Jazz Blues Piano Comping

Lesson Goal: To internalize some bread and butter Jazz Blues Piano Comping styles… by ear, intellect, eye, and muscle…

… a series of lessons that will progressively develop your Jazz Blues Piano Comping chops…

Table of Contents

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Prerequisites

Basic music reading skills… basic scale, chord, and chord progression theory… basic technique… the LOVE of music… and the discipline to study and practice.

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Study, Practice, & Performance Tips

1. Your goal is not to merely memorize these, but to internalize them using all four musical intelligences: ears, intellect, eyes, and muscles.
2. Every time you practice something, you are programming your brain. So always play accurately.
3. Practice with a Click Track or a Rhythm Track. Doing so will give you immediate feedback on any rhythmic misconceptions or places where your timing gets sloppy.
4. Record Yourself. Always. Listen to the playback immediately. And ask yourself: Is that what you intended to play?”
5. If anything feels tense or awkward, stop immediately and experiment with alternative fingerings or choreography.
6. Play this in other keys you expect to play in. By the way, once you see the patterns (which is guaranteed if you know your scales and chords) finding the notes in other keys will be a piece of cake!
7. If you feel stuck or overwhelmed, realize that anything can and will be mastered if you slow things down or break things down to small enough pieces.

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Jazz Blues Piano Comping Pattern #1

Left Hand: Chord roots played on the strong beat in each bar. Right Hand. Closed position basic chord voicings connected by voice leading, all played on the strong beat in each bar.

Technique Tips: (1) Adjust the shape of your right hand to naturally fit the shape of each chord, (2) No flams between your left and right hand, (3) Feel and keep time with your arms, not your fingers, (4) Get to the next note and chord before it’s time to play it, (5) Have some momentum going into each note and chord.

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Jazz Blues Piano Comping Pattern #2

Left Hand: Chord roots played in steady quarter notes. Right Hand: Closed position basic chord voicings connected by voice leading, all played on the strong beat in each bar.

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Jazz Blues Piano Comping Pattern #3

Left Hand: Chord roots played in steady quarter notes. Right Hand: Closed position basic chord voicings connected by voice leading, in a 1-bar syncopated “on-off” rhythm (Don’t forget to swing the eighth notes!)

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Comping Pattern #4

Left Hand: Chord roots played in steady quarter notes. Right Hand: Definitive Tones (3, b7) of each chord connected by voice leading in a 2-bar syncopated “off-on, on-off” rhythm (Don’t forget to swing the eighth notes!)

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Comping Pattern #5

Left Hand: Chord roots played in steady quarter notes. Right Hand: Definitive tones (3,b7) of each chord connected by voice leading in a 2-bar syncopated “off-on, on-off” rhythm (Don’t forget to swing the eighth notes!)

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Comping Pattern #6

Two-fisted four-note voicings in syncopated rhythm. Left Hand: Chord Roots. Right Hand: Definitive tones (3, b7) + a color tone (either 9 or 13) all connected by voice leading.

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Comping Pattern #7

Two-fisted four-note voicings in syncopated rhythm. Left Hand: Chord Roots. Right Hand: Definitive tones (3, b7) + a color tone (either 9 or 13), all connected by voice leading.

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Comping Pattern #8

Two-fisted five-note voicings in syncopated rhythm. Left Hand = Root+b7 or Root+3. Right Hand = b7 or 3 on bottom, color tone (either 9 or 13) in the middle, Root or 5 on top, all connected by voice leading. Again, don’t forget to swing the eighth notes!

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