Bridging The Comping Gap
BY JULIAN LAGE
Julian Lage is one of those rare musicians who
feels equally at home in acoustic and jazz cir-
cles. He has been a member of legendary vibra-
phonist Gary Burton’s group since 2004, and
also regularly collaborates with pianist Taylor
Eigsti. Lage’s latest album, Gladwell, reflects
his wide-ranging musical interests and talents
by incorporating chamber music, American folk
and bluegrass, Latin and world music, tradi-
tional string-band sounds, and modern jazz. For
more information, visit julianlage.com.
CHOPS: Intermediate
THEORY: Intermediate
LESSON OVERVIEW:
• Create rhythmically interesting
comping patterns.
• Learn how to use syncopation.
• Develop a more “conversational”
approach to rhythm playing.
Click here to hear
sound clips of
these examples.
striking a balance between giving soloists
space to create a melodic narrative and pushing them towards new heights with harmonic and rhythmic commentary. At its core,
comping is a social activity. It can be equated
to being a moderator on a panel discussion.
You have the bird’s-eye view of everything
that’s going on and have the power to direct
the listener’s attention to any aspect of the
unfolding music that moves you.
The responsibilities of a good accompanist are more or less consistent. However,
it is important to address a difference I’ve
noticed between musicians who are good
at comping and those who are especially
great at it. Lesser-experienced guitarists will
usually define, albeit quite unconsciously,
their role as someone who lays down the
chords to keep the form clear and to show
the soloist where they are in the song at any
given moment. Though this can be absolutely essential and effective, it can get you
in trouble when you’re playing with more
experienced soloists or rhythm sections.
These musicians are already completely clear
on the form and don’t need the chords to be
outlined so rigidly. In such scenarios, great
accompanists will relinquish the responsibility of only defining the form and time feel,
and will instead use comping as a means of
adding rhythmic and harmonic color to the
music. It’s through this approach that comping becomes really exciting and truly interactive. All of a sudden it becomes important
that your comping has a melodic and
architectural contour. Ideally, it should be as
integrative and intriguing as the solo being
To me, the guitar is one of the greatest instruments of all time. Not only is it
beautiful as a music-producing machine,
but also the variety of sounds that can be
made from a single guitar are beyond comprehension. A guitar can play the role of
a lead voice effortlessly, sounding like the
most natural thing you’ve ever heard. It can
also turn on a dime and be the ideal instrument for accompaniment. In this lesson, I’d
like to focus on the latter role and explore
how to develop your own personal concept
of accompaniment—or “comping,” as it’s
known in jazz—from the perspective of
rhythm first, and then harmony.
Let’s begin by defining what it means to
comp. In jazz, the role of the accompanist
is to essentially bridge the gap between the
rhythmic and groove-oriented world of the
bassist and drummer with the harmonic and
melodic world of the soloist. Simply put,
it’s up to us to connect the dots, all while
˙
1
1
played. When this is done at the highest
level, it can lift the music to new heights.
So let’s explore how to go about practicing this approach. One of the best ways
to work on the subsequent examples is
to start by recording a simple bass line
for a song of your choice (just the roots
played in half-notes), then record a solo
on another track, and then go back and
practice comping along with your solo.
This will help simulate a real-life comping
situation, but with the benefits of it being
a controlled environment.
So often, we are taught that the road to
great comping lies in learning hip voicings.
Although an expanded harmonic toolkit is
important in order to be an effective commentator, having an intimate relationship
with the rhythmic side of things reigns
king. In order to practice this, let’s take a
harmonic progression and rather than using
full chords, start by comping with one note
at a time, played only on one string—in this
case, the 4th string. By limiting ourselves
harmonically, we’re forced to focus more on
the rhythmic integrity of our accompaniment. As far as harmonic content, let’s begin
by playing notes that can be found in the
scales associated with each chord, mainly
focusing on chord tones such as the 3rd,
7th, or 5th, to help clarify the harmonic
motion that underlies the progression. With
a simplified, one-string, harmonic concept
in place, it’s time to start practicing rhythmic variety, beginning with relatively simple
phrases and working our way up to more
complex syncopation.
Fig. 1
44 &
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b oe oe w˙™
oeoe
F7
w
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oej
2
0
5
0
2
5
3
1
3
3
&
F‹ 7
0
w
wb
1
B¨ 7
wb
˙n
˙b
E¨OE„Š7
b˙™ w
A¨ 7
b
b
oe oe ww
6
9
8
6
5
8
4
4
