All The Things You Are - Swing Comping

[grahambop]

Hi Graham. A novice here. Please could you talk me through:
a) bar 5 particularly beats 2 and 4
b) bar 13 beats 2 and 4
Thank you

It’s just the sixth/diminished stuff a la Barry Harris. Beats 1 and 3 are inversions of the relevant major 6th chord. Beats 2 and 4 are the diminished chord, which is a passing chord in between the 6th chords.

[grahambop]

Also have a look at this, it has a lot of useful stuff, e.g. the Teddy Wilson example.

A Comparative Study of Rhythm Guitar Styles

[plasticpigeon]

Herb Ellis demonstrates some similar comping here at 5min 45 secs:

Amazing that Herb's guitar is owned by a forum member!