Comping is easy
first you need to know what chords you are going to play. that's pure math and practice, just get the chords under your fingers. the chords are like words and grammar.
comping is like a conversation. do you know how to have a conversation?
good!
what is a conversation? tom says, "how's it going!" and then you say, "not bad."
what happens if tom says, "how's it going!" and you say, "my grandpa likes banana peels!" that doesn't make any sense, at least most of the time.
what happens if tom says, "how's it going!" and at the same time you recite the abc's? it's completely madness is what it is.
so, when tom plays a line on his horn, as a pianist you listen to that line, you try to hear what he's trying to say, what's this jazz conversation that tom has initiated here? when tom stops playing a phrase or a line or whenever it seems like you can add to the "conversation", that's when you lay down a chord to help tom get his point across.
if you think about comping and playing with your band like a conversation, then it becomes easy because we all know how to have a conversation with people. most of us, anyway.
listen to "so what" by miles davis. the melody of that tune is the perfect example of the pianist, bill evans, having a musical conversation with paul chambers, the bassist, who plays the melody of the song.
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Use the contact link at the top of the page.
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Jazz Piano Notebook Series
Volume 1 of this educational jazz piano book contains 15 jazz piano exercises, tricks, and other interesting jazz piano techniques, voicings, grooves, and ideas Scot Ranney enjoys playing.
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Volume 2 has 14 jazz piano exercises and tricks of the trade, and quite a bit of it is Calypso jazz piano related material, including some Monty Alexander and Michel Camilo style grooves. Jazz piano education is through the ears, but books like this can help.
Volume 3 contains 12 jazz piano exercises and explorations by the acclaimed jazz piano educator, pianist, author, and recording artist Tim Richards.
Tim wrote the well known "Exploring Jazz Piano" and "Improvising Blues Piano" books and has several others to his name.
Volume 4 is by Jeff Brent, a jazz pianist, composer, teacher, and author of "Modalogy" and other acclaimed jazz theory and education books. In this book Jeff shares detailed analysis of transcriptions of live performances. He covers everything from the shape of the songs to the tricks and licks he uses in improvised lines to the ideas behind his lush chord voicings.
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