"Comping" Basics

[mahayana]

Here's something for anybody that knows a few "jazz" chords, and is trying to learn how to use them. So, what is "comping" anyway?

The dictionary definition goes: 'comp' - (short for accompany, 1949) To punctuate and support a jazz solo with irregularly spaced chords.

In truth, comping is everything you do when you're not soloing. The oldest lesson book I own, Mickey Baker's "Complete Course In Jazz Guitar"(1955), says "the old style of strumming chords will never do in modern playing, so we will have to work out a new system...learn to play chord solos...all kinds of intros...play background for horn players...learn all kinds of tricky fill-ins."

You may have some ideas about "chord substitution," and that's a lot of what comping is about. You know, throwing in a lot of 9th and 13th and "Jimmy Hendrix" chords (7#9) in major tunes, Maj7th, Maj6th, min9th chords when the tune is minor.

There's a lot more to it, but learning what chords sound good together, some "short" chords (2 and 3 note tone chords that you can change fast), playing some "chord melody", "walking bass", all that stuff helps.

What do you think makes for good comping?

[jazzalta]

I think it depends on the situation, i.e., comping behind a vocalist, as part of a trio, as part of a large group, etc. In my group (5 piece) I play a lot of chords on the bottom 4 strings (D,G, B, E) and also a lot of tri-tones. I find that with keys and another rhythm player there's plenty of stuff in the midrange, so I play very minimally.

[mahayana]

Hmmm...maybe now I understand why you never guessed my Bottom String puzzle. You are calling bottom what I call high. True, DGBE are the furthest down when you play, but the #1 string is high E, #2 string is B,#3 string is G... #6 is low E. Kind of like "up the neck" is toward you instead of away, seems backwards to some folks.

I really enjoy playing tritones on the low strings (which is really way above most of what a bass plays). But most of my rhythm playing uses those chords on low E, D,G,B strings, like G7 played 3X343X.

I always laugh when people are advised to learn "inversions", though of course that's what I play. Really, easy jazz chords are what I use, though it took me awhile to find them and make them second nature.

[jazzalta]

Yeah, I've always been known to be "backasswards." I've learned on my own and I guess it shows. So most of my comping is usually done on the high strings unless I'm in a duo or something. That's what's nice about the guitar: it lends itself to so much variety of playing styles.

[mahayana]

I really wasn't being critical (everybody has their own style), just trying to goad you into playing the puzzle. Nobody plays those chords, but if they weren't easy I wouldn't play them either.

I'm going to post the rest of the song if nobody guesses soon. It's been two weeks!

Did we lose the Cry Me A River thread? I've been having my wife make a CD of different versions, Sam Cooke's is my favorite so far.

edit- I found it, over in Theory (What tune...). Used to have a drummer who sang "You Don't Know Me", another great Ray Charles tune.

[anders]

To me good comping is as much about rhythm and timing as it is about chords. Not to say that chords aren't important, knowing a lot of chords and inversions helps a lot. But don't forget the rhythmic aspect. In most settings you can play easy chords and make them sound good if you only play them at the right time in the right place.

[mahayana]

Anders, I totally agree. Far better to leave some "air" in the tune than fill it up with strumming on every beat.

Arnie Berle's "Chords and Progressions for Jazz Guitar" doesn't mention the word "comping" till page 93, but when he gets to it he says:

"You must have complete control over a great variety of rhythm patterns...and know how to create rhythm patterns so that they relate to the melody of a given tune or to an improvised solo."