sSNOSSET GEER EEE -- || PSR TN a cleaad cy BRA LESSONS sew GREECE Comping For Jazz taught by... MMos (1:26) C Minor Blues (fat) 1:08) FBles (fas (1:02) Z Rytmyscicl ast (1:48) [BD Sout Thre cast (2:34) [LE Whote Norse Standard (as2:12] E) Monee (stow) [1:58] [ED Cofino Bis (ow) (1:21) TF Blues (tow) 1:28) Rhythmystal (slow) [234] Soul Te (slow) (3:22) {13} Whote "Nother Standard (slow) (3:22), 787.87193165 B638 Boling, Mark. Creative comping concepts for jazz guitar Guitar =F £259 Bue Ridge Kansas City, MO 64138 kets BR [1] Monet (no guitar sow) (1:58) Monet (no guitar - fas) (1:26) ‘C Minor Bes (no guitar slow) (1:21 (C Minor Blues (ao guitar fast [1:08] F Blues (ao guitar - slow) (1:28) F Blues (no pita = fos) (1-02) 3) Rhythmysial (no tar = low) (2:38) Rhythmysial (no gultar- fas (1:48) Soul Three (ne gutar- slow (3:22) Soul Tree (no guitar fas 234), ‘Whole ‘Nother Standard (no guitar - slow) [3:22) Whole ‘Nother Standard (no guitar - fs) [2:12] 1234567890 {©2004 BY MEL BAY PUBLICATIONS, INC, PACIFIC, Mo e206 \ATIONAL COPYRIGHT SECURED. BM | MADE AND PRINTED INUS.A,CREATIVE COMPING CONCEPTS Introduction ‘omping is the term used by jazz musicians for the improvised accompaniment to a melody, or an ¢ improvised solo. In early New Orleans style jazz, the banjo was used to strum the chords and drive the pulse of the music. In more recent times, Freddie Green _comped on acoustic arch-top guitar with the Count Basie Band. His steady, four-quarter-note-to-the-bar comping was an essential component propelling the driving swing of the Basie rhythm section. Jazz guitarists still use Green's approach when playing swing era music. Since the 1960s, the electric guitar has become one of the most popular instruments in the world. Guitars sometimes replace the piano in contemporary jazz groups. While the guitar may not be capable of the dynamic range, the pitch range, or nuance of the piano, it has other qualities of sound that make it an appealing in a jazz, setting. The electric guitar can sound and phrase somewhat like a horn when playing single lines, while still approximating the harmonic capabilities of a piano when comping. In fact, pianists are the main sources of inspiration for new developments in jazz guitar comping. And yet, guitarists have been somewhat slow to develop a comping vocabulary and harmonic sophistication similar to pianists such as MeCoy Tyner, Herbie Hancock, and Chick Corea. Many of the innovative sounds of these pianists are based on chords built in fourth intervals, use of parallel constant structures, polychords, slash chords, etc. It seems strange that guitarists have been so far behind the pianists in making use of these devices, since many of these concepts, such as voicings in 4ths and parallel constant structure motion, for example, are simple to execute on the guitar. This book seeks to remedy the situation by developing a comping vocabulary in the context of six chord progressions. The chord progression models used in this book are some of the most common in the jazz. idiom: blues, rhythm changes, minor blues, a modal tune, and a couple of standard tunes. The focus will be on developing a contemporary approach to rhythm, phrasing, chord voicings, voice leading, chord substitution, and reharmonization. The comping concepts, rhythms, and phrases from this book can be adapted and altered to function in many different musical situations. Once the vocabulary is internalized, it will spontaneously begin to come out at the appropriate time. In contemporary jazz, the comping role has become freer as the influence of avante garde jazz has ‘opened our ears to more “outside” sounds as an extension of the jazz tradition. There is more emphasis on two or more players soloing simultancously, a trait that can be traced back to New Orleans style jazz. Indeed, the comping instrument is often like a second solo occurring underneath the primary soloing instrument. At times, a guitarist must take the traditional role of creating a swinging and inviting harmonic setting for the improviser to craft his solo over. At other times he can be more aggressive, pushing the soloist outside the original harmony, creating polyrhythms, pedal points, etc. Of course, all of this is done as part of the process of having a musical conversation about the tune with the other musicians. Jazz music is all about telling a story. There must be lots of listening and flexibility in making decisions about the direction to take in comping. The comps presented in this book are bound to be artificial in the respect that there is no interaction with a soloist. The examples, for the most part, create more tension, and are more melodically interesting than they would need to be if there was a soloist present. But the point of this book is to help guitarist acquire a new comping vocabulary with just such traits.As you work your way through the music, use the CD to get the sounds and rhythms in your ear. The beginnings of choruses are numbered. Learn the music one chorus at a time, and work it up to tempo, Analyze the concepts used in the music as you learn it, The analysis will make it easier to lean and remember the music, and may suggest ways to adapt and use the ideas on other tunes and harmonies. Copy phrases that you find particularly appealing into your musical idea notebook. If you don’t have one, start one. Write variations on them, Be sure to keep your ears and mind open for other ways to use this material. Many of these concepts will yield interesting melodic patterns for use in your single-line improvisations. All of the material can be applied to other similar tunes. Appropriate these ideas for your own purposes. A section with explanations of the concepts precedes the comping etudes. Many of the basic concepts (iviads, 7th chords, inversions, diatonic harmony, etc.) will be mentioned only in passing, as they are prerequisites for more unusual ideas that are the focus of this book. Before reading the following section on the concepts, pick up your guitar, put the CD in the player, and go straight to the music. I believe you will hear some things that will catch your ear. You can dig into the concepts later. I hope you enjoy the sounds! Acknowledgements I wish to thank all those who have helped in the writing and editing of this book, especially Jessica Boling and Carolyn Boling for their editorial assistance. Thanks to Kevin Winegar who carefully read through the music and offered helpful editorial suggestions. Thanks to Keith Brown (drums), Rusty Holloway (bass), and Allen Smith (engineer ) for their inspired work work on the recording. Special thanks to my friend and musical mentor Donald Brown for over 15 years of musical inspiration. Donald, your music opened my ears to many of the sounds that are in this book. Thank you. Mark Boling Mark Boling Mark Boling is an Associate Professor of Music and Coordinator of the University of Tennessee Jazz Program. He received his Bachelor of Music Degree from Berklee School of Music in Boston, and a Masters of Music Theory from the University of Tennessee. He is the author of The Jazz Theory Workbook, Elements of the Jazz Language software, and Curriculum for Aural Training software, He has been a Senior Artist-in-Residence at the Banff Centre for the Arts International Jazz Workshop, and has taught summer guitar workshops at the Berklee College of Music. He has performed in the concert with artists such as Donald Brown, Charlie Byrd, Louie Bellson, Alan Dawson, Peter Erskine, Ingrid Jensen, David Friesen, Henry Johnson, TS. Monk, Zim Neqawana, Ed Soph, Marvin Stamm, Bill Watrous, and Matt Wilson. A veteran member of pianist Donald Brown's Knoxville-based band, Boling played on Brown’s 1999 recording, Enchanté. Boling’s first recording as a leader, entitled Evidence, was released in 2000.Table of Cont sees iii Introduction... ‘Acknowledgements RHYTHM PHRASING TEXTURE ... CHORD VOICINGS Voicings in Thirds... Drop-2 and Drop-3 voicings.. Guide Tone Voicings Voicings in Fourth... \oicings in Fourths and Pentatonic Scales. sen Voicings Derived from the Minor 6 Pentatonic Scale...... Voicings Using Combinations of Intervals Slash Chords Polychords VOICELEADING ‘Common Tones... Direction of Top Voice Parallel Motion with Constant Structure Voicings Intervallic Voiceleading... CHORD SUBSTITUTION AND REHARMONIZATION Diatonic Substitution from the Third..... Diatonic Passing Chords... ‘Add a Related llmi7 Before Any Dominant 7 Alter Dominant 7 Chords That Resolve Down a Perfect Sth...... Chromatic Approach .. Dominant Approach .. Cycle of Dominants as a Reharmonization Technique Cycle of Ils as a Reharmonization Technique. Chromatically Ascending 4th... Monet. C Minor Blues ... Blues in F.... Rhythmystic. Soul Three Whole Nother Standard. WM wi i: hen guitarists think of jazz comping, their first image might be sitting in front of an W encyclopedic volume of 9000 chord voicings. While juicy voicings and smooth voiceleading can make your comping more appealing, the first consideration is always rhythm and phrasing. To quote Duke Ellington, “It don’t mean a thing, if it ain’t got that swing.” Jazz is rhythmically based music. Good comping should make you want to dance. If you are new to comping in a jazz. style, the “Charleston” rhythm is a good place to start. "Charleston" rhythm with variations applied to the first 5 bars of a reharmonized blues in G. Note harmonic anticipation in the chords attacked on the "and of "2." Dni? G7 Cmi? F7 Bomi? E57 Abmi7 Db9 Gmi7 ct e Variations: short - short long-short short - long long - long (delayed) It comes from the song and dance of the same name that became popular in the 1920's, The “Charleston” rhythm and its derivations form the basis of many of the rhythms used in jazz comping. With the first attack on one, and another on the “and” of two, the “Charleston” rhythm has good forward motion. The downbeat attack anchors the rhythm on the strongest pulse (beat one), and the upbeat attack pulls forward into beat three. If the “Charleston” rhythm is used in a 4/4 measure that contains two chords, the second chord is played on the attack on the “and” of two. This is called harmonic anticipation Sometimes polyrhythms are used to build tension in comping. For example, a rhythm of repeated dotted quarter notes may be played over 4/4 time. Each dotted quarter can be subdivided into three eighth notes, while two beats of 4/4 time are subdivided into four eighth notes. The effect is that of hearing three against four, The example below is the first 4 bars of a blues in F. Note that it is necessary to use harmonic anticipations or delays when employing this polyrhythm since the attack only falls on “1” every 3 bars. FT B7 Bb? BS? Cmi7 FT Gbmi7 B71) Bp7 One of the chief responsibilities of a comping musician is to highlight the form of the tune. We speak of many jazz tunes as having a 32 bar AABA form (“I Got Rhythm”), or ABAC (“Green Dolphin St.”), etc. Each letter of the formal description represents an eight-measure section. (An important exception is the twelve-bar blues form, which can be treated as three four-bar phrases.) Maintaining a theme or motive in the comping pattern for four bar phrases helps to outline the form of the tune. Experienced players often target important structural points in the form (i.e the “top” or the beginning of the “bridge”) for major textural and rhythmic variations in the comping.our bar phrases can often be divided into two parts. The first part of the phrase (antecedent) asks = question, and the second part of the phrase (consequent) answers the question and propels us into the next phrase. If you listen carefully to an improvising soloist, you can sometimes get into a “call and response” exchange with him. For example, the soloist may play a short (two-bar) phrase, followed by a two bar rest where you can comp an answering phrase. There are also longer phrasing variations where a two-bar theme is played twice, then answered by a four-bar theme. This is similar to the classic phrasing for blues lyrics, which is called bar form (AAB) in poetry. The first line (A) is repeated (A) then answered with a “punch line” that completes the idea (B). The lyric to Robert Johnson's “Cross Road Blues” illustrates this phrase structure: “I went to the cross road, fell down on my knees. — I went to the cross road, fell down on my knees. — Ask the Lord above for mercy. Save poor Bob, if you pleas: In the comping examples in this book, notice how rhythmic and melodic ideas are repeated and varied and how phrases are used to accentuate the formal structure of the tune. texture A guitarist needs to be fluent in improvising accompaniments using a variety of textures. The use of texture is an important way to control the amount of tension or relaxation in the comping. The texture used for comping can range from a single background line (one-note) to six-note chords. A light texture might be two-note chords with very short durations and widely spaced attacks. Bbmas? B°? Cmi? #7 = -Dmi?_—G? Cmi? FT A heavy texture would involve chords with five or six-notes with longer durations and/or more frequent attacks. Cmitt Db9 Cmitt Chords that use active notes are another way to vary the texture. p79) B79) 79) E79)| | Phrases that grow from one or two-note voicings to five- or six-note voicings are also effective. The technique of maintaining a tremolo on a common tone on top of a chord voicing while changing the chord underneath is a busy, exciting, high-energy texture. The following example employs this texture on the first 5 bars of a Bp blues progression. +11) Bo'Saust Bi7\'s) Eb? E°7 By Sust Bio __FSsust Wi] Olio] ona BbTalt &9 e 73) A similar technique is used later in this book on “Soul in 3,” where a trill is maintained in the top voice while the chords change underneath. Another important texture to explore is the use of pedal tones. Usually the bass player will set up a pedal, but a guitar player can also start it with a repeated octave pedal tone. Pedals have the effect of helping the music breathe. They create harmonic open space, which may invite the soloist to step “outside” the original harmony. It is important for the comping guitarist to be aware when a bassist begins to use a pedal. This usually opens the door for the comping texture to change and for the harmony to stretch “outside” the original chord changes. chord voicings Voicings in Thirds The major/minor harmonic world we hear and play in is based on tertian harmony (chords built in third intervals). A functional knowledge of voicings based on thirds is a prerequisite for the material presented later in this book. We will mention these briefly, so you can take inventory of things you need to practice. Knowledge of triads in all in versions is very important. Four-part seventh chords in close voicings are often difficult if not impossible to play on guitar, but are helpful for understanding other types of voicings. OMAL omi7 c7“drop-2” and “drop-3” voicings é Drop-2” and “drop-3” voicings are some of the most common in jazz guitar comping. To create a “drop-2,” take a four-part close voicing in any inversion, and drop the second note from the top down an octave. This creates a bigger gap between the top note and the next note down the voicing, accentuating the top (melody) note. To create a “drop-3,” take a four-part close voicing in any inversion, and drop the third note from the top down an octave. This creates a bigger gap between the bottom note and the next note up the voicing, accentuating the bottom (bass) note. If you don’t already know them, “drop-2” and “drop-3” voicings should be learned in all inversions and all roots for the following chord types: mi7, mi7(65) Maj7, 7, dim7. “Drop-2 Voicings” @ “‘Drop-3 Voicings’ & The 3rd and 7th give us the most essential information about the quality of a chord. The 3rd will reveal whether the basic triad is major or minor, The 7th then further defines the chord as major 7th, minor with a major 7th, minor 7th, or dominant 7th, These notes are sometimes called guide tones because they reveal the quality of the 7th chord, and they voicelead to each other when the root motion is down a Sth. This cycle of Sths motion is the most common type of root motion in jazz. It includes progressions like the II- VI, the III-VE-I-V-I, etc. When a light comping texture is desired, the best choice is sometimes a simple two note, guide tone voicing. You can expand on the guide tone voicings by adding color tones (tensions) above to create a three-, four- or five-note rootless voicing 9 G3 cua mil? o7l8] cuwset 2 ibe o G7 Cw? Dmiin fourths M any varieties of non-tertian voicings are used in contemporary music. The most widely used non-tertian voicings are based on fourth intervals (quartal voicings). These voicings are used modally. The voicings are based on the notes that are diatonic to a particular scale or mode. A stack of three-, four- or five-notes is built up in fourths from each note in the scale, using only notes that belong to the scale or mode. Dmi? D Dorian > Often two or more of these voicings from one scale are used to create comping pattems that have enough of the scale tones present that the original chord is implied. Fourth voicings often result in a somewhat ambiguous sound. This is the desired effect. Resolutions of harmony are suspended, creating opportunities to sidestip outside the key by using chromatically adjacent quartal voicings. This is a great technique for building tension and harmonic forward motion. Ebmi? D Dorian by be The three-note quartal voicings may be inverted. If the original voicing is 4+ 4 (fourth and a fourth), the voicing is inverted by moving the bottom note to the top. This results in a4 +2 (fourth and a second). The chord can be inverted again by moving the bottom note to the top, resulting in a 2 + 4 voicing. These 4+2 and 2 +4 inversions retain the sound and effect of quartal harmony. D Dorian “4 + 2” voicings D Dorian “2 + 4" voicings 8k & oe eo 2 2D Dorian four-note quartal voicings D Dorian five-note quartal voicings eo 2 g aot = = suse=o° Four- and five-note quartal voicings are usually not inverted on guitar. ‘A.common variation of quartal voicings is the use of a major third interval on top of a stack of three or four fourths (444 +4 +3 or 4 +444 44 +3). This is often called the “So What” voicing, after the Miles Davis tune that makes prominent use of these sounds. “So What” voicings often occur in pairs, since two of them located a whole step apart may be diatonic to the same scale. D Dorian “So What" voicings > voicings in fourths and pentatonic scale Pianists McCoy Tyner and Chick Corea make extensive use of fourth voicings and minor 7 pentatonic scales (1 53 4 557). A five-note chord stacked in perfect fourths can be re-ordered as a pentatonic scale. Five-note quartal voicing = .. minor 7 pentatonic scalethree-note diatonic voicings of a D Dorian mode that contain augmented fourths are removed, leaving the voicings that contain only perfect fourths, the result is five voicings. The top note of these five voicings will spell a D minor 7 pentatonic scale (D-F -G-A—C). P entatonic scales are helpful as a guide in organizing the melodic use of quartal chords. When the D Dorian “4 + 4" Dmi7 voicings & 2 The top notes of the first inversions (4 + 2) of these five voicings will spell an E minor 7 pentatonic scale. The top notes of the second inversions (2 + 4) of these five voicings will spell an A minor 7 pentatonic scale. D Dorian “4 + 2° Emi7 pentatonic in lead D Dorian “2 + 4° Ami7 pentatonic in lead @ 2 a These three pentatonic scales (Dmi7 pentatonic, Emi7 pentatonic, and Ami7 pentatonic) are the “inside” pentatonic scales that are played over D Dorian. Keep in mind that these voicings can be used to work in other modes simply by changing the bass note. For example, D dorian with G in the bass is the same as G Mixolydian. Put E in the bass and it will sound like E Phrygian, and so on, with all the possible diatonic bass notes. The use of these quartal voicings moving in parallel constant structure makes it easy to be creative with this material on the guitar. If we add another three- note fourth chord with Ab as the top note, the result will be a blues scale harmonized in perfect fourths (D - F- G-A>— AC). Note that the structure with A > in the lead note will contain all “outside” (non-harmonic) tones. D Dorian “4+ 4” D blues scale in lead @ be oO = Constant structure perfect fourth voicings are easy to move around the guitar, and are sometimes overlooked as a tool for creative comping. But don’t neglect exploration of the diatonic voicings that include augmented fourths. These voicings include some rich and powerful sounds,voicin lerive he minor entatonic The minor 6 pentatonic scale (1 53 4 5 6) was favored by John Coltrane in the period when he recorded “A Love Supreme” and “Crescent.” It has a dark, beautiful sound. Coltrane’s pianist, MeCoy ‘Tyner often made use of quartal voicings with the top note outlining the notes of a minor 6 pentatonic scale. Since the notes in a minor 6 pentatonic scale fit in either a Dorian or melodic minor scale, there are two different sets of quartal voicings. In the first set of four-note voicings the top voice outlines a D minor 6 pentatonic scale, while the other notes are drawn from a D Dorian mode. These voicings sound great on D-7 or G7sus4, Notice the use of two adjacent “So What” voicings in the voicings with A and B in the top voice. D Dorian quartal voicings Dmi6 pentatonic in lead “So What” voicings O In the next set of four-note voicings, the top voice outlines a D minor 6 pentatonic scale, while the other notes are drawn from a C melodie minor scale. (The notes in D-6 pentatonic [D F G A B] are included in the notes in C melodic minor [C D B> F GA B].) These voicings sound great on B7(+5,+9), F7(9,+11,13), and Ami755(9). This set includes two adjacent “So What” voicings, a voicing that has an augmented fourth between the two lowest notes, and one that has a major third between the two lowest, notes. In fact, there is only one voicing in the set that includes all perfect fourth intervals. C melodic minor Dmi6 pentatonic in lead voice O voicings using combinations of intervals By exploring various combinations of intervals in a modal fashion as described above in the section on voicings in 4ths, other effective and colorful chord voicings may be discovered. Two-note guide tone voicings have already been discussed. Sometimes the other possibilities available with two notes (4ths, Sths, 7ths, etc.) are overlooked. Any interval can be used. Experiment!intevallic possibilities using intervals less than a 7th. Many of these will prove to be triads or quartal chords and their inversions, but some of these voicings will be unique combinations that you won't find elsewhere. Find the sounds that appeal to you and learn to move them diatonically though different scales. T he following chart may prove useful for deriving three-part voicings. It contains all of the 242 243 24 245 2+6 247 32 3+3 34 35 346 37 442 443 4+4 445 446 447 542 3 5+4 55 546 7 6+2 6+3 6+4 6+5 6+6 6+7 742 7+3 7+4 745, 7+6 7 slash chord: In lead sheets we often see chords written with a chord name followed by a diagonal slash then another note name, i.e. C7/E or A/B. The note to the right of the slash is always the bass note. These triads (sometimes 7th chords) over bass notes are known as slash chords. Often, as in the first example above, the result is simply an inversion of the chord (E is the 3rd of a C7 chord.). But there are several combinations that are not inversions. The slash chords that are not inversions often sound like other chords with a note or two missing. G/C, for example, sounds like a CMaj9 with no third. 6 G 5)and Vlmi7(>5). The Vimi7(+5) would contain the same notes as Imi6 (Ami7(55) = A C Eb G and Cmi6 = C E> G A). Vilmi7(+5) contains the same notes as Imi6 (Bmi7(b5) = Dmi6). Any melodic minor derivative scale can be harmonized with these two chords. T he same idea can be used with mi7(b5) voicings to harmonize a melodic minor scale and any of Cm --~ Ami768) Bmi78) Ami7®5) Bri 768) Ami75) Bmi7#8) Ami745) Bmi765) Ami765); b 2 8 Original chord | _ Substitute Passing cmiMAI7) | cmiS (ami7®5)) | pmi8 (Bmi75)) F719,#11,13) cmi® pmié g7\t5,+9) omié pmié ami7®5V9) | amni75) (crni8) | amni75) (omi8) Add a Related Ilmi7 Before Any Dominant 7 A minor 7 (or mi7(bS)) chord whose root is a perfect Sth above the target can be inserted before any dominant 7 chord, In other words, one can make a II-V out of any V7. If the given chords are CMaj7 G7, you can play CMaj7 Dmi7 G7. (Note that the D-7 takes up half of the duration of the G7.) Alter Dominant 7 Chords That Resolve Down a Perfect 5th Any dominant 7 chord that resolves down a perfect Sth may be altered (+5, +9, b9, and +11). Or you can use a tritone substitute with (9, +11, 13). The sound will be the same: Gb7(9,13) = C7(+5,+9). ct) gal) ,“Chromatic Approach Normally the approach chord is on a weak beat before the movement to the target chord on a strong beat. However, playing the approach chord on a strong beat and delaying the resolution is a good way to build tension in your comping. A ny chord can be approached from a chromatic step above or below (for example, Gb 13 to F13). Dominant Approach Any chord can be approached with a dominant 7 chord from a perfect Sth above (for example, G7 to CMaj7). Usually the approach chord is on a weak beat before the movement to the target chord on a strong beat. A tritone substitute may also be used in place of a dominant approach. The tritone substitute for G7 is Db7. It is easy to find, because it is always one half-step above the target (D>7 to CMaj7). Remember that tritone subs usually include some combination of 9, +11, and 13 (the unaltered extensions). Cycle of Dominants as a Reharmonization Technique The dominant approach can be expanded to include a sequence of dominant chords moving around the cycle of Sths to arrive at the target at the appropriate time. This is a great way to add some harmonic forward motion to your comping. For example, the target of the first four bars of an F blues progression is the IV chord (B>7) in the fifth measure. By thinking backwards up in perfect Sths from the B>7 with two, beat durations for each chord, we come up with a cycle of dominant 7 chords starting on F#7 in the first measure and ending on the target chord (Bb7) in the fifth bar = Original Fv Be? Fv fv Be? Substitute | F7 a7 |e” a7 D’ @? ove’ | pT Analysis | bu7 bv7 | wir 7 | viziz | wir | w The first chord will sound wrong, but as you play through the cycle with conviction and rhythmic drive, the pattern takes over and builds up momentum that is resolved when the B57 chord is reached. Keep in mind that you could also use tritone substitutes in place of any of the dominant 7 chords in the cycle. Cycle of Il-Vs as a Reharmonization Technique By changing the first chord in every measure to a minor 7 chord, the extended dominant approach cycle can be changed to a sequence of II-Vs. — Original Fv BP? F7 Fv ad Substitute | Fmi7 87 | emi? a7 | pmi? a? | cmi? e” | Be? Analysis | bili? bv7 | vilmi7 wiz | vimi7 7 | vmiri7 | wr