Comping the blues
Comp a full chorus of the F jazz blues with shell voicings and drop-2 shapes, voice-led from chord to chord, using real comping rhythms, anticipations and space.
Why comping comes before soloing
On a gig you will comp for ten minutes for every minute you solo. Comping ("accompanying") is the job: supplying the chords, the rhythm and the energy behind a soloist without getting in their way. A guitarist who comps well is hired again; one who comps badly is not, however strong their solos. The blues is the place to learn it because the changes come round every twelve bars, so you get forty chances an hour to improve one detail.
This lesson gives you two sets of voicings for the F jazz blues (three-note shells and four-note drop-2 shapes), three comping études that use them with different rhythms, and the principles behind the choices: voice leading, rhythm and space. You need the chord sequence from the previous lesson memorised, and you should be comfortable counting syncopated rhythms (rhythm reading).
Shell voicings: the three notes that matter
A shell voicing is the root, 3rd and 7th of a chord with the 5th left out. The 3rd and 7th tell the ear the chord quality (major, minor, dominant, diminished), and the root tells it where it is; the 5th adds nothing you cannot live without. Shells are easy to grab, they stay out of the piano's way, and they are the skeleton that every bigger voicing hangs on.
There are two families. With the root on the 6th string the shell is R–7–3 on strings 6, 4 and 3. With the root on the 5th string it is R–3–7 on strings 5, 4 and 3. Using both families lets you play the whole blues within four frets. Here are the eight chords of the F jazz blues as shells, all between the open strings and the 5th fret:
Look at bars 5–6 on the diagrams: the Bb7 and Bdim7 shells differ by one note, the bass, which moves up a fret. Your hand barely moves and the chord changes colour completely. That is the sound of the jazz blues.
The Charleston rhythm
The first comping rhythm every jazz guitarist learns is the Charleston: a hit on beat 1 held for a dotted quarter, then a short hit on the "and" of beat 2, then nothing until the next bar. Count it as "one (two) and ... three four" with the chords on "one" and "and". In the two-chord bars the second chord lands on beat 3. Play the étude below with the metronome on 2 and 4, and keep the "and of 2" hit short: lift your left-hand fingers slightly to stop the strings as soon as you have struck them. The silence on beats 3 and 4 is part of the rhythm, not a gap.
alphaTex source
\tempo 120
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\ts 4 4
(1.6 1.4 2.3).4{d ch "F7"} (1.6 1.4 2.3).8 r.4 r.4 | (1.5 0.4 1.3).4{d ch "Bb7"} (1.5 0.4 1.3).8 r.4 r.4 | (1.6 1.4 2.3).4{d ch "F7"} (1.6 1.4 2.3).8 r.4 r.4 | (3.5 1.4 3.3).4{d ch "Cm7"} (3.5 1.4 3.3).8 (1.6 1.4 2.3).4{ch "F7"} r.4 | (1.5 0.4 1.3).4{d ch "Bb7"} (1.5 0.4 1.3).8 r.4 r.4 | (2.5 0.4 1.3).4{d ch "Bdim7"} (2.5 0.4 1.3).8 r.4 r.4 | (1.6 1.4 2.3).4{d ch "F7"} (1.6 1.4 2.3).8 r.4 r.4 | (5.6 5.4 5.3).4{d ch "Am7"} (5.6 5.4 5.3).8 (5.5 4.4 5.3).4{ch "D7"} r.4 | (3.6 3.4 3.3).4{d ch "Gm7"} (3.6 3.4 3.3).8 r.4 r.4 | (3.5 2.4 3.3).4{d ch "C7"} (3.5 2.4 3.3).8 r.4 r.4 | (1.6 1.4 2.3).4{d ch "F7"} (1.6 1.4 2.3).8 (5.5 4.4 5.3).4{ch "D7"} r.4 | (3.6 3.4 3.3).4{d ch "Gm7"} (3.6 3.4 3.3).8 (3.5 2.4 3.3).4{ch "C7"} r.4 |With a pick, strum the three strings as one short down-stroke and mute the unused strings with the side of your fretting fingers. With fingers (thumb on the bass string, index and middle on the other two), pluck all three together; this gives the cleanest attack for shells and is how most jazz guitarists comp. Either way the strings not in the chord must be silent: a ringing open string in the middle of a shell is the most common comping fault.
Drop-2 voicings and voice leading
Four-note drop-2 voicings on strings 5-4-3-2 are the next step. Each chord has four inversions, and the art of comping with them is choosing, for each new chord, the inversion that is closest to the one you just played: the nearest-inversion principle. When you do that, the top note of each chord moves by a step or stays still, and the listener hears a melody on top of the chords rather than a series of jumps. The build's voicing library gives the shapes; the inversion numbers below (0 = root in the bass, 1 = 3rd, 2 = 5th, 3 = 7th) are the ones that keep the whole chorus between the 1st and 6th frets.
Play the chorus below with a new rhythm: a long hit on beat 1, a short one on the "and of 2", silence on 3, and a hit on 4. In the two-chord bars the second chord takes beat 3. Listen to the top voice as you play; it should sound like a slow, sensible melody.
alphaTex source
\tempo 120
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\ts 4 4
(3.5 3.4 2.3 4.2).4{d ch "F7"} (3.5 3.4 2.3 4.2).8 r.4 (3.5 3.4 2.3 4.2).4 | (1.5 3.4 1.3 3.2).4{d ch "Bb7"} (1.5 3.4 1.3 3.2).8 r.4 (1.5 3.4 1.3 3.2).4 | (3.5 3.4 2.3 4.2).4{d ch "F7"} (3.5 3.4 2.3 4.2).8 r.4 (3.5 3.4 2.3 4.2).4 | (3.5 5.4 3.3 4.2).4{d ch "Cm7"} (3.5 5.4 3.3 4.2).8 (3.5 3.4 2.3 4.2).4{ch "F7"} r.4 | (1.5 3.4 1.3 3.2).4{d ch "Bb7"} (1.5 3.4 1.3 3.2).8 r.4 (1.5 3.4 1.3 3.2).4 | (2.5 3.4 1.3 3.2).4{d ch "Bdim7"} (2.5 3.4 1.3 3.2).8 r.4 (2.5 3.4 1.3 3.2).4 | (3.5 3.4 2.3 4.2).4{d ch "F7"} (3.5 3.4 2.3 4.2).8 r.4 (3.5 3.4 2.3 4.2).4 | (3.5 5.4 2.3 5.2).4{d ch "Am7"} (3.5 5.4 2.3 5.2).8 (3.5 4.4 2.3 3.2).4{ch "D7"} r.4 | (1.5 3.4 0.3 3.2).4{d ch "Gm7"} (1.5 3.4 0.3 3.2).8 r.4 (1.5 3.4 0.3 3.2).4 | (3.5 5.4 3.3 5.2).4{d ch "C7"} (3.5 5.4 3.3 5.2).8 r.4 (3.5 5.4 3.3 5.2).4 | (3.5 3.4 2.3 4.2).4{d ch "F7"} (3.5 3.4 2.3 4.2).8 (3.5 4.4 2.3 3.2).4{ch "D7"} r.4 | (1.5 3.4 0.3 3.2).4{d ch "Gm7"} (1.5 3.4 0.3 3.2).8 (1.5 2.4 0.3 1.2).4{ch "C7"} r.4 |Three details to notice:
- Bars 1–2: the F7 shape has its 5th in the bass and its 7th on top; the Bb7 shape has its root in the bass and its 3rd on top. The top note drops a half step. That is the ii–V–I voice-leading move you met in the guide-tone exercise, now inside a full chord.
- Bars 5–6: Bb7 to Bdim7 is one note moving up one fret (the bass), exactly as with the shells. Use the same fingers for the three notes that stay.
- Bar 12: the C7 is a different inversion from the one in bar 10 (7th in the bass instead of root). It sits lower so that the F7 at the top of the next chorus is a step above it rather than a leap. Choosing an inversion for where you are going is the heart of voice leading.
Rhythm, space and anticipation
A comper's rhythm has to do two things at once: keep time (the band should be able to feel beats 2 and 4 from your playing) and leave room (the soloist should never have to fight you). Three rules cover most situations:
- Play less than you think. One or two hits per bar is normal. A bar of silence is fine. The Freddie Green four-to-the-bar style is the exception, and it works because it is quiet and even.
- Anticipate the chord changes. Hitting the next chord on the "and of 4" (an eighth note before the bar line) is the most common comping gesture in jazz. It gives the music a forward lean. In notation the chord symbol sits on that eighth note, because that is where the chord really changes.
- Answer the soloist. Listen to where their phrases end, and comp in the gaps. A two-bar phrase from the soloist followed by a two-bar answer from you is call and response, the oldest structure in the blues.
The étude below applies all three. It is written as if you were comping behind a horn player: short hits, anticipations into bars 3, 5, 9 and 11 (watch for the chord symbol on the last eighth of the previous bar), and plenty of rests. Play it exactly as written first; then play it with a recording of a blues in F and change the rests to wherever the soloist is busy.
alphaTex source
\tempo 132
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\ts 4 4
(3.5 3.4 2.3 4.2).4{ch "F7"} r.4 r.8 (3.5 3.4 2.3 4.2).8 r.4 | r.4 (1.5 3.4 1.3 3.2).4{ch "Bb7"} r.4 r.8 (3.5 3.4 2.3 4.2).8{ch "F7"} | r.2 (3.5 3.4 2.3 4.2).4 r.4 | (3.5 5.4 3.3 4.2).4{ch "Cm7"} r.4 (3.5 3.4 2.3 4.2).4{ch "F7"} r.8 (1.5 3.4 1.3 3.2).8{ch "Bb7"} | r.4 r.8 (1.5 3.4 1.3 3.2).8 r.2 | (2.5 3.4 1.3 3.2).4{d ch "Bdim7"} (2.5 3.4 1.3 3.2).8 r.2 | r.8 (3.5 3.4 2.3 4.2).8{ch "F7"} r.4 r.4 (3.5 3.4 2.3 4.2).4 | (3.5 5.4 2.3 5.2).4{ch "Am7"} r.4 (3.5 4.4 2.3 3.2).4{ch "D7"} r.8 (1.5 3.4 0.3 3.2).8{ch "Gm7"} | r.4 (1.5 3.4 0.3 3.2).4 r.2 | (3.5 5.4 3.3 5.2).4{d ch "C7"} (3.5 5.4 3.3 5.2).8 r.4 r.8 (3.5 3.4 2.3 4.2).8{ch "F7"} | r.4 r.4 (3.5 4.4 2.3 3.2).4{ch "D7"} r.4 | (1.5 3.4 0.3 3.2).4{ch "Gm7"} r.4 (1.5 2.4 0.3 1.2).4{ch "C7"} r.4 |When you anticipate a chord on the and-of-4, the bass player is still on the old chord for one more eighth note. That is fine and normal: the clash is tiny and the lean is the point. What is not fine is anticipating by a whole beat or more, or anticipating every bar: the band loses its sense of where the bar line is. Use anticipations at the big landmarks (bars 5, 9, 11 and the top of the form) and play the other changes on the beat.
Guide-tone comping: two notes, four to the bar
The sparsest comping of all uses only the 3rd and 7th of each chord, played as even quarter notes in the Freddie Green manner. Two notes are enough to state the whole progression, they never clash with a pianist, and because they are played four to the bar they lock the time down. Play the chorus below with a light, even stroke, slightly accenting beats 2 and 4, and keep the notes short (release the pressure of the left hand between beats). It is the same guide-tone line you played in the previous lesson, now as two-note chords.
alphaTex source
\tempo 140
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\ts 4 4
:4 (1.4 2.3){ch "F7"} (1.4 2.3) (1.4 2.3) (1.4 2.3) | (0.4 1.3){ch "Bb7"} (0.4 1.3) (0.4 1.3) (0.4 1.3) | (1.4 2.3){ch "F7"} (1.4 2.3) (1.4 2.3) (1.4 2.3) | (1.4 3.3){ch "Cm7"} (1.4 3.3) (1.4 2.3){ch "F7"} (1.4 2.3) | (0.4 1.3){ch "Bb7"} (0.4 1.3) (0.4 1.3) (0.4 1.3) | (0.4 1.3){ch "Bdim7"} (0.4 1.3) (0.4 1.3) (0.4 1.3) | (1.4 2.3){ch "F7"} (1.4 2.3) (1.4 2.3) (1.4 2.3) | (0.3 1.2){ch "Am7"} (0.3 1.2) (4.4 1.2){ch "D7"} (4.4 1.2) | (3.4 3.3){ch "Gm7"} (3.4 3.3) (3.4 3.3) (3.4 3.3) | (2.4 3.3){ch "C7"} (2.4 3.3) (2.4 3.3) (2.4 3.3) | (1.4 2.3){ch "F7"} (1.4 2.3) (4.4 1.2){ch "D7"} (4.4 1.2) | (3.4 3.3){ch "Gm7"} (3.4 3.3) (2.4 3.3){ch "C7"} (2.4 3.3) |Adding colour: 9ths and 13ths
Once the shells are automatic, add one note on the 2nd string above the root-6 and root-5 shells. Above the root-6 dominant shell the obvious note is the 13th; above the root-5 shells it is the 9th. The chart still says F7, Bb7 and Cm7, but these tensions are available on those chords, and the richer sound is what jazz comping usually means by "a seventh chord". The table confirms which notes the four-note shapes contain.
| Symbol | Name | Formula | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| F13 | dominant thirteenth | 1 3 5 b7 9 13 | F A C Eb G D |
| Bb9 | dominant ninth | 1 3 5 b7 9 | Bb D F Ab C |
| Cm9 | minor ninth | 1 b3 5 b7 9 | C Eb G Bb D |
| C9 | dominant ninth | 1 3 5 b7 9 | C E G Bb D |
alphaTex source
\tempo 120
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\ts 4 4
(1.6 1.4 2.3 3.2).4{d ch "F13"} (1.6 1.4 2.3 3.2).8 r.4 r.4 | (1.5 0.4 1.3 1.2).4{d ch "Bb9"} (1.5 0.4 1.3 1.2).8 r.4 r.4 | (1.6 1.4 2.3 3.2).4{d ch "F13"} (1.6 1.4 2.3 3.2).8 r.4 r.4 | (3.5 1.4 3.3 3.2).4{d ch "Cm9"} (3.5 1.4 3.3 3.2).8 (1.6 1.4 2.3 3.2).4{ch "F13"} r.4 |Do not add the 9th above the D7 in bar 8 or above the C7 in bar 12 yet: on a dominant chord that resolves to a minor chord (D7 to Gm7) players usually prefer the flat 9th, which you will meet in lesson 5. Plain shells there are correct and safe.
How to practise comping
- Loop, do not run through. Pick one two-bar segment (bars 5–6, say), loop it twenty times, then the next segment. Only then play the chorus.
- Metronome on 2 and 4. Set it to half your tempo and hear the clicks as the snare drum. At 120 bpm that means 60 clicks a minute.
- Record yourself comping one chorus over a bass line or a play-along, then listen for three things: are the chords short enough, are the rests real, does the top voice move by step?
- Sing the top note of each voicing as you play the drop-2 chorus. If you cannot sing it, you are not hearing the voice leading yet.
- Week 1, daily 15 minutes: shells with the Charleston, F jazz blues, 100 bpm rising to 132 by day 7. Then the same voicings in Bb (shells for Bb7, Eb7, Fm7, Edim7, Dm7, G7, Cm7, F7, built from the chord dictionary), 100 bpm.
- Week 2, daily 15 minutes: the drop-2 chorus at 100 bpm, then the call-and-response étude at 120 bpm. On days 5–7, comp the call-and-response étude over a recording of a blues in F at any tempo under 160 bpm, moving the rests to fit the soloist.
- Every day, 3 minutes: guide-tone comping four to the bar at 140 bpm, as quietly as you can while still keeping the time solid.
- Goal: one chorus of each étude from memory at 132 bpm with the metronome on 2 and 4, and the ability to comp the F blues behind a recording for five minutes without losing the form.