Play the scale and the chords of the seventh in all twelve keys. Worth, tx to show how to use different accompaniment patterns for the same three chords. Chord tones 1 and 3 are played in the left hand, and chord tones 7 and 9 in the right hand. Write the letter name and chord quality above each chord in the left hand.
Jazz keyboard voicings and bass line writing nafme. Introduce the snare and bass drum as having comping voices, which can help support a rhythmic idea either in the piano, soloist, or big band. See the red dot in the picture above thats the root. The ride cymbal and hihat patterns will change in this format since we have one less beat per measure, but the feel doesnt change. One of the most important tools for your piano playing bag of tricks is a good supply of lefthand accompaniment patterns. Steve also demonstrates the use of more randomlyplaced horn punches to create rhythmic interest and variety.
I have used some of your comping patterns from the blues lessons as a start. Note that scale degrees 10 is the same as 3, 12 the same as 5, 14 the same as 7, and 15 the same as and root. Jazz piano comping how to comp the jazz piano site. The main scales of western music are major and minor scales. As well as the creation of accompaniment patterns for solo jazz piano performance, outcomes of this project include a greater descriptive understanding of the process of. Many players could benefit from having this reference sheet, which has most of the chords jazz musicians are likely to encounter. In comping patterns 10 to the i chord is played with chord tones 1 and 7 in the left hand, and chord tones 3 and 5 in the right hand. Any time youre faced with playing straight chords or even playing melodies from a fake book which pretty much just gives the chord names, youre left to your own resources to supply an. Comping is one of my favorite things to do, as i find it brings together the best of. Comping guides, rhythms, and progressions derived from the transcriptions.
Use a prepared attack and let gravity drop the weight of your armshandsfingers into each chord with just enough support to keep your hands. One of the most important things to remember is that comping is shorthand for accompanying. The first comping rhythm well explore is probably the most popular and wellknown jazz guitar rhythm, the freddie green fourtothebar quarter note pulse. Popular piano accompaniment styles hdpiano youtube. It is relatively easy to play a chord in the left hand, hold it down, and improvise with the right hand. 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. Harmonies, voicings, and grooves paperback january 1, 2012. I came up with a comping handout for the students to help them learn about lefthanded voicings. Or are you looking to get the best in quality for berklee press jazz piano comping free sheet music download. Most jazz comping rhythms are simple and straightforward.
That is a pretty simple definition of comping chords, but it works. Keyboard accompaniment and improvisation helbling publishing. For each of the rhythms, i have an illustration of how the basic pattern is and a version that is. Comping rhythms 10 examples you need to know jens larsen. Before using this guide, pleas e r ef er to my not es a t ti mtopham. Developing basic comping rhythms if you want to see more examples of how i comp and what sort of ideas i have for comping then you can also check out these two lesson in my webstore. The outcome is an exploration of different approaches to developing confidence and aptitude in solo jazz piano performance. As pianists we need to be ready to accept 2 different roles. Comping means accompanying or complementing a soloist by playing the chords and staying out of the soloists way.
The comping rhythms, melodies, and voicings of the greatest jazz guitarists are delightful to listen to, with or without a soloist present. This book is very well structured and helped me make the transition from simple comping patterns to the jazz sound that im looking for. A computermediated interface for jazz piano comping core. But broadly, there are three different comping styles or approaches you can employ. See what you can come up with and take your piano playing to. For example, a short pattern that is played on two strings could be played on strings 12, 23, 34, 45, and 56. 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. Usually, the root bass note is found at the bottom and therefore, its very easy to transpose. Take a one or two bar phrase and transpose it to all 12 keys. Download jazz piano comping ebook free in pdf and epub format. Very basic left hand comping handout for piano learn. All of these are chord tones ct, and therefore, these are not tensions. Piano comping is primarily about grooving, and yes, it is also about interaction, but there can be no interaction without a groove.
Falcon e 2005 midwest clinic 59th annual conference h ilton c hicago c hicago, illinois december 16, 2005 special thanks to. By holly day, jerry kovarksy, blake neely, david pearl, michael pilhofer. The iv and v chords are extended to include the 9th e. How to comp on piano like a pro making music magazine. Be able to play all major and minor scales with at least one hand up and down one octave, minimum. I will give a more detailed description of left hand comp at a later date. Download all rhythms, patterns, and lesson notation in the pdf file below. Mystery unraveled victor l pez, clinician sponsored by alfred publishing company guest clinicians.
Piano chops theres not much you can do until you have basic facility at the piano. When you become an accomplished pattern player and you would like to play solo piano, no singing or other instruments, you will be able to insert the melody back into your patterns and maintain full, rich arrangements. Play this broken chord of the seventh pattern using each of the four chord qualities begining on all twelve. We serve students in newton, waltham, cambridge, and the surrounding areas.
These progressions feature various voicings and techniques, including tritone substitution, the. Comping on the off beats is an effective tool which works well with the underlying bassline by accenting the up beat. Piano comping practice tips cocktail piano lessons. A horn section pattern lets pick a rhythm that imitates a big band born section. Jazz piano basics dan davey tensions are non chord tones that are added to a chord to change the colortexture of the chord. Evidence of the cuban rhythm called clave is widespread in all swing and latin related styles. Building a solid vocabulary of great jazz comping rhythms is difficult. Many of these chord shapes will become your goto grips because they are all movable on the guitar, just like barre chords. Write out this exercise on manuscript paper in all twelve keys. Jim hall chords and comping techniques terence wright. 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. Playing nonrepeating stabs this is more like comping as played by pros.
Youre job here is to support the soloist by providing a rich harmonic background for them to play or to sing over. Click here to download a printable pdf of this months notation. Here are the basic patterns well start with example ia example 1b notice that in example 1b the rhythms are the same as in ia except that the last note note of the. In this video i show you 5 jazz piano comping patterns which will work over a c minor 7 chord. Encourage them to listen to rhythms found in the pianist. Jim hall chords and comping techniques jazz guitar comping is an art form in its own right. This isnt an allencompassing resource, as a resource that. 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. Reverse the pattern right hand plays block chords simultaneous with inversions left hand plays. Lets dive in and learn 10 classic and essential jazz guitar rhythm patterns. There are two different patterns to try on the ride and two different hihat patterns.
You should transpose these two voicings into all 12 keys after you learn them. When a musician is taking a solo, and you are comping, it is your responsibility to make him or her sound great. At, our digital sheet music pdf is delivered instantly over the internet to your home printer using your browser as well as instantly printing the music and you are. For both accompanying a soloist and playing in an ensemble, the simpler the comping patterns the better. Before we can get into piano comping, we need to learn the chord voicings for the song. I love the creativity and the musical conversations that develop between a soloist and rhythm section in jazz. You can comp sparsely and delicately listen to count basie or aggressively and busily listen to mccoy tyner. Encyclopedia of lefthand jazz piano voicings learn jazz. Be able to play major and minor triads in all keys and use the damper pedal effectively. How to comp chords comping chords on the piano this is definitely one of the more complicated aspects of playing the piano.
Abelein, pessi levanto, jyrki tenni, jasse varpama pianokeyboards. Try to play the phrase on as many sets of strings as possible. More and more, publishers are adopting the practice of providing realized piano parts in the jazz band arrangements they offer. In this video, i am going to go over 10 examples of comping rhythms to check out.
I only included 100 left hand patterns, but there are so many more patterns you can create. Jazz drums thelonious monk institute of jazz online jazz. Berklee pressjazz piano comping free sheet music download pdf. Once you have learned a few of these patterns you will be able to combine them in a number of ways to create a solid jazz feel. Jazz, blues, and boogiewoogie left hand patterns, 3. It has a practical approach that gets you started immediately, and also includes a cd that helps you gauge yourself along. Visit our blog for free piano lessons, sheet music and video tutorials. No comping just holding down chords once per symbol. But how is it that some players manage to create such captivating comping ideas, while others fade into the. Playing a steady rhythm lets play each chord in a steady pattern of quarter notes.
Contemporary chord patterns for piano accompaniment 26 patterns for accompaniment using same the 3 chords this is a pdf i used in a workshop in ft. See what you can come up with and take your piano playing to the next level. Try each of these with different comping patterns, and try them with and without the bass drum. For starters, try keeping an eye on your volume level and most importantly maintain a consistent sense of rhythm. Comping is an art, and there is no right or wrong way to do it. Great lefthand accompaniment patterns for the piano or. Read jazz piano comping online, read in mobile or kindle. 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.
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