Altering chord every beat when comping.

[garybaldy]

Any suggestions regarding using a different chord for every beat for a bar/measure or two of say Cdom7th eg throwing in the odd 9,b9, b13,etc etc.
There must be some "stock" sequences that are commonly used.
Also what about m7ths
and majors for that matter-eg using aug5s? and 6ths?
Thanks.

[Sailor]

I usually alter every other beat...and then, often, it's just a different inversion or voicing of same chord...not always an altered or sub chord

Sailor

[Reg]

Think of simply voicing a melody or a groove melody when comping, use the melody to help determine how many chords your playing. As far as when or how to alter, sub or reharm... Most tunes have a harmonic rhythm... a natural flow to the harmony which reflects the tune, There are accent patterns or points where the harmony needs to imply what the tune is all about. Your level of understanding of that harmonic rhythm and your skill level is what will determine how much you can alter chords. When you alter chords, besides what I just discussed... you need to be aware of what harmonic approach your going to use to alter chords... There are many, Sub approach, modal, modal interchange, diminished etc... part of deciding what approach to use is recognizing what approach the tune is using.
The other approach is to add or alter on the weak side of harmonic rhythm... somewhat loose but works like tension release... You keep the main or basic harmonic pattern the same and simply fill in between with whatever you can. Usually develops bad habits and sounds... well you'll know by how many gigs you get called back for...Reg

[Kojo27]

Originally Posted by garybaldy

Any suggestions regarding using a different chord for every beat for a bar/measure or two of say Cdom7th eg throwing in the odd 9,b9, b13,etc etc.
There must be some "stock" sequences that are commonly used.
Also what about m7ths
and majors for that matter-eg using aug5s? and 6ths?
Thanks.

Swing players do this a lot (a chord every 2 beats), and Freddy Green did it the best.

There's a *very good* book of such arrangements (as close to Freddy style as I know of) called, "Rhythm Guitar the Ranger Doug Way." Goofy title, but good content. Ranger Doug is the ferocious rhythm machine for the Western swing trio, Riders in the Sky. But this book is 90% jazz standards - not much Western swing. Worth having.

Here's a link to how he comps "Lady Be Good" - and there are probably 20 more arrangements. This is close to how Freddy did it, I think.

http://www.box.net/shared/dxk06apsbb3aouiir4ah