The Jazz Guitar Chord Dictionary
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  1. #1

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    So have some time, and there seems to be some interest in comping lately.... so why not. Matt has been pushing me to put something tether for a while.

    Most seem to not really be interested in complicated BS... But still want to be able to play, comp with some skills, so I'll just go through some tunes, some of the basic styles and Forms of tunes and give examples of how to at least fake like you know what your doing. If anyone's interested in the complicated BS... I'll get into that also.

    But basically the format will be Plug and Play. Learn basic chord shapes, Grips and learn how to organize which chords you play by the leadline, or the top note melody. Eventually you'll expand that to just the line within the chords, it doesn't always need to be on top.

    The harmony aspect will also just be Plug and Play.... I teach comping through using Chord Patterns. So you use different Chord Patterns in standard tunes with standard chords.... Chord patterns are just short series of chords that lead to a Tonal Target.

    This will not be the old Freddie Green style voice leading vanilla Chunk Chunk shell voicing style. Comping can be more that just Time. I still love FG style... and still use it when asked for etc.. But it's really old and just doesn't work that well, and most of the time just muddies up space. Anyway... it's somewhat a beginners approach for learning how to comp, not good or bad, right or wrong, but not where I'm going with this thread. So this thread might not be for everyone... that's cool.

    So I'll start with a couple Blues... Sandu was posted on another thread, it's cool, old school jazz Blues in Eb, and maybe a old but new Parker Blues, Barbados , the comping can be a little hipper harmonically. So maybe make sure you know the tunes.
    I'll keep both tunes in Eb...

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    The Jazz Guitar Chord Dictionary
     
  3. #2

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    I'm all ears and fingers!! The other thread got me learning the Sandu head which is a lot of fun to play and probably even more fun when I get it smooth at full tempo !!

    Will
    Last edited by WillMbCdn5; 12-31-2019 at 12:01 AM.

  4. #3

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    This is great, looking forward to it. I really dug the Sandu example you posted. I always learn a lot from posts like this, thanks for taking the time to share your knowledge.

  5. #4

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    Thanks, Reg. I'm looking forward to this.

    A couple versions of "Sandu" and "Barbados"




  6. #5

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    This is great, looking forward to it. Thanks Reg

  7. #6

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    Me too !
    thanks Reg

  8. #7

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    Quote Originally Posted by MeatyOcre
    This is great, looking forward to it. Thanks Reg
    Yes - that's going to be great!

  9. #8

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    Yea... I know, taking way too long, sorry all I have is weak excuses. I have time now.

    So yea, some Blues... jazz Blues. And then a little hipper comping comp part for Barbados.

    Sandu... So the way I usually approach is to use melody, lead Lines or Licks... and then expand the vanilla chords with use of Chord Patterns. Chord Patterns are just collections of chords, that help create more movement in place of single vanilla chords. They generally have harmonic organization going on and imply a style and reflect different types of harmonic movement or Function.

    The point is to expand, not become something in it's self. It can become something if that's where the music goes...But that's not the point.

    Example... using approach chords to existing chords and then expanding those approach chords. I'll start with simple V7 chords, using Secondary and Extended V7's and their Subs.

    I can get into the Expanding of Borrowing and relative harmony and the theory aspects if anyone really wants to...

    So ex#1... is just simple melodic line or lick over basic I7 to IV7 (Eb7 to Ab7)... Nothing special, just what comes to mind for using V's and Sub V's.

    Ex. #2... is Possible expanding of basic changes... simple right. The line uses a few Blue Notes so I used a few changes from Melodic Minor, a possible access set of notes and chords that support Blue Notes.. which with a few more methods of expanding harmony and Chord Patterns... becomes very jazz Blues Friendly.

    Eventually I'll lay out standard patterns of Jazz Common Practice for Blue Note Harmony. If your aware of Functional aspect of harmonic Movement... I generally like Subdominant movement. At least the feel. With analysis, most would just label Dominant... but as you become use to the chord patterns... and where chords work within Harmonic Rhythm, you might begin to feel and hear how the applications work. Anyway ,

    Ex. #3... is same concept but with Related II-7 chords added to any 7th chord. Eventually that New related II-7 chord helps create many more expanded Chord possibilities, with use of Borrowing, Relative and Parallel relationships. Basically just using Modal Interchange.... OK enough BS.

    If you need examples, vids... I'll post. But try and get them under your fingers first.

    The 2nd and 3rd pages have the chord voicing Diagrams and details
    Attached Images Attached Images

  10. #9

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    Ok... here is possible comping example for "Sandu". You need to know the melody.... right. This example works well for playing the head as a Chord Arrangement. Personally I would rhythmically do more and add more BS... but you need very good technical skills to pull this off with out memorizing and make it actually sound good. But tune is good example of blues and can cover many others and is great for using different approaches for creating different feels and styles.

    I usually try and play a somewhat simple comping part 1st... then start to interact with who ever I'm gigging with, rhythm section and soloist. But Different Lead Lines and different Chord Patterns imply different directions.... harmonically, rhythmically etc...

    A chord Voicing Diagram sheet is again included.
    Attached Images Attached Images

  11. #10

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    Here is a different Comping sample, something to start with different Lead Line. Maybe even just play the lead line by it's self 1st then add chords.
    Again I'm just using Dominate chords and their related II-'s along with related V7's and Sub V7's.

    As I post more examples... you'll begin to see how most Voicings can become chords. Same Voicing can have many different Roots, or label.

    I generally don't like close or tight intervals on top except for effects.

    I also use different note patterns to create Chord Patterns... Pentatonics, Blue notes and different Blues patterns or Licks. I'll post some example later... I need to split pretty quick.
    Again Voicing sheet is included for any new voicing beyond previous pages.
    Attached Images Attached Images

  12. #11
    Wow. Very cool. A lot of work there. Thank you so much. Will check out more when i get home.

    Thanks, reg!

  13. #12

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    Thanks. Will print out your examples and work through later today.

  14. #13

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    I noticed a few errors in notation ... sorry here are the corrected examples.
    Please replace. I'll make a few vids ASAP.
    Attached Images Attached Images

  15. #14

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    Thank you, Reg.
    Will take some time to work through all this but wanted to immediately say how much I appreciate you taking the time and making the effort to share what you know with those of us not so high up the mountain.

  16. #15

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    LOL Come on mark... I'm not even on the mountain, I'm a worker in the tunnels at best.

    Thanks ... I'm putting a lot of material together. And trying to simplify it down to Plug and Play with color codes.

  17. #16
    Sorry for being absent. Just printed today and checking it out. Classic reg comping sound. Will memorize these for sure and follow up. I'll post more when i get a break tonight.

  18. #17

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    Thanks Matt , nice being call classic.
    yea I’ll make some playing examples...sometimes I make it look to easy. I’ll stretch it out and throw in different lead lines which can change chord patterns etc... it’s definitely easier to just play.

  19. #18

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    Quote Originally Posted by Reg
    ... it’s definitely easier to just play.
    I get your point here but this phrase sounds like my mom. She's not at all like you---not a pro, not schooled, has no idea what a triad is, can't read music, etc---but she could always play any song she wanted to. Great ear. Really great. And she used to be mystified by me working to figure out something on the guitar, consulting books, trial-and-error, etc. She would say, "Why don't you just PLAY it?"

    For her, it's a matter of knowing how all the piano keys sound and hitting the one you need to hit to get the sound you want.
    Curiously, she never wrote songs or improvised. She just played songs she liked to hear.

    She's 90 now and has dementia. She's in an assisted living factility and there is no piano. She misses it. I feel for her. I got her a xylophone and a small glockenspiel. They give her something to do but she misses the piano. Her hands aren't what they once were either---I'm not sure she could play much if she had access to a piano.

  20. #19
    Quote Originally Posted by MarkRhodes
    I get your point here but this phrase sounds like my mom. She's not at all like you---not a pro, not schooled, has no idea what a triad is, can't read music, etc---but she could always play any song she wanted to. Great ear. Really great. And she used to be mystified by me working to figure out something on the guitar, consulting books, trial-and-error, etc. She would say, "Why don't you just PLAY it?"

    For her, it's a matter of knowing how all the piano keys sound and hitting the one you need to hit to get the sound you want.
    Curiously, she never wrote songs or improvised. She just played songs she liked to hear.

    She's 90 now and has dementia. She's in an assisted living factility and there is no piano. She misses it. I feel for her. I got her a xylophone and a small glockenspiel. They give her something to do but she misses the piano. Her hands aren't what they once were either---I'm not sure she could play much if she had access to a piano.
    Wow. Would love to see her get occasional access. I do visits with one of my senior groups on my church gig, and we used to see a lady who was a great player. It varies a great deal from person-to-person, but this one lady basically never lost the ability to play, even up to very close to her death.

    She couldn't really speak as much or remember anything, but the pianist in our group who is in the know about this her abilities would get her to the piano every time we went. At another facility, we had a non- verbal individual speak for the first time in months/years while we were singing. Once of the workers felt compelled to let us know just how extraordinary it was. It's really extraordinary how things like that work with regards to music.

    All the best to you and your mom, Mark.

  21. #20
    Have been shedding on that some today , and love this material. It also occurs to me that the I material might have been pretty overwhelming in the past, if I had never seen the voicing combinations before now.

    It might be cool to lay out basic voicings for anyone new to this in the same way that reg organizes in the very beginning.

    So, basically my understanding is there's 2 basic levels:

    1. Diatonic (standard major/minor, or for this outing, the straight dominant/mixolydian voicings)

    2. Melodic minor voicings

    [Not to get bogged down in semantics here, but melodic minor can somewhat be the umbrella under which you organize fingerings, understandings of chords, scales and pitch collections etc. , whether you're talking about incidental blue notes, actual altered scale or other melodic minor modes etc. etc....

    In these examples, Eb7#9 as a simple "blues chord", can eventually be extended into countless other voicings and related chord patterns, using melodic minor as the organizational framework. (Please disregard all this bracketed material unless you really care or just have to know/discuss it. in the beginning, it may be someone extra credit.)]

    I've never seen Reg do a systematic , organized group voicings for altered/melodic minor this way, but here are the straight dominant voicings he posted elsewhere. It's a good starting point and may be helpful to others reading the thread:
    Attached Images Attached Images
    Last edited by matt.guitarteacher; 02-05-2020 at 07:31 AM.

  22. #21
    Here's a lot of his melodic minor (altered) voicings put together in another context.

    Quote Originally Posted by matt.guitarteacher
    Something I've been working on from the old "What's New" thread (2013). It's a transcription of the first 8 bars of Reg's comping starting from 4:40 through about 6:50. Kind of funny when you look at how many voicings... I'd have to go back and check, but it's kind of a combination of different parts. He never really goes all the way through AABA. This transcription is a full AAB. I wrote a "D.S. al fine" at the end but no "Fine". Just repeat one of the A's. In this tune, the last one is pretty much a straight repeat of one of the previous.

    Let me know of typos etc. I think it's close.

    I've also attached my original worksheet with the chord voicings. It's has mistakes that were never fixed, though theyr'e mostly corrected by the time they got into the leadsheet pdf. It at least might give you something else to work with. It has time stamps throughout...

  23. #22

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    Anyone else unable to open Matt's attachment? Thanks for posting it; I'm following along.

  24. #23
    Quote Originally Posted by corpse
    Anyone else unable to open Matt's attachment? Thanks for posting it; I'm following along.
    I'll fix later..

  25. #24
    Quote Originally Posted by corpse
    Anyone else unable to open Matt's attachment? Thanks for posting it; I'm following along.
    How about now?

  26. #25

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    Works now. Really cool document, thanks.