|
|
|
|
On Comping
- By Jarvis Raymond
August 2009
“Comping” is
jazz slang for accompanying. This often means a
pianist, guitarist, organist, vibraphonist or other harmonic instrument
playing the chords a soloist is improvising through. Ideally, comping
should be an improvisation itself that implies the harmony, suggests
alternate harmonies, and helps the soloist produce a better solo.
As with other
facets of jazz studies, more concentration is often unduly put on notes
than on other musical components. A student might know thirteen
different voicings for Db+7#13b9 but be unable to successfully comp for
a soloist. Although the notes are important, other factors such
as duration, register, intensity and rhythm can be the difference
between great and horrible comping.
The duration of
the chords a comper plays can be the difference between helping and
hindering a soloist. Playing shorter rhythms against a soloist who is
playing long tones can help provide a rhythmic counterpoint. The
converse is true as well, chords held longer will often work well
against a soloist who is playing lots of short or fast notes.
Arppeggiating or breaking up the notes in the chord can help fill out
space during a ballad.
The register
one comps in is also of great importance, as you will want to stay away
from the range of the soloist. When accompanying a bassist who’s
soloing its generally best to not comp in a low register. This can
interfere with what the bassist is trying to communicate. Likewise,
when comping for instruments playing in the higher range you’ll
probably want to avoid playing voicings up there. This issue becomes
more prevalent in situations in which two of the same instruments are
comping for one another, such as two guitars. Generally the comping
guitarist will play lower voiced chords while the soloist plays in a
higher range.
Another
often-overlooked factor for beginner compers is intensity. Many
soloists will gradually build up their solos across several choruses.
If the soloist is going for this effect, its your job to help it occur.
Sometimes it can be helpful to think of a solo like you would a story –
It should have a beginning, a middle and an end. As the story moves
forward, it builds in intensity until it reaches a climax. From there
things are resolved and the story ends. Not all soloists create
solos in this fashion, just as not all writers use that format.
However, as an accompanist you should be listening for this type of
development and trying to help the soloist achieve the effect they’re
trying to achieve. Volume plays a part in this too. In general your
comping should not over shadow the soloist.
Rhythm is the
most important aspect of comping. Although the comper is trying to help
the soloist, they’re also a fundamental part of the rhythm section and
its imperative that the chords they play relate to the time the bass
player and drummer are laying down. As a comper you need to be
listening to three things at once: the soloist, yourself and the rest
of rhythm section. Every chord you play should solidly locked into the
time and help contribute to the groove. This can be practiced by
comping with a metronome on all 4 beats and on 2 and 4 (or 1 and 3 when
playing in a straight 8th note feel).
Listening to
great compers is probably the best teacher. Hearing their use of
duration, register, intensity and rhythmic placement in relation to the
soloist and rhythm section can be a great self-teaching tool. In
addition to this, the more opportunities you can create to comp for
soloists the better – at gigs, jam sessions and in the practice room.
Generally a guitarist or pianist that can comp well will get more gigs
than one that can just solo well.
|
