simple and best comping lesson but a question

[busterr]

Free Jazz Guitar Lessons : Upper Structure Triads

After studying this lesson i can now comp better than ever, 9ths, 13ths etc, etc on minor major and diminished chords

does anyone have a link to more of this type of thing .More specifically how much more complicated does comping get and where do i begin.

This lesson has added a huge demsion in a short time but again where do i go from here to learn more.I am realizing that i am a rhythm and chord finatic.

[FatJeff]

Kind of depends where you are at right now. Do you know all your Drop-2 chords (I mean all)? Can you change them at will to create extensions and alterations? That's the basic place to start.

I found Fareed Haque's TrueFire comping course to be excellent - pretty simple, but very powerful, and the biggest thing I got out of it was that you've gotta really have the feel in your bones. Practice with a metronome on beats 2 and 4.

Another thing I found is to not overdo the USTs. Keep it simple, and try to connect the melody line of your comp (the highest note) smoothly.

[tonyknight]

Hey Fatjeff - I'd thought about ordering Fareed's course - I guess you are recommending it given the price and all? My big problem at the moment is that no matter how many chords I know, my comping either goes towards bossa, fingerstyle or back to rock/blues! It's like it's on autopilot and its pssing me off :-)
Tony

[FatJeff]

I know a bunch of chords too, although I always tend to fall back on the old favorites. I found the simple approach in the TrueFire course to be refreshing. I spent a good amount of time this summer learning basic two-voice chords for maj, min, and dom in a couple of places on the neck, and used those to comp standards by sight out of the RealBook. I'm comfortable enough with it now - after a moderate amount of work - to where I can reliably comp through just about any tune even if I haven't played it before. These voicings also totally stay out of the way of other instruments. I've been working on adding extensions (e.g. 9th, 13th, #5, etc) to the basic voicings, and coupled with what I already know, and some knowledge of substitutions, I think my comping is way more hip than it used to be.

I forgot to also pimp my other favorite comping book: Amazon.com: Barry Galbraith - Guitar Comping: Barry Galbraith: Books If you take the time to go through some of these and really absorb them, they are a goldmine.

[Reg]

There are stages guitarist go through in that quest of comping in a jazz style. Maybe if I put info in a game formant... more will get into and understand.... Anyway, usually start with open position chords, basic triads and 7ths.... Then we move on to movable and bar chords... still triads, 7ths and now maybe some 9ths. And we begin to realize there are different styles of chords... Maj., Min., Dom., diminished, whole tone and and my god chords built on different scales... Usually at this point we get into to it. We organize and develop movable chord forms built from all scale degrees with roots on 6th, 5th, 4th and 3rds strings. We get our inversions down, begin to search for hip voicings, begin to use arranging techniques to develop organizational methods to categorize and create terminology yada yada.... This all great and at some point we get to that point of where we know and can hear our fretboard and understand how chords are constructed.
Now we're actually ready to learn how to comp in a jazz style. When we see changes for jazz standards, any jazz tune. Unless there is a written out part, or something implying a specified part or style... The changes are usually simply giving you harmonic info. Telling you what harmonic concept and where the tune is pulling from. The source of harmonic and melodic concepts. ( need some history and lots of listening)
What's happened in the last 20 or 30 years is.... 1) the notation is getting sloppy... The changes are full of notational mistakes, miss spellings and the person or program doing the notation is unaware of what the changes actually mean... and 2) the players are also unaware of what the changes mean, the many approaches and methods of controlling implied harmonic content. ( What are the chord tones and tensions and what makes them work together).
So an example could be... changes are, Bb-7 Eb7, C-7 F7, Bb-7 Eb7, Abmaj7. There not telling you to play basic guitar chords... There simply giving you basic harmonic info to use with the melody and soloing... something to start with.
Your job as guitar comping is to recognize the chord patterns and with quick analysis with melody included.... decide on what approach and style your going to use. The actual change, Bb-7 really has very little to do with what actual voicing you play. Could be Bb- anything, as long as it works with approach your using to comp with. For most jazz players, it's simply represents a collection of pitches. The actual notes I play is determined by my lead line and how I voice below. I don't so much play chords... I play lines, melodies, counter melodies, groove melodies...voiced below from harmonic areas. As i say quite often, one chord change may represent a entire "Chord Pattern", and each new chord has a relationship with the implied harmonic area from my quick analysis, approach and style. Many times the original melody notes will not be in actual chords... But because there is an approach being used which usually reflects something fairly standard in jazz... It's never a problem... usually simply makes it sound like it should.
Depending on instrumentation, style and volume... there can also be a bass line going on, sometimes inner lines... but the majority of the time it all starts from the lead line.
So back to sample chord progression. Can have many analysis... but most common would simply be... Bb- to Eb7 and to Abmaj. Sub-dom. to Dominant and to Tonic. The C- can have duel function... be deceptive resolution of V7 to III- and then either related V7 or II- V7 of II- and on and on.... but usually as a jazz player it's simply a chord pattern. It's a sub-dominant area until the last V7 chord which then becomes typical V7 to I. here's a quick sample of changes...

YouTube Video

I have to go... I'll continue later...Reg

[morroben]

Originally Posted by Reg

I have to go... I'll continue later...Reg

Please do! That was very informative.

[tonyknight]

@FatJeff - thanks for the comments and link. I'll check out that Galbraith book.

@Reg. Thanks for the insights Reg - we could/should have considerably more discussion around comping, and your knowledge is incredibly helpful. I know I've said this before, but perhaps so many of concentrate on soloing (over BIAB type backing tracks) because it's easier for us. Certainly for me, if I can see the chord progression, and do a little analysis, picking out the right 'scales', 'modes', or just notes, is challenging but not daunting. I suspect it's the same for many of us. But to actually bang out that rhythm track - that's something else all together. I'd personally be very happy if I could do that, and then add some SLOW solos over the top to make melodies - my fingers just won't allow me to do anything too fast now, something I'm slowly getting used to :-)

Look forward to whatever else you wish to add Reg! I hope that this extended discussion fits in with what the OP was looking for and isn't perceived as hijacking it :-)

cheers,
Tony