Creative Comping Concepts for Jazz Guitar

Book excerpt: Pianists are the main sources of inspiration for new developments in jazz guitar comping. Yet guitarists have been slow to develop a comping vocabulary with harmonic sophistication, subtle voiceleading, and rhythmic flexibility on the level of the best contemporary pianists. This book seeks to remedy the situation by articulating a comping vocabulary in the context of six of the most often played tunes in jazz: 12-bar blues, rhythm changes, minor blues, a modal tune, and a couple of standards. The comps are written out in notation and tablature and include rhythms with forward motion, chords built in fourth intervals, parallel constant structure voicings, polychords, slash chords, etc. The focus is on developing a contemporary approach to rhythm, phrasing, chord voicings, voiceleading, chord substitution, and reharmonization. A play-along audio recording of the guitar comps with bass and drums helps get the sounds and rhythms in your ear. The theory of how the comping concepts are applied to the music is explained, with ideas on how to use them creatively. Includes access to online audio.