Two-handed Comping
Lesson time: (2min 9sec)
Tim Richards demonstrates a two-handed comping style over 'Ornithology', building rootless voicings you can use behind a soloist.
Course preview
This lesson is part of the course Exploring Jazz Piano: Functional Harmony & Modes
Watch a preview of the full course below.
Lesson transcript:
Ornithology Music Lesson
The backing track to Ornithology goes around three times, doesn't it?
Structure of the Lesson
- I played the melody the first time and the last time.
- In the middle, you've got space for a solo:
- 32 bars on the backing track.
- I'm just playing chords there.
You can use this backing track to practice your comping.
- If you toggle it away, you won't get the full performance.
- Or you can practice the melody or the solo to your heart's content.
Comping Techniques
Let's look at the comping. This is a two-handed style of comping.
In Autumn Leaves, you remember I played four-note shapes in the comping section. But here, I played two-handed voicings using the style of comping that we first did in Open Up.
- G major 7
- G minor 7 (Root 735)
I also used this style with root and third in the left hand.
- For example, with G minor 7.
If it went to C7, you could play it as C9.
- You don't have to change the right hand.
- The third and fifth of the root 735 voicing becomes the seventh and ninth of the dominant chord.
You can also add a note to that 25 pair, keeping the same top note. The right hand hasn't changed at all.
Applying the Voicings
Okay, so I'm using both of those voicings to comp around Ornithology.
The first eight bars went something like this:
- G major
- G minor
- C9
And then the same thing in F:
- F major
- You can play the 6th in the left hand for F minor 7 and then root 379 for B flat.
You should try to memorize those voicings and expand them so that you can do the whole tune in that style.
Practice
So, use the backing track to practice your comping as well as the melody and the solo.
About the instructor
Critically acclaimed jazz pianist and composer Tim Richards is one of Britain’s most experienced jazz educators, teaching piano privately for over 30 years, as well as at Morley College, Goldsmiths College, the University of Surrey, Premises Studios and other venues in the UK and abroad. He has produced numerous titles for Schott Music, including the best-selling two-volume Exploring Jazz Piano, Blues, Boogie & Gospel Collection and the acclaimed Improvising Blues Piano. He is also co-author, with John Crawford, of Exploring Latin Piano and Brazilian Piano Collection.More recently Schott have published Jazz, Latin & Modern Collection (15 pieces for solo piano), comprising Tim Richards originals alongside pieces by Duke Ellington and Thelonious Monk, and the two volume set Beginning Jazz Piano (now a two-part MusicGurus course).“The real joy of Tim’s music… is that it is both hugely educational but also such great fun to play. Anyone with the slightest interest in learning to play or teach jazz piano should really acquire a set of Tim’s books.” PianoDaoAs a performer Tim has been a presence on the UK jazz scene since the 1980s, also playing the blues with UK and US legends such as Otis Grand, Earl Green, Dana Gillespie, Larry Garner, Joe Louis Walker and Mojo Buford. He has released over a dozen albums as a leader (featuring many of London’s best jazz musicians including Pete King, Gilad Atzmon, Tony Kofi, Jason Yarde, Seb Rochford, Ed Jones, Dick Pearce and many others), and toured all over Europe with line-ups ranging from duo to nine-piece. His latest recording, the album ‘Telegraph Hill’ by the six-piece Hextet, was described in The Observer as "A true joy from beginning to end". More info can be found on his website www.timrichards.ndo.co.uk read more