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Main ideas presented so far:

• Chord symbols represent, or express a key area. That key area provides you with more notes with which to build chords.
• How tensions function. Know how 9ths, 11ths and 13ths function within a chord. If you are unsure, see Lesson 2 on how to incorporate tensions into your chord voicings.
• Voice leading becomes musical instead of academic and mechanical when you create simple melodic motifs and sequences in the top voice of your chord. This is the top-down approach. If this concept is still unfamiliar to you go back to Lesson 2 where you’ll find a description and examples.

Up to this point we have been dissecting everything into separate containers. You’ve strengthened and expanded your knowledge of major scales and minor scales. You’ve analyzed several individual chord types and tried out some chord voicings on each. Now we’ll try to put all this together.

Moving through chord progressions

When you play through the chord progression of a tune you want to compare the current chord with the next chord and identify the notes that are the same and the notes that are different. Let’s compare a Dmaj7 with an Emaj7. Notes in common would include E, F#, A, B, and C#. Take a moment to analyze each note to see how it functions on each chord. For example: the note B is the 6th of the D chord and the 5th of the E chord. See examples:

Common notes between any 2 chords (This is important)

When you comp you are ALWAYS thinking about what is coming up next. As soon as you play a chord for that Dmaj7 you immediately start planning how to move to the Emaj7 that is coming up next. Thinking ahead like this can give your comping a sense of determination and real direction. Think of it as if you are driving to the store. Mentally you are always planning your route: down Main st. for 2 blocks, then left onto Green, 3 blocks to Chester, then a left, etc. When you comp you think just like this, planning what comes next.

Below is an exercise to help with this. It is an interactive exercise like the one in Lesson 1. When you hit “GO” you’ll be presented with 2 keys (major scales only for now) and asked to figure out how many notes the 2 scales have in common. The program will wait 20 seconds and give you the correct answer. You can increase the speed as you improve. After you get your answer hit “GO” again to get a new pair of keys. Try it! NOTE: Don’t just guess at the answer. Figure out what the common notes are, add them up and enter your response.

So was that fun or what? I can’t over emphasize the value of being able to utilize the common tones between any 2 chords. If you can’t do this, your comping will often sound choppy and erratic. Just like a rodeo cowboy riding a wild horse – he can’t control the horse’s direction, he’s just trying to stay in the saddle! You don’t want the chord progression to pull you all over your instrument. You want to control the direction of your playing. Using common tones gives you a way to gain that control. Let’s take another look at Coltrane’s “Moments Notice”.

The main motif for the melody is a single note played over several different chords (common tones!) In the example below the syncopated rhythm of the melody has been smoothed out so it can be used to create the top voice for these chords.

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See how the common tone idea is used in bars 1 – 3 and again in bars 5 – 7. The smoothest way to build a bridge from one chord to another is to use a common note. Another way is to move the top line in a stepwise manner up or down. In bars 12 – 15 the lead line does exactly that. Using available common tones or stepwise movement gives you maximum control over the chords. You can move your voicings however you like – upwards, downwards or stationary.

Write your own melody

Write your own top line for Moments Notice. Then set a slow tempo and play chords using your written line. Don’t write out the complete voicings, just the top line. Fill in the chords as you play. Repeat the tune several times trying out different voicing ideas. Write a couple more lead lines and try this some more. Finally, don’t write out anything, just comp. Remember to do this SLOWLY and STEADILY. Really give your mind the time to explore new directions and new notes, but always keep a tempo going. Your brain needs to come up with something within a certain time frame.

Here’s another example of smooth voice leading using a strong top line. This excerpt is from the tune “Blue in Green“:

The top line is playing the melody of the tune, just like it did in “Moments Notice”. In this case the melody is a simple scale decending down in steps. It’s a very effective line to use to determine the shape and direction of your voicings. This example includes open and close voicings, as well as both 3 and 4 part chords. Colorful tensions are usually in the top, and supportive chord tones like 3rds and 7ths are often in the bottom. Sounds good to me.

We can now say that a great way to practice this top-down approach to voice leading (and comping in general) is to find lots of tunes with great changes and simple, effective melodies. Choose melodies that you could use in your comping. Study the melodies and uncover what makes them great.

Here are some suggested tunes to start with:

• Con Alma by Dizzy Gillespie
• Someday My Prince Will Come by Frank Churchill
• Just Friends by John Klenner
• Django by John Lewis
• But Beautiful by Jimmy VanHeusen
• All the Things You Are by Jerome Kern
• My Foolish Heart by Victor Young

Here’s one to try. This is an excerpt from Just Friends. I’ve written a new lead line. Pick a tempo and play chords with the written line in the top. Play it several times and experiment with different notes to support the top line. Now write a couple of nice lines yourself and try ‘em out. The goal is to develop a melodic, musical approach to voicing chords and comping.

Concluding Remarks

What this course has tried to do is to dispel the notion that to be good at comping you need to rigorously study and memorize tons of voicings. That’s a lot of work and can make you loose sight of the real goal, which is to be able to invent chordal shapes that fit the mood of the moment and are in sync with what the soloist is playing.

To do that requires that you be able to think on your feet and not be bogged down with a suitcase full of memorized chord structures that may or may not be appropriate for the music at that moment. Think about this: in the sport/art of fencing there are very few actual positions and moves to learn. During a match a contestant will compete with creative variations and combinations of a few basic moves. You want to use that same strategy in your comping too. Keep the memorized information down to a minimum, and be able to modify, invent, and re-structure basic voicing concepts into new improvised colors and sounds. That’s where it’s at.

This concludes our study. I have some ideas for additional lessons for the future, so stay tuned. I hope you found the material presented here informative and stimulating. Good luck and good comping!!

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