Comping: Keep it Simple

Comping: Keep It Simple

When you're learning to comp, it is easy to get caught up in voicings and substitutions. You can think of the fanciest voicing in the world-- one of those voicings that has hair all over it -- and when you play it, if is not rhythmically connected to the rest of the musicians, it will just sound ridiculous.

Here's a very simple rule for comping: Never play any chord unless it is somehow rhythmically connected to another chord.

Comp in rhythmic phrases. Always connect the chords you play rhythmically to the previous or the following chord. If you follow this one simple rule, your comping will begin to take shape, and to make sense.

Learn to comp by playing harmonically simple voicings -- maybe even just octaves of the root. Play figures that are rhythmically interesting -- rhythmic figures that propel the rhythm forward -- rhythmic figures that are all connected together.

If you listen to Wes Montgomery's comping (some of the very best), you'll find that what made it so good was not elaborate voicings and substitutions, but how the comping fit in rhythmically with the rest of the musicians and with the soloist.

This is also true of Freddie Green, who had an entire style of comping named after him. His voicings were simple. His sense of rhythm was wondrous.

Keep it simple.