Tony germain, assistant chair of the piano department, berklee college of music. Mastering accompaniment, like improvisation, is a lifelong process and is best. The comping rhythm ideally should be determined by the line the right hand is playing or if youre accompanying another soloist, the line the soloist is playing. Jazz piano techniques, rhythms and voicings youtube. This is because most of the formal jazz education system stresses the harmonic part of improvisation and. Jazz piano comping, written by jazz pianist and berklee college of music associate professor suzanne davis. The comping rhythms, melodies, and voicings of the greatest jazz guitarists are delightful to. The following tables present a list of mainly rootless comping voicings for some of the most common chordsmodes. F jazz blues comping jazz chords and concepts guitar. Selfaccompaniment and improvisation in solo jazz piano.
Many players could benefit from having this reference sheet, which has most of the chords jazz musicians are likely to encounter. Rhythm teaching sheets for jazz ensemble by jeff waggoner i wrote these after using stephen melillos rhythm sheets go to for those and many other great compositions and teaching tools with my concert band. This voicing is valuable to master, as it can be used easily and practically in the context of your favorite standard ballads. One of the most important things to remember is that comping is shorthand for accompanying. If you would like to support me, you can do so here. Well move from no comping at all to fairly interesting comping in four easy steps. For more examples of jim halls comping in pianoless quartets, be sure to listen to the bridge by sonny rol. Im pleased to announce that an approach to comping. For instance, i found the last rhythm interesting because of the half note in the middle of the phrase, occupying beats 2 and 3. The piano plays a major role in the rhythm section comping behind the horns as they imrovise. The idea is that a student or professional would literally compalong with. For example, on the pdf for download below, i have patterns a g notated on the snare with the ridehats and then with the bass drum. Rhythm is widely seen as the most important element in jazz music and many other musical idioms. The first column spells the note that will appear in the voice the topmost note in the chord.
In this video i will go over a 3 step process where you learn some basic jazz blues comping and turn them into tools that you can use to comp more freely and develop your own chord vocabulary. Therefore, he needs two different types of voicings. Strange, then, that the majority of jazz guitar books, videos, etc. Jazz piano voicings and comping techniques to your students.
How to help your jazz ensemble pianist work with chord symbols and lead sheets. Well use jingle bells so you can visualize what im talking about, and ill notate the left hand in the bass clef, even though you would never find this in. Most jazz comping rhythms are simple and straightforward. Suzanne is a wonderful player and her book will give you the tools you need to understand and this difficult art form and become a better player in the process. Encyclopedia of lefthand jazz piano voicings learn jazz. Ive also used doug beachs swing rhythms kjos with my beginning jazz groups. Joining the jazz band as a pianist or any other rhythm section instrument is much di.
This is a very simple bass line and right hand to accompany someone or yourself over rhythm changes. Both volumes are dedicated to the subject of comping. Comping, or also known as filling in the harmony, is a commonlyheard and important integration of jazz music. As rhythm section players, we guitarists generally spend most of our time accompanying other players. Introduction to jazz guitar chords and comping styles by mike scott. Get your free 64page jazz guitar pdf and start learning now. It requires skill and knowledge of advanced chord structures and added voicings to it. Comping is one of my favorite things to do, as i find it brings together the best of. Ask yourself why you find the particular rhythms you chose interesting. Since many published jazz ensemble pieces already include suggested chord voicings for you, the focus of this sheet is not what notes to play, but what rhythms to use.
Hi all, i just wanted to pass some information on regarding jazz piano comping. There is also an exclamation of how to play solo piano on ive got rhythm as well. Oftentimes these advanced jazz comping techniques are. Volume 2 has 14 jazz piano exercises and tricks of the trade, and quite a bit of it is calypso jazz piano related material, including some monty alexander and michel camilo style grooves. Can anyone recommend a good book to teachdrill chord technique.
In this lesson i am going to take a simple rhythm that everybody needs to know anyway, and i am going to show you how to develop that into more interesting rhythms. Jim hall chords and comping techniques jazz guitar comping is an art form in its own right. Browse berklee press from berklee press at sheet music plus. In this article were going to take a look at three piano comping practice tips. It is usually referred to as comping if you play a syncopated, rhythmic style with your chords. Youre job here is to support the soloist by providing a rich harmonic background for them to play or to sing over. Piano comping is primarily about grooving, and yes, it. Using the tune, but not for me, i discuss open and close comping voicings for jazz piano. Quartal comping voicings for jazz piano piano comping chords. Your piano jazz comping, pop and rock free piano lessons. This is especially noticeable in the drums, where the hi hat is.
Also, by playing a four note voicing on the accented chord you create contrast from the three note voicings that came earlier. Introduction to jazz guitar chords and comping styles. Big band horn sections are great examples of comping rhythms. A lesson describing how jazz guitarist improvise while playing accompaniment for others and giving the tools to apply this to a bb jazz blues. Bossa nova style the lessons in this book demonstrate an example in one key. Most people are struggeling to find good way to develop their comping, and especially coming up with good rhythms to support a soloist in an interesting and varied way. For the sake of describing comping voicings and making them easier to understand and memorise, i then. I know the basics of playing took 2 years of private lessons before playing classical music so nothing on chords, so am not looking for a classical technique book. These are the jazz comping techniques employed by the pros that help them achieve those sophisticated, classic jazz sounds youve probably heard on recordings.
Our piano rhythmic comping editions show the melody along with rhythmic hits, showing how the pianist comps behind the melody. Your assignment what you need to practice is to learn to. In the jazz field, comping has generally taken on a more specific role. Emulating the concept behind the rhythm is another way to start to incorporating these new rhythms into your playing.
Jazz piano comping by softcover audio online sheet music. I love the creativity and the musical conversations that develop between a soloist and rhythm section in jazz. Piano jazz tutorial on rhythm changes accompaniment youtube. In this article well cover a couple advanced jazz comping techniques. But i want to get competent at playing the keys, in order to practice knowing and hearing changes. Comping rhythms for jazz piano now that you can walk a bass line, and know which notes to play for a nice 4note voicing sound with your right hand, lets talk about rhythm and give you something to practice.
Some of the chord and voicing nomenclature that i rely upon matches what you can find in books by renowned teachers such as mark levine, jamey aebersold and phil degreg, which i do recommend if you are serious about learning jazz piano. In previous lessons in the pianogroove course, we have covered upper structure voicings, and also voicings built from 4th intervals such as the so what voicing. Integrating new rhythms into your playing jazzadvice. Jim hall chords and comping techniques learn jazz guitar.
Several sets of comp chords are provided below for summertime. Comping, or accompanying is one of the most fun parts of jazz piano. In the video, i only have time to demonstrate the snare drum variations but you should also practice these on the bass drum. But this example can give you something melodic to play in addition to the basic chords that are available to you in the progression. First, he comps for, and interacts with, other players as they solo. Use the blues form to guide you as you practice your comp chords. Jazz piano comping with open and closed voicings youtube. In fact, comping is the art of improvising using voicings and stylistic appropriate rhythms. Practiceled investigations of assimilation, ostinatos and hand splitting david dower. In this lesson we will examine some of the most widely used and effective comping rhythms in jazz. Which rhythms should i use to play chords while soloing. This book introduces some of the basics of jazz guitar chords. Some basic rhythms in jazz general rhythmic profile while so called traditional music form the common practice era and beyond accentuates the fist and third beats in 44 meter, jazz, blues, pop, rock, etc.
Comping definition of comping by the free dictionary. Heres a full chorus of a jazz blues comping example. F jazz blues comping jazz chords and concepts guitar lesson playing the chords on a jazz blues is a great way to start your journey into jazz guitar. This isnt an allencompassing resource, as a resource that. Watch for these comping textures you can being to use in your playing today. This exegesis is presented in partial fulfilment of degree of master of arts performing arts western australian academy of performing arts edith cowan university faculty of education and arts. This pdf will be a big help to many jazz pianists and other instrumentalists who want to get better at voicing chords in their left hand. Click here to download a printable pdf of this months notation.
Obviously with comping in a live setting you will want to listen to the other players and react to what they are playing. As the groups pianist, not only do you get to solo, but you get to interact with each soloist as they take their turn in the spotlight. Jazz piano education is through the ears, but books like this can help. Jazz blues comping with jens larsen guitar lessons. Music that comes from american popular culture often uses syncopation, swing feels, and spokenlanguage rhythms. Jazz piano school comping is extremely fun and important.
If anyone has any drills as a pdf file, this would be even better. There are many levels you can go to with this stuff. Jim hall chords and comping techniques terence wright. Notice the articulation marks simulate one way a horn section would play the figure. How to comp on piano like a pro making music magazine. These piano comping practice tips are meant to give you specific exercises to practices that will improve your harmonic understanding and help you learn the chords to a bunch of jazz tunes. The comping rhythms, melodies, and voicings of the greatest jazz guitarists are delightful to listen to, with or without a. Let me give you a few quick examples to show you how to comp on piano like a pro. Every time i listen to an aspiring jazz musician, i find that for many of them their rhythmic game is not at the same level as the harmonic one. Piano chord voicings for jazz combo the pianist has a few functions in a jazz combo.
Using up beats as often as down beats, comping rhythms are very distinctive and characteristic of a jazz swing feel. The concert band notes look shockingly similar to the jazz band notes on the page. Piano comping practice tips cocktail piano lessons. The following lessons introduce some of the basics of jazz guitar chords.
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