Comping Rhythms

This is a preview of the educational program A Jazz Improvisation Almanac which is under development for the Outside Shore Music Online School. Feel free to browse this preview and learn what you can from it. For a more completed product, though, check out the original freely browsable jazz textbook, A Jazz Improvisation Primer.

Accompanists playing chordal instruments must decide not only on what notes to play but also when to play them. Many musicians treat these as separate issues, but they are related. A note does not exist in isolation from other notes. Just as successive notes should relate to each other melodically, they should relate to each other rhythmically as well. It is no different for accompaniment than for soloing. If you think of your accompaniment in terms of a melodic line, then that melodic line should suggest its own rhythm:

[EXAMPLE]

As mentioned previously, the types of melodies that are appropriate for accompaniment tend to be ones that are relatively short and simple:

[EXAMPLE]

In the above examples, each chord was played only once. The melodic line contained within the accompaniment uses one note per chord. This is typical for progressions where the harmony changes twice a measure. In progressions where the chords last a measure or more each, it becomes more likely that any phrase you would construct will use each chord two or more times:

[EXAMPLE]

In the above example, the same voicing was used twice when the Eb7 chord was repeated, but you can certainly change voicings as well:

[EXAMPLE]

In progressions were the harmony changes quickly, do not feel compelled to play each chord. It is more important to form a phrase with your accompaniment than to fit it to every passing chord:

[EXAMPLE]

The style of the composition should play a large role in your selection of rhythms. Short, largely staccato phrases like the above are most appropriate at medium tempos and faster. In slow tunes like ballads, a smoother, more legato style is called for:

[EXAMPLE]

At least as important as forming phrases with your accompaniment is how you interact with the soloist. There are many different ways to approach this; some of these are described below.

If you think of the soloist as playing phrases, you might try thinking of your accompaniment as providing punctuation. This would typically involve playing very short phrases, and playing only while the soloist is leaving space. For example:

[EXAMPLE]

The use of staccato is common in this style of accompaniment.

If the soloist is leaving more space, you can enter into more of a conversation with him, where you take on a more active role:

[EXAMPLE]

This allows the soloist to respond to your ideas as well as the other way around. In fact, you can carry this a step further, and construct your accompaniment almost independently of the soloist. I do not mean to suggest you should become selfish or uncooperative. A strongly conceived independent accompaniment can free the soloist to explore on his own, giving him the reassurance of knowing where home is. Furthermore, the listener can focus on each part individually if he chooses.

One way to organize an independent accompaniment is to set up a constant repeating pattern, which the soloist can use as a known point of departure. Patterns used in accompaniment are often called riffs. Here is an example of this technique:

[EXAMPLE]

This particular rhythm is known as the Charleston, after a popular song and corresponding dance from the early part of the century that used it. This rhythm is typical of the short, propulsive sorts of rhythms that make for good repeating patterns. Some styles of jazz, as well as certain specific compositions, call for particular comping patterns that may involve unique orchestrations and voicings, as well as rhythms. Sometimes the arrangement may write out such a pattern, and in that case, you are expected to follow it. The pattern may be spelled out verbatim:

[EXAMPLE]

Or, an outline may be given that specifies the chords and the rhythms:

[EXAMPLE]

You may wish to use the pattern throughout the performance, although you would normally vary it somewhat from chorus to chorus:

[EXAMPLE]

Latin jazz styles are based on a rhythmic structuring device called the clave, which is discussed further in the chapter on drums. In Afro-Cuban music, the pianist or guitarist normally plays a pattern called a montuno. There are two forms of the clave, and correspondingly, two forms of the montuno rhythm:

[EXAMPLE]

It is beyond the scope of this program to describe all the patterns that are used in different styles of jazz. You may find yourself often improvising new patterns, perhaps based on ideas suggested by the soloist or one of the other accompanists:

[EXAMPLE]

The important point about patterns is that they enable the soloist to predict the accompaniment. The soloist can then choose how he wants to relate to that accompaniment. He may choose to go with it:

[EXAMPLE]

Or against it:

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When the latter happens, you should take special care to be consistent with the pattern. If the soloist is making a deliberate choice to play against the pattern, you should not sabotage this intent by changing the pattern to match the soloist. Allow the audience as well as yourself the opportunity to savor the tension he is creating before you respond to it:

[EXAMPLE]

An independent accompaniment need not be based on a repeating pattern at all, however. You can develop a more dynamic accompaniment instead. Such accompaniment will nevertheless be somewhat responsive to where the soloist is going, even if you are not consciously responding on a moment to moment basis. One cannot help but hear and be affected to some degree by what is happening. Here is an example of this style of accompaniment:

[EXAMPLE]

This is in some ways similar to an arranged background in a big band chart, except that in the latter case, the soloist generally has played the same arrangement many times and knows exactly what to expect. Knowing what the accompaniment will be can lead the soloist to play essentially the same solo each time out. Independent accompaniment that is improvised encourages the soloist to try new things as well, and if your accompaniment is well conceived on its own, the soloist will still feel secure enough to take chances.

When there are two chordal instruments comping at once, it is good to use contrasting rhythmic approaches. For example, one might opt for a repeating rhythmic pattern while the other plays more conversationally. Guitarists in particular at times play a simple quarter note pattern, in a style popularized by Freddie Green with the Count Basie band:

[EXAMPLE]

The best way to develop a feel for appropriate comping rhythms is to listen to some good jazz pianists and guitarists. One nice thing about listening for comping rhythms is that it is relatively easy to learn a pattern after hearing it once or twice, as opposed to voicings, which are notoriously difficult for most people to transcribe from a recording even after many repeated listenings. One exercise useful for learning rhythms is to simply clap them along with the recording, and then try to reproduce them on your instrument. Do not worry if you cannot get the exact notes; the point of the exercise is just to get comfortable with common comping rhythms.

Besides listening to pianists and guitarists, you should also listen to big band arrangements. The types of background parts normally written for brass instruments often serve as good models for rhythm section players as well. Consider the following example:

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The trumpet parts above might be approximated on piano as:

[EXAMPLE]

The final piece of advice I will offer on the subject is: when in doubt, play less. Space can be an effective device when soloing, and this is doubly true when comping. Your job is to provide support, not to fill every possible silence with sound. Give the soloist the opportunity to use space as well:

[EXAMPLE]

Copyright 2000 Outside Shore Music
Authored by Marc Sabatella

Comping Rhythms