This is an short encyclopedia with 12 voicings for most of the chords jazz pianists are likely to encounter. Comping is an art, and there is no right or wrong way to do it. As a guitarist of 35 plus years in a variety of styles mostly in the jazz vein your lessons are just what i needed to get started on piano. Most people are struggeling to find good way to develop their comping, and especially coming up with good rhythms to support a soloist in an interesting and varied way. This type of odd grouping with your 8th notes is a great way to create interest and. Twohand piano voicings are essential for jazz pianists when comping behind melodists and soloists. You cant just learn the chords and some nice voicings and suddenly be a good comper. Once you become a member of jazzedge, you will have immediate access to our cocktailpianolessons.
You can comp sparsely and delicately listen to count basie or aggressively and busily listen to mccoy tyner. You can get creative, and rhythmically displace the halfnote rhythm around the bar to create variety. In this video lesson youll learn how to adjust your chord voicings so when. Apr 06, 2016 these piano comping practice tips are meant to give you specific exercises to practices that will improve your harmonic understanding and help you learn the chords to a bunch of jazz tunes. In previous lessons we established that in jazz we dont need to play every single note in a chord. They typically use voicings with or without bass notes and different string sets low, high, etc. His playing was featured on the soundtrack for the hit 2019 film. In this video i show you 5 jazz piano comping patterns which will work over a c minor 7 chord. All studies come in pdf format and will be emailed directly to you within 24h. Even the bass solo gets a little comping behind it. In this minilesson, learn from willie myette how to effectively comp chords at the piano. Playing the chords in the context of a song is really the best way to learn them.
In this lesson we will explore some useful voicings, patterns, and rhythmic ideas for right hand comping over the 12 bar blues. In this lesson i am going to take a simple rhythm that everybody needs to know anyway, and i am going to show you how to develop that into more interesting rhythms. No two solos are the same, therefore no two comps should be the same. Time to have fun playing piano chords with both hands. The 6 note voicings would be suited to a trio or bigger band performance. Pianoforall is one of the only piano courses on udemy that comes with exceptional supplemental material each video has an accompanying pdf that you can print out and set on your keyboard.
When you play behind a soloist, whether he or she is playing the melody or an improvised solo, you are comping. Mar 21, 2016 twohand piano voicings are essential for jazz pianists when comping behind melodists and soloists. You really have to listen to your soloist and actually complement them. As pianists we need to be ready to accept 2 different roles. These progressions feature various voicings and techniques, including tritone. F jazz blues comping jazz chords and concepts guitar lesson playing the chords on a jazz blues is a great way to start your journey into jazz guitar.
We ll move from no comping at all to different types of comping in easy steps. Introduction to jazz guitar chords and comping styles. In just the 4 bars of the original jim hall comping example, a number of musical devices are used that you can incorporate into your comping. Unlock the world of blues piano and open the door to a world of creativity. We will concentrate mainly on the piano keyboard, though the same principles apply to the guitar and, to. Learn how to comp chords at the piano pianowithwillie. Were now going to take things a step further and explore other aspects of the performance. Free video lesson below in todays new video youll learn 3 easy ways of playing 2 handed piano chords. There are many harmonic concepts, useful licks, and c 16. These piano comping practice tips are meant to give you specific exercises to practices that will improve your harmonic understanding and help you learn the chords to a bunch of jazz tunes. The second role considers the pianist as a soloist in which we play the melody or soloimprovisation in our right hand, and the chords.
We will concentrate mainly on the piano keyboard, though the same principles apply to the guitar and, to a lesser extent, the bass guitar and drums. That is a pretty simple definition of comping chords, but it works. Jazz blues guitar comping exercise free jazz guitar lessons. Just read the praise from the likes of dave brubeck. This chord splitting technique will be looked at in depth later in the lesson. I will continue to add more jazz piano lessons in the future to cover more topics and concepts. Cindy moorhead continuing our exploration of cool things to do with a jazzblues chord progression in a rhythm section, id now like to demonstrate an accompaniment, or comping, technique favored by jazz guitarists, pianists and organists alike over a swingstyle walking bass line provided by a bassist, second guitarist or keyboardists left hand that provides.
If you come to piano lessons each week and walk away only having learned about music notation, rhythm, and dots on a page, then i have failed as a music mentor. In this video i will go over a 3 step process where you learn some basic jazz blues comping and turn them into tools that you can use to comp more freely and develop your own chord vocabulary. Your piano jazz comping, pop and rock free piano lessons. Paddy milner is not only recognised as one of the leading blues piano players in the world he is currently keyboard player of choice for sir tom jones, following several years with the late great jack bruce, but also as a superb original songwriter and distinctive singer. The sound of emotions piano method is a new approach to learning to play the piano and practicing improvisation. Introduction to blues piano lesson 3 adding the right hand comping exercise 1, two hands together, right hand comping on the beat. Sound of emotions learn piano online with david magyel. Many older musicians call this playing in two, or will say lets play in two for the first chorus. See how soulful jazz master james williams negotiates the blues in all twelve keys, and youll be ready for anything. Because funk generally demands harmony parts that are more sparse than you would use in jazz dense chords on a rhodes often sound too muddy for funk, its best to keep to threenote chords when supporting righthand soloing. If you want to check out an example for comping on an f blues i wrote a lesson with two choruses using different types of voicings. One very important role is to provide harmonic support to the soloists throughout the performance.
One very important role is to provide harmonic support to the soloists. Jazz piano pdf jazz piano lessons pdf jazz piano chord. This means you are in charge of playing chords while someone else solos. Chord voicings to get started with chord voicings for any jazz standard at the piano, you must first learn how to form rootless chord voicings. Jazz piano roadmapjazz piano roadmap chordscale system chord voicings block closed shell rootless open quartal so what upper structures locked hands this jazz piano roadmap summarises all the key concepts you need to understand in order to play and appreciate jazz piano, and attempts to show how these ideas are related.
Comping means accompanying or complementing a soloist. Evidence of the cuban rhythm called clave is widespread in all swing and latin related styles. The following lessons introduce some of the basics of jazz guitar chords. I came up with a comping handout for the students to help them learn about lefthanded voicings. If you are just accompanying a vocalist, you may find they are too heavy. A foggy day v1 chords, mostly middle strings key of f. First learn the 4 note and 6 note variations of the comping voicings in the minor and major keys outlined in the lesson. Very basic left hand comping handout for piano learn jazz. You actually spend most of your time on a jazz gig playing behind others.
Apr 30, 2016 jazz piano comping with open and closed voicings duration. Go from complete beginner to playing blues piano in 9 lessons. A study of 9 legendary jazz piano players and the zero to jazz piano hero program. It is relatively easy to play a chord in the left hand, hold it down, and improvise with the right hand. Comping means accompanying or complementing a soloist by playing the chords and staying out of the soloists way. Jazz piano comping how to comp the jazz piano site.
How to comp enliven your accompaniments with comping. I began creating music transcriptions of piano recordings in 1977. How to comp on piano like a pro making music magazine. Why a free playing piano chords with both hands tutorial. Before we can get into piano comping, we need to learn the chord voicings for the song.
Comping as opposed to playing an accompaniment which is more likely fully notated contains, therefore, an element of improvisation. Comping rhythms for jazz piano now that you can walk a bass line, and know which notes to play for a nice 4note voicing sound with your right hand, lets talk about rhythm and give you something to practice. Upgrade your membership and get full access to all lessons, sheet music, notes, coaching and more. The theory ive taught myself beforehand from my guitar studies has been an added bonus to understanding your lessons at a faster pace. Definitely check out the piano chords bundle lesson.
Youll play two halfnotes rhythms in each measure, thus the term two. He also discusses the importance of comping for others, as well as comping for yourself and making the most of the notes you have to use in any given situation. Comping in not about just playing the chords perfectly. However, because we are playing the root note of every chord as the bass note, the chord progression in its entirety is actually less ambiguous. Chords with bass line the lessons will demonstrate an example in one key. Some of the chord and voicing nomenclature that i rely upon matches what you can find in books by renowned teachers such as mark levine, jamey aebersold and phil degreg, which i do recommend if you are serious about learning jazz piano. Piano comping practice tips cocktail piano lessons. Some students have found they will need to write out a few examples in other keys. Here are a few quick examples to show you how to comp on piano like a pro. You are comping for the soloist, youre playing behind the head. The comping rhythms, melodies, and voicings of the greatest jazz guitarists are delightful to listen to, with or without a soloist present.
When playing with other jazz musicians, you will be required to perform different roles than when playing solo jazz piano. So far we have covered the fundamental skills and requirements when accompanying a vocalist. Major 251 4 note comping voicings major 251 6 note comping voicings minor 251 4 note comping voicings minor 251 6 note comping voicings. You can get started by clicking on a free lesson below.
This is known as comping which is short for accompanying. Download it once and read it on your kindle device, pc, phones or tablets. In a jazz setting, the pianists left hand is often used for comping i. We serve students in newton, waltham, cambridge, and the surrounding areas. I play each example 3 times, so you can either use it as inspiration for your own practice or even use the video as a play along and comp together with me. Complement the soloist rhythmically and harmonically. The i iv v chords are all related through the circle of 5ths which creates a natural sense of tension and release in the blues progression. Paddy will also introduce the concepts that will enable you to benefit from the more advanced courses. You can start at the beginning and work your way through each lesson in sequential order. I will give a more detailed description of left hand comp at a later date. Welcome to this lesson on adding fills when accompanying singers. Piano comping transcribed from our bestselling volume 42 blues in all keys. But broadly, there are three different comping styles or approaches you can employ.
If you look closely at the jim hall comping excerpt youll notice that both chords are based o. In this video, i am going to go over 10 examples of comping rhythms to check out. That is the best way for me to improve my lessons and make thme fit what you want to hear. For all of the similarities that exist between the two, rock piano playing and jazz piano playing also have many obvious differences. Piano comping is primarily about grooving, and yes, it is also about interaction, but there can be no interaction without a groove. Jim hall chords and comping techniques jazz guitar comping is an art form in its own right. One big difference in terms of technique has to do with the use of the left hand. Part one of two, created to tie in with my book, how to really. Before diving into each jazz concept in detail, i recommend watching the overview videos and downloading the pdf on the right to get a broad and contextualised understanding of the ideas we will soon be exploring. F jazz blues comping jazz chords and concepts guitar. He is also the author of the the jazz masters method dvd.
How to comp chords comping chords on the piano this is definitely one of the more complicated aspects of playing the piano. Life lessons are just as important, if not more important than music lessons. Your job is to support the soloist, outline the changes and add a rhythmic propulsion to the music. Welcome to this lesson on open position rootless voicings. This handout is the second in a twopart series of reference voicings for the jazz pianist.
You should transpose these two voicings into all 12 keys after you learn them. But how is it that some players manage to create such captivating comping ideas, while others fade into the. The hal leonard jazz piano method book 2 is a detailed, easytouse guide for anyone interested in furthering their jazz piano skills. Free jazz piano lessons everything you need to know. Building a solid vocabulary of great jazz comping rhythms is difficult. Piano comping is an essential skill for all types of pianists. Secondary dominant chords after working with altering the rhythm, the next step is to take a deeper look at whats going on harmonically. Let me give you a few quick examples to show you how to comp on piano like a pro. Because we are omitting notes each individual chord is ambiguous. In this video, george demonstrates the four inversions of a fournote chord. F blues comping etude 3 choruses if you have any questions, comments or suggestions for topics or how i can make the lessons better then please feel free to leave on the video or send me an email. While left hand only chord voicings are nice and simple, they dont sound as rich or balanced as two handed chord voicings. Encyclopedia of twohand jazz piano voicings learn jazz. The goal of this whole endeavor is for you to comp good jazz guitar chords on songs jazz standards see our list here.
Download theory supplements, midi files, chord changes and full notefornote transcriptions of every lesson. Use features like bookmarks, note taking and highlighting while reading teach yourself. Jim hall chords and comping techniques terence wright. Its about giving a voice to the emotions, and the rest is all about the various kind of musical styles that exist.
Visit our blog for free piano lessons, sheet music and video tutorials. Well use jingle bells so you can visualize what im talking about, and ill notate the left hand in the bass clef, even though you would never find this in. Prior to this i had picked out songs by ear like the beatles lady madonna and martha my dear, memorizing them as i went, and thus bypassing the process of attempting to notate what i was hearing. Open chord voicings spread voicings the jazz piano site. Learn cocktail piano with willie myette cocktail piano lessons. Well move from no comping at all to fairly interesting comping in four easy steps. In the jazz field, comping has generally taken on a more. Comping studies include different inversions, substitutions or variations. Twelve days of christmas harmonizing the front end download pdf. Play chords with your left hand and the melody line with your right. While studying at berklee college of music in 19761977 i took a class where we learned to sightsing melodies, conducting 44 or. Piano comping is primarily about grooving, and yes, it.