, and diatonic. Musicians who have developed strong control of harmonic movement enjoy comping more and can find many ways to navigate chord progressions, while those who have not get stuck playing the same changes. Rules for each type of harmonic motion are provided.

Uploaded by

Shuai Li
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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NYC Jazz Guitar Masterclasses Jordan Klemons

Comping

The art of comping can best be broken down into two fundamental skill sets…
(1) Controlling harmonic movement
(2) The ability to stack different sets of notes on top of each other to properly embrace
and accentuate specific notes… voicings

Next week, when we study melodic triads, we will look at the second skill. But this week
is a deep dive into skill #1 - harmonic movement. In order to help you work develop,
strengthen, and master this skill set, we’re going to take a look at the time tested forms
of harmonic motion. The stuff that great composers, arrangers, and accompanists have
all known and used for hundreds of years.

There are four basic types of movement that chords naturally follow which have been
used from Bach and Mozart, up to Duke Ellington and Count Basie, and all the way up
to Kurt Rosenwinkel and Brad Mehldau. There are, of course, more than four types of
ways chords can move, but when we look at the time-tested harmonic techniques
employed by composers, arrangers, improvisers, and accompanists… these four
techniques stand out as the most powerful and effective tools to master.

They are - dominant, diminished, chromatic, and diatonic.

Once we know the basic rules that govern each of these four harmonic movement
types, we can create exciting, spontaneous, alternative pathways through any chord
progression. In order to focus as much of our attention on chord movement as possible,
we will not worry about any advanced voicings or voicing techniques. Instead we will
focus entirely on the simplest chord voicings available in jazz - shell voicings. Later we
will discuss more advanced chord voicings. But during our harmony week, we will only
be studying chord movement.

Musicians who haven’t yet developed a strong control of harmonic movement…


- Get stuck playing the same real book changes chorus after chorus when comping
- Usually do not have fun comping, don’t like doing it, and will avoid it if possible
- If there is another comping instrument in the group, they will let the other person take
control of the harmony and not get into the mix
- Comp with a weak sense of time and authority
- Are constantly listening to the soloist and trying to mimic every phrase of the soloist
to make it seem like they’re paying attention, when often it’s because they can’t think
of anything exciting or creative on their own to add to the mix
NYC Jazz Guitar Masterclasses Jordan Klemons

Musicians who HAVE developed a strong control of harmonic movement…


- LOVE comping for others!
- Find great enjoyment in letting the soloist take the spotlight while they take the
responsibility of propelling the soloist forward… like the wave carrying the surfer to
shore
- Can find countless ways to navigate through chord progressions and never feel stuck
to playing the same chords, inversions, or voicings over and over and over
- Can accompany themselves in a solo guitar or piano-less trio setting as comfortably
as they can accompany another soloist
- Can nerd out so hard on harmony and improvising intriguing harmonic movement that
they can “play basic chords” (not chord melody) during their solo, and people will still
dig it and think it sounded amazing

DOMINANT MOVEMENT RULES


- You can insert V7 chords to resolve to any target chord
- You can insert the tritone sub (bII7) to resolve to any target chord
- You can precede either of these dominants with either of their ii-7 chords

DIMINISHED MOVEMENT RULES


- Dim7 chord resolving UP a half step (strongest resolution, most common)
- Dim7 chord resolving DOWN a half step (next most strong, next most common)
- Dim7 resolving to a static root note (least strong, least common)

CHROMATIC MOVEMENT RULES


- Whatever target chord you want to approach, you can do so from above or
below chromatically using the same chord quality

DIATONIC MOVEMENT RULES


- Whatever target chord you want to approach, you can do so from above or
below diatonically
- This can involve inversions, harmonic and melodic minor, and mode mixture

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