| When jazz guitarists play chords underneath a song's melody or another musician's solo improvisations, it is called "comping", a contraction of "accompanying" and complementing. Jazz guitarists use their knowledge of jazz theory and harmony to create jazz chord "voicings," which are usually rootless and which emphasize the 3rd and 7th notes of the chord. Jazz guitarists need to learn about a range of different chords, including Major 7th, Major 6th, minor 7th, dominant 7th, diminished, half-diminished, and augmented chords. As well, they need to learn about chord transformations (e.g., altered chords, such as "alt dominant chords), chord substitutions, and re-harmonization techniques. Some jazz guitarists use their knowledge of jazz scales and chords to provide a walking bass-style accompaniment. Jazz guitarists learn to perform these chords over the range of different chord progressions used in jazz, such as the II-V-I progression, the jazz-style blues progression, the minor jazz-style blues form, the "rhythm changes" progression, and the variety of chord progressions used in jazz ballads, and jazz standards. Many guitarists also learn to use the chord types used in 1970s-era jazz-latin, jazz-funk, and jazz-rock fusion music. |
Comping with Bass Lines - Joe Pass Jazz Blues in Bb Comping - Greg Lenny Breau Style Comping while Soloing - Steve Herberman Comping Concepts - Steve Herberman Samba Rhythm - Steve Giordano Oleo w/ Abersold comping Prev Top Next |
