Swing Comping GT 2014-03

34 GuitarTechniques March 2014

PLAY: BIG BAND, JAZZ & SWING

John Wheatcroft gives your swing, jazz and big band rhythm playing a shot in the arm as he shows you how to accompany like the masters with a ton of great ideas.

IN JAZZ-SPEAK THE term comping is used an abbreviation for the all-encompassing topic of accompanying. For any aspiring jazz guitarist this is a crucial and absolutely essential area of study. The ability to comp with intelligence and sensitivity is one of the most effective skills any player can develop. Even though you might have the most incredible single-note chops, unbelievable lines and phenomenal speed and articulation, if you cant comp well youll probably never get the opportunity to showcase these assets as, frankly, no one will want to play with you!

Anyway, with consideration and skill the rhythm part can be every bit as creative, challenging, sophisticated, hip and impressive as a lead solo, and youll nd your popularity among fellow musicians will increase exponentially as your comping skills develop.

To be a good rhythm player you need to be a good team player. Familiarise yourself with the roles of each respective instrument in the rhythm section, usually the drums and bass but often in jazz youll need to share comping duties with a piano player, which presents its own challenges. To quote from Joe Pass, They have 88 keys and theyre louder than you, so at times you need to defer to them! Regardless, you should be aware of your rhythm section mates respective parts for every piece that you play.

We have nine specic musical themes this issue, each an exploration of the 12-bar jazz blues sequence in G major. Rather than divide each variation into a collection of separate studies, Ive combined them together to create one long cohesive whole.

Of course, you should always practise each approach in isolation, but once you feel you are

FURTHER STUDY Freddie Green was the undisputed champion of rhythm guitar. A phenomenal player and huge contributor to the Count Basie sound his solo album, the appropriately titled Mr Rhythm (Bluebird 1955) comes highly recommended. Bucky Pizzarellis Five For Freddie (Arbors 2009), a wonderful tribute from his acknowledged successor is equally worthwhile. Modern players who know a thing or two about great rhythm playing include Kirk Fletcher and Lage Lund; but check out John Scofield and Mike Stern comping behind each other on Play, from the album of the same name (Warner 1999). Danny Gattons instructional video, Strictly Rhythm Guitar (Hotlicks 1994), is essential for any serious student of the guitar.

ABILITY RATING

Moderate/Advanced

KEY: GTEMPO: 180bpmCD: TRACKS 18-19

INFO WILL IMPROVE YOUR

Voicing vocabularyHarmonic sophisticationTime feel and rhythm

Swing Comping

Important Areas To DevelopO DETAIL Jazz pianist Bill Evans once stated that the dierence between a truly great player and an average one was that the less accomplished musician was prepared to accept an approximation. Students too often fall into the trap of moving away from a topic before they are really finished and fully au fait with it, so more attention to detail and patience reaps rewards.

O LISTENING CRITICALLY My role as a teacher is very often reflective, giving critical feedback on a students playing and performance. Im often surprised by some, although not all, of my students in what they cant hear in their own playing. Sloppy timekeeping, poor intonation and just outright mistakes can often go completely unnoticed.

O BEING TOO GUITARCENTRIC Again, this is a generalisation but an unfortunate trait displayed by some guitar students is a complete lack of awareness of what the other musicians are contributing to the sound they are collectively making as a group. Ill often ask a guitar player after a performance to sing the bass line back to me, or ask about what they thought of the hi-hat pattern. Er...

O READING THE DOTS This Is the universal Achilles heel for our kind. To quote my good friend and colleague Les Davidson, reading equals money! You dont need to be amazing; merely being perfunctory is more than often enough to make a major dierence to your employability and youll encounter a more varied and informed group of fellow musicians as a result.

O RHYTHM AND DYNAMICS Were often so preoccupied with what were playing, which scale to use, what notes, what chord voicings etc, that we give little thought to when and how we might say what wed like to say (musically speaking). Giving some thought to dynamics and time feel can be just about the most productive thing a player can do to sound more polished, focused and professional; although for many students these aspects can sadly be overlooked (in favour of looking flash, etc) which, in my humble opinion, is a monumental mistake.

on top of each idea there is real merit in connecting material in this way. For one, its a test of concentration. But theres the added challenge of negotiating the transition from section to section, the ultimate goal being to transfer these ideas into other repertoire, either standards from the American songbook,

GET THE TONE

2 6 5 2 2GAIN BASS MIDDLE REVERBTREBLE

Traditionally a hollow bodied archtop guitar with f-holes is the chosen instrument for jazz rhythm, the principle advantage being that you can turn the volume down and blend the amp sound with the acoustic tone of the instrument itself. Your primary effect should be your volume control, and strings can be either flatwound or roundwound (or indeed a nice middle way, ground wound). A wound third string is common although by no means essential, and you can also get great results from a solidbody. Were after a natural clean and warm amp tone so go easy on the treble and reverb and youre ready to comp.

or arrangements of your own invention. Remember that in a real life scenario your

primary role as a good jazz, swing or big-band comper is to support soloists or singers until its your turn, so youll need to imagine an overriding solo here. In reality these examples are busier than youd want to be, since they condense lots of ideas in a relatively short space. Your function is to fan the ames for the soloist, to provide rhythmic contrast and harmonic support when necessary. Its also your responsibility to keep out of the way when youre not required. Its not uncommon for a sensitive accompanist to stay tacet (play nothing) for the rst few choruses of a solo, only joining in when its appropriate to do so. Like so many aspects of music, this is much easier to experience by keeping your eyes and ears open, and by taking in as much music as you possibly can, both recorded and in the esh, rather than from the printed page only. Learning a musical style can be compared to an actor analysing the intricacies of a regional dialect. Theyre never going to get the full picture from reading about it; they need to hear real people using it and then experience it rst-hand by giving it a go themselves.

ON THE CD TRACKS 18-19

March 2014 GuitarTechniques 35

JAZZ COMPING

GTs own king of comping, Cliff Douse models a vintage ES-125

The biggest mistake is a mental one. When accompanying you should devote 75% of your attention to the soloist Vibraphone genius, Gary Burton

& # 44

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PLAY: BIG BAND, JAZZ & SWINGBASIC CHORD SEQUENCE

VARIATION 1 3RD/7TH MAGIC VOICINGS

VARIATION 2 DROP2 VOICINGS STRINGS 42

The following variations are all based on the classic jazz-blues sequence in the key of G. Although there are numerous substitutions throughout each variation, the principle core of the sequence remains intact. Notice how this basic structure is similar to the conventional 12-bar blues form, although it varies with regard to the E7 (VI) in bar 8 and the choice of IIm V (Am7 D7)

followed by I VI IIm V (G7 E7 Am7 D7) in the final eight bars, as opposed to the traditional V IV I V changes found in classic blues styles. The lines are blurred with certain artists, such as Robben Ford, BB King and T-Bone Walker, who regularly employ these jazz changes, even though their CDs are usually to be found under the blues section in your record shop.

We begin with an exploration of what Danny Gatton refers to as the magic 3rd and 7th voicings, literally defining each event in the sequence principally with these two notes alone. The intriguing connection is that the I7 connects to the IV7 by dropping just a semitone, with the b7th of I (F) moving to the 3rd of IV7 (E) and vice versa with the 3rd (B) connecting to b7th (Bb). The

same movement is echoed upwards from I7 to V7, along with other sneaky IIm V movements such as the added Dm7 to G7 in bar 4. As we progress, these voicing take on additional interest as we add a third note into the mix, although the same connection applies. Dont just gloss over this: see if you can learn it well enough to take a 12-bar solo using this concept!

Drop-2 refers to a concept of ordering the stack of notes, in this case a four-note chord voicing, to allow for greater spread and range between the component notes. Coincidentally they conveniently make things much easier to finger on the guitar and sound more balanced and broader, so its win-win all round. The basic principle is to stack a chord and its inversions in the conventional manner, so a root position G7 begins its transformation journey

as G B D F (R 3 5 b7). Next we take the second highest voice and lower this note by an octave, dropping the 2 to create the following intervals (5 R 3 b7). This chorus illustrates how these voicings can be connected through the 12-bar sequence using voice leading in the treble to create a series of chord shapes that sounds both logical and smooth from transition to transition (Jon Bishop describes this in his Tears In Heaven text).


TRACK 18

TRACK 18

TRACK 18

& # 44

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JAZZ COMPING

VARIATION 2 DROP2 VOICINGS STRINGS 42 ...CONTINUED

VARIATION 3 10TH BASIE VOICINGSOur next 12-bar variation showcases a four-in-the-bar rhythm style similar to Count Basie guitarist Freddie Green. To create motion, Green would frequently switch between inversions of the same chord, or connect using various passing chords usually ranging a major or minor 10th from bass to treble (between sixth and third strings on a guitar). You can also hear similar ideas in the rhythm playing of the mighty Django Reinhardt. The old arrangers trick of connecting chromatic bass notes by using the diminished 7th chords

is exploited heavily in this study. As weve seen, a defining feature of the lesser spotted jazz 12-bar sequence, as opposed to its more commonly found blues cousin, is the use of the IIm V I throughout bars 9-12. Instead of the usual blues D7, moving down to C7, we see a highly decorated IIm V I sequence. Dont be put o by the complex chord names in the final two bars, the turnaround. If you look closely, the fingerings are cleverly arranged, extremely logical and perfectly playable, even at breakneck speeds.

TRACK 18

TRACK 18

& # 44

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PLAY: BIG BAND, JAZZ & SWINGVARIATION 4 WALKING BASS

VARIATION 5 PARALLEL INTERVALS

As Joe Pass simply states, the most important feature in a walking bass arrangement is, youve guessed it, the bass! For this variation were choosing a rather more involved bebop variant of the jazz blues, resplendent with IIm V I moves in near enough every bar, although the basic framework of key events remains largely intact. From a technical perspective here Id favour switching to a thumb and fingers technique to produce a warmer tone, so youll need

to do some swift pick palming in the preceding bar. I personally push the pick between my first and second fingers between the knuckle joint and the hand. From a sonic perspective its good to consider the best approaches to each independent part, so the bass ideally needs to be smooth and legato, like a bass player, whilst the punctuating small chord fragments in the treble need to be much more staccato, or clipped, to pop out clearly.

While scales and modes are undoubtedly extremely useful for creating single-note lines, they can also be eectively employed to create a wonderfully useful series of ascending or descending chord voicings. Here we see a combination of G Mixolydian and C Mixolydian modes harmonised in 4th and 3rd intervals to create an ascending line that both supports the harmony and

creates a logical and cohesive theme that builds beautifully as the sequence unfolds. We switch to some quartal harmony in bar 55 - chords based entirely on 4th intervals - while the final four bars in this variation introduce the concept of an ostinato pedal-tone in the treble (holding onto a single high D while the voicings beneath shift to outline the harmony).


TRACK 18

TRACK 18

& #

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JAZZ COMPING

VARIATION 5 PARALLEL INTERVALS ...CONTINUED

VARIATION 6 13TH/9TH STABSIf the pumping four-to -the-bar feel of our Count Basie style 10th voicing variation (#3) could be described as reminiscent of a pianists left hand, then the variation we see here, based around middle and high extended chord stabs, could be seen as the guitarists answer to what our ivory ticklers other hand might do. In many ways this chorus can also be perceived as the logical extension to our introductory section based on 3rd and 7th intervals, as these form the foundation for many of the chords used here. The concept of

voice leading is continued onto the upper extensions of each chord. It would be a great idea to follow the melodic journey of the notes along each single string to see this in action, and get the beautiful logic of it firmly ingrained. Also, ensure that you can justify and rationalise each extension against each chord symbol throughout the sequence. Analysis of this kind will benefit your knowledge of intervals and tremendously strengthen your connection between harmony and melody.

TRACK 18

TRACK 18

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PLAY: BIG BAND, JAZZ & SWINGVARIATION 7 BIG BAND BLOCK CHORDS

VARIATION 8 II minor Vs & WYBLE DOUBLESTOP CHORDS

Block chords - usually thought of as voicings that move by specific distances, and generally in parallel - are a feature found frequently in big band horn section writing. The polyphonic nature of the guitar allows us to imitate this remarkably simple but equally effective device by moving specific chord shapes around the fretboard, wholesale, to outline a high melodic figure,

in this instance harmonised in four parts. Were utilising 13th (bars 73-76, 83-84) and diminished 7th (bars 77-78) voicings, predominantly outlining a melody pulled straight out of the G blues scale (G Bb C Db D F), although our turnaround phrase in bars 83-85 moves chromatically while the bass notes imply I7 VI7 II7 V7.

Jimmy Wyble was a guitarist equally at home with both country and jazz styles. He pioneered a method of comping that involved switching between different fragments of a single chord shape to create the impression of moving harmony. Hes a major influence on current heavyweights such as Lage Lund, Howard Alden and Sid Jacobs, so his style is worthy of our attention here. In this simplified variation were approaching our jazz blues

with the bebop IIm V method we initially looked at in variation #4, although here were breaking each chord down into two-note double-stops on non-adjacent strings (fourth and second, and third and first). In bar 94 we spot a tritone IIm V substitution move (Ebm9 Ab13), a IIm V sequence three tones away from the regular IIm V in the home key (Am7 D7) that you might usually expect to find lurking around this area of a 12-bar sequence.


TRACK 18

TRACK 18

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JAZZ COMPING

VARIATION 8 IIMVS & WYBLE DOUBLESTOP CHORDS ...CONTINUED

Freddie Green: legendary Count Basie guitarist and rhythm guitar giant

Bucky Pizzarelli: another comping monster, he backed Benny Goodman. 7-stringer too!

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TRACK 18

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PLAY: BIG BAND, JAZZ & SWINGVARIATION 9 ANGULAR, CLUSTER & WES VOICINGS

There are three main devices employed in our final 12-bar chorus. We kick o with a selection of slightly more dissonant and, dare I say, modern sounding voicings containing #4s galore and plenty of semitone action thatll send conservative compers running for the hills. We move onto a short section of

Wes Montgomery endorsed diminished 7th to Am6/D9 action in bars 106-106 before rounding proceedings up nicely with a cheeky contrary motion idea in bars 107-108, straight from the Kirk Fletcher (Fabulous Thunderbirds)school of jazzy-bluesy rhythm guitar. Nice!


TRACK 18

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Swing Comping GT 2014-03