How do you practice/learn how to comp?

[Petimar]

At the moment I am obsessed with Wynton Kelly's comping on Soul Station.

Just sayin' :-)

I'm obsessed with anything Wynton Kelly. His playing on the new Wes record Smokin' in Seattle is stellar. He is really on top of it!!!!

[christianm77]

Haven't heard the 'new' Wes yet... Saving it up!

[Groyniad]

wynton was my vote some time ago for

hippest player ever

wes comps almost as hip as him mind

[Jazzstdnt]

Interesting that you guys mention Wynton. I had him in mind when I wrote my post this morning. I was studying his comping on Freddie Freeloader over the weekend using Amazing Slow Downer etc.

[madbanjoman]

To get started with it, you need to know some chords, but not too many.

I'd suggest starting with four seventh chords. Let's use G7 as the example. 3x343x is the first one. From that grip, generate G6, Gm7, Gm6 and Gm7b5, G7b9. I'm going to assume you can figure out, for example, how to move the F on the fourth string down a fret to make a G6.

Then, going up the neck, you can use 7x576x and do the same thing to get the other chord types.

Then, 10 x 9 10 8 x.

Then, 13 x 12 12 12 x.

Would someone tell me how to read the above linear tab? I am not sure which side the Low E is on.

[Roberoo]

Probably just rephrasing a lot of what has been said but I would start with 4 on the floor, 3 note chord, Freddie Green style playing (he was down to 1 note by end of career!) on the 6, 4 and 3. Of course, you can work on the 5, 3,2 inversions but these can clutter a rhythm section. Find some basic tunes to work on. Use a metronome and play slowly and think about how you are voice leading those chords (i.e try not to jump around). Doing this builds your time and groove. You don't usually employ extensions with this.

Take the same approach but work with variations of the Charleston rhythm but still employing same chord styles.

Then try the same approach but employ extensions. I play a lot of duo format stuff with singers or a horn player and find I can fit in extensions (often on the low E). For example, take a simple chord cycle: Em7/A7/Dm7/G7 (repeat) and try 3 note chords like:

Em7 over B in bass, A7 with b9 in bass (i.e. Bb), Dm7 with A in the bass then G7 with Ab (i.e. b9) then:

Em7 over D in bass, A7b9 with C# in bass, Dm7 with C in the bass then G7b9 with B in bass, then

Em7 over E in bass, A7 with b5 in bass (i.e. Eb), Dm7 with D in the bass then G7 with Db (i.e. b5) in the bass.

Take the same ideas and work through tunes. Working on this stuff keeps me out of trouble.

[Robertkoa]

Jazz that's as sophisticated as Jazz but as dirty as Chicago Blues- just listened for the first time..great
..

I love how the Piano is loud enough in the Mix so I hear the Sax ' in context' and enhances the Groove.

I like to hear the comping louder in the Mix like this is.

Coming from outside of Jazz - I complain about not enough Groove in some Jazz... of course not on this.
This will shut me up for awhile...

[henryrobinett]

I think the main thing about comping is the rhythm and fitting in the rhythm section, responding to the soloist, not getting in the way and being a great symbiotic component part of the rhythm section. MUCH more important than the voicings. And I don't know how to practice that beyond gigging. At first glance that's what I thought the subject was about.

[jordanklemons]

Jazz that's as sophisticated as Jazz but as dirty as Chicago Blues- just listened for the first time..great
..

I love how the Piano is loud enough in the Mix so I hear the Sax ' in context' and enhances the Groove.

I like to hear the comping louder in the Mix like this is.

Coming from outside of Jazz - I complain about not enough Groove in some Jazz... of course not on this.
This will shut me up for awhile...

One of my favorite records. That quartet swings so hard it's not even right. And killer comping!

[Thumpalumpacus]

Peter Bernstein and others say same thing work one a song till you get bored with what you're doing, that will get you to start experimenting to find new things to try. They were talking about soloing starting with playing just the melody, but the same process applies to comping and chords.

I'm doing this with Lovano's cover of "Autumn in New York". It's rewarding, the melody is not difficult, and trying to work the extensions from the underlying chords into my grace notes is teaching me a lot.

[jayv999]

How to learn to comp? Well, one way is to study how others do it. For that, there is a great resource of free comping lessons by Ted Greene on his site: TedGreene.com - Teachings - Comping
And don't forget to check the "Chord Studies" section, which has many chord forms, examples, and exercises that are great tools that you can use for comping.

[rpjazzguitar]

I think the main thing about comping is the rhythm and fitting in the rhythm section, responding to the soloist, not getting in the way and being a great symbiotic component part of the rhythm section. MUCH more important than the voicings. And I don't know how to practice that beyond gigging. At first glance that's what I thought the subject was about.

Well said!

Ted Greene was a brilliant chordal player, with many novel (and difficult) voicings

Tal Farlow was known for his huge hands -- and also played a lot of unusual voicings that required significant stretches and use of the thumb.

These guys were great and stretched what seemed possible on guitar.

Trying to get into that world seems daunting.

But, at the other extreme, consider Jim Hall's comping with Paul Desmond. It was stunning, but there was nothing especially difficult to play. A lot of his comping consisted of major and minor thirds on the G and B strings. A lot of passing tones (holding a note on one string while moving, usually descending, on another). Some single notes and the occasional full chord grip, which, as far as I can tell were not unusual or hard to play.

Jim Hall was my idea of the best comping ever, until I heard Chico Pinheiro live. Chico's chord grips aren't usually especially difficult to finger -- unless you try to play them at his tempo with his propulsive feel. Then they seem astonishing. I'd suggest checking out some of his live performances of uptempo tunes on youtube.

All of this is by way of agreement -- you don't need fancy chord grips to do great comping. You do need a great rhythmic feel and great taste. Of course, if you've got fancy chord grips along with great rhythmic feel and great taste, even better.