PlayJazzGuitar.com Forum

[burke1]

I have been playing for a while. Jazz is still new and "different" to me. I had the opportuity to sit in with a Big Band this past week. I thought "Oh yeah, just simple chord comping".

Well apparently I forgot how to count. The first four are good, but my problem lies in repeating the counts in time. Is there a good way to practice this?

Also I noticed that I was looking at the chords and thinking that proper voicing would take some doing. "Sitting in" at my stage was not an option.
Are there any rules of thumb for voiceing on the fly?

[Excel Player]

For me, correct big band comping is way more difficult than it looks. You need to use sparse chords with 3 notes or less with open voicing. Now that doesn't mean using open strings, it means using voicings where the notes have some larger intervals between them. I generally use the 6th, 4th, and 3rd strings and try to include 3rds and 7ths. The horns will be playing the extentions i.e. the # b9ths 5ths etc and the bass will take care of the low end. Trying to use bigger chords will give you a messy sound. You can even use one note and mute all the others like Freddie Green does. You don't need the chords to ring out, just have a quick pulse. As far as timing, try working with a metronome while you're learning your voicings. When you feel like sitting in, do it along with a CD recording first and try to hone your skills that way before going live.

Now, where do you get the voicings? Try Googling Freddie Green or "Ranger" Doug Green of Riders in the Sky and see what kind of voicings the sites recommend. They have some great ideas to help you out. Remember, go slow at first and then get more complicated over time. If your playing gets sloppy, scale your self back towards the fundamentals and you'll get it. Hope this helps. If you need more info just ask me.

[sunflower]

http://www.freddiegreen.org/technique/mp_quotes.html

this could start you on a journey to
Root motion and Guide tone line

Cool

[Excel Player]

There it is. That's where I got all my info but forgot the link. It'll get you where you need to go.