tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4070911882575503463.post269587884753600761..comments2021-12-22T09:11:03.963-06:00Comments on Late to Jazz: Big band beginsErichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14568776140153482510noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4070911882575503463.post-47180614517860634002009-01-31T10:05:00.000-06:002009-01-31T10:05:00.000-06:00One thing I had to learn, which seems obvious but ...One thing I had to learn, which seems obvious but wasn't to me, is, there is a difference between solo and group comping. If you are playing solo, I think you need to play the root or, at least, "imply" it (play the rest of the chord in the position where the root would be on the bottom). In group playing, which is all I'm doing now, I almost never play the root. One reason is what you cited. If the bass player's playing the root, why make the effort to duplicate the tone? Sometimes the bass player will do something different, then you can go ahead and play the root. (I'm not good enough yet to recognize when that is.) I have one director who only wants to hear 6ths and 9ths, which require a third and maybe a seventh to get anything out of, but again, in that case I never play the root. It also happens in that combo, we have a guitar, bass, piano, drums and...a tuba! There's no room for the piano to play anything very far below middle C, really. There, most of my comping is in the higher registers. (When everything's on, it sounds really good, with all that "low over there, high over here" going on.)<BR/><BR/>The only time I play the root in combo is when it is anchoring some funky chord sequence that is the whole heart of the song, like the C, Cmin/maj7, Cmin7, C6 sequence in "My Funny Valentine". I don't know of another way to do it. I also always play the root in any diminished 7th chords. Again, I can't figure another way.<BR/><BR/>Ultimately, comping is personal taste, which will be dictated over by some of the people in the band who have strong opinions of what they want to hear (which is usually them). I try to stay in a comfort zone where I sound good when performing, using practice to experiment and try new things. When I find something I like, I run with it, no matter what the other band members say and whether it is below middle C or not.Erichttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14568776140153482510noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4070911882575503463.post-24671006174611440502009-01-30T14:13:00.000-06:002009-01-30T14:13:00.000-06:00I was interested in your comment that you have a n...I was interested in your comment that you have a natural facility at comping. Do you play the root in your left hand? I've been chewed out more than once when my pinkie instinctively hits the root. ("Hey, man--you're stepping on the bass players turf!") Do you concentrate on the octave below middle C, or go further down the board?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com