AUGUST 1999 GUITAR PLAYER 1

first hearing, most listeners concentrate on

Jim Halls improvised lines. His lyrical phras-

esand the spaces he leaves between

themare something special. Halls under-

stated comping is less immediately obvious, but when you listen

closely, his chordal work is at least as focused and musical as his

single-note playing. Hall comps sparsely enough to avoid distracting

soloists, yet hell spur them on by subtly spicing up a tunes harmony

and rhythm. n Comping is really about listening, says Hall.

So is improvising, of course, but then youre listening to

yourselfhearing the phrase youve just played and reacting to

it to create a melodic narrative. When comping, your job is to

B Y A D A M L E V Y

At

In the long run, its more important to

look at paintings thanlisten

to the way someone plays

bebop lines.

Jim Hall

LESS IS MORE

A Comping Master Class with Jim Hall

listen to the soloist and react.

Small Is BeautifulWith that in mind, Hall relies on two- and

three-note voicings for accompaniment. Theykeep the music clear and uncluttered, he ex-plains. Big, full-voiced chords are hard to movegracefully, and they tend to get in the soloistsway. With smaller shapes, you can easily alterone or two of the notes in your chord to bettercompliment what the soloist is playing.

To illustrate his point, Hall plays EExx.. 11the

harmony for the first eight measures of All theThings You Are. As you can see, he regularlyomits chord roots. Many of his voicings consistonly of the chords 3 and 7. The G and C at thebeginning of measure 4, for instance, form anabbreviated Abmaj7. Compare Halls chordchoices to the original chords above them.

Quartal MagicThis example shows how quartal harmony

(chords built in fourths) figures prominentlyin Halls palette. Quartal chords are cool notonly because they sound hip, but because theyare harmonic chameleons. For example, thethree-note quartal voicing in measure 1 couldstand in for many different chords: Fm7(11),Bbm7(11), Ab6/9, Ab13, Db6/9, Db13, and

G7#9#5. The quartal E7sus4 in the second mea-sure is an odd substitute for the songs originalharmony (Bbm7), but voice-leads perfectly toHalls Eb7sus4 chord in measure 3.

EExx.. 22 shows how Hall comps through in thenext eight bars of All the Things You Are. Again,artful voice-leading makes his harmonic sub-stitutions sound as natural as the songs originalchanges. Notice the open-voiced triads in thelast two measures. These wide, simple soundsare a clear departure from the compact extendedand altered voicings Hall played to this point.

Bass-Chord DialogOne reason Examples 1 and 2 sound unclut-

tered is that Hall leaves out virtually all the bassnotes. However, he regularly employs another

2 GUITAR PLAYER AUGUST 1999

===================================TAB

& bbbb 44 www jn nn . . .b( ) b( ) b( ) j j j .b .Fm7(11) E7sus4 E 7sus4 E 7b b A maj7 A 7b b

6 6 6

6 5

5 5

5 4

8 8 8

7 7 7

1

(Fm7) (B m7)b (E 7)b (A maj7)b

===================================TAB

& bbbb . . .5

D maj7 D 6/9b b

5 3 4

8 8 8

n# nn jn nn . . .-D7 9 G7 5 (Cmaj7) C6/9 G7 5 9# ###

10 10 9

8 8 9

7 7 7

8 8 8

8 8 8

(D maj7)b(G7)

b( )

===================================TAB

& bbbb 441 j jn j jb( ) b( ) n

Cm7(11) F7 5 B 9b# E 13b

8 8 8

6 6 7

5 5 6

5 5 4

(Cm7) (Fm7) (B 7)b (E maj7)b

===================================TAB

& bbbb5 j

5 3

A 6b jn n

n . .n . n 4 2 3

9 7 8

7

7 5

G6 Am Gn(Gmaj7)(D7)(A maj7)b

Ex. 1

Ex. 2

type of comping that does include sparselyplaced bass notes. EExx.. 33 shows how Hall appliesthis technique to a blues in G. Notice how thebass and chords play off each other, creating amusical dialog. I think of bass notes and chordsas the left- and right-hand parts a pianist mightplay, says Hall.

He attacks the bass notes (in this example,the notes below the staff and the lowest voicein each four-note chord) with his pick, grabbingthe rest with a hybrid pick-and-fingers grip.

Green RhythmsOf course, you can always just play straight

4/4 rhythm, says Hall playing EExx.. 44. I think ofthis as a drummer playing time on the hi-hat.I keep my right hand moving up and down in

AUGUST 1999 GUITAR PLAYER 3

===================================TAB

&1 # 44 n b b

n( ) j bbbn n( ) n( ) n b b

jn . . .n .G13 A 13 G13b A 13b Dm7(11) A 13b G13

5 4 3

3 4

6 5 4

3 5 4

4 3

4 6 5 4

5 5 5 6

5 4

5 4

7 5 4 3

Medium swing

3 6 5 4

===================================TAB

&5 # b bnb n . . .

#### nn j# b . .n .b j n# nJbb

C9 D 9 C9b F 6/9G6/9# C m7 Cm7 Bm7 E7 13 9 B m9bb# #

8

8 5 7

7 7 8

8 8

8 8

9 9

9 9 10

10

9 9 9

8 8 8

7 7 7 7

8 6

8 8 6 6 6 9

===================================TAB

&9 # nb J b

J bJ n( ) n( ) n bJb bn bJb www

Un( ) nn( ) G9E 9 A 9b bE 9b Am9 D7 9 G13 B 9b

6 6 5

5 6

7 5 5 5

5 5 4 4

3

3 5 4

6 3 5 6

3

3

4 1 3 4

11

11 10

b

8

wn( ) 0 2

n b b

===================================TAB

& # 44 n bb n( ) b b n( ) n bb n bb bn( ) etc.

4 3 3

4 3 3

5 4 4

5 4 4

4 3 3

4 3 3

5 4

5 4 4

5 4 4

G7 A 7 G7b A 7b G7 A 7b G7 D 7b C7

3 3 4

3

5 4 4

5 4 4

3 4

3 4

3 3 4

3 3 4 4

3 4 4 3

3 2

Ex. 3

Ex. 4

John Scofield has played with Hall on many occasions, and recorded a duet withhim on Halls 91 release, Live at Town Hall, Vol. 2. Last summer, Scofield againplayed a duo concert with Hall. Based on first-hand experience, Scofield contends thatHall is the King of Comp. AL

Actually, its hard to say anything about Jims comping without getting into hiswhole conception, says Scofield. His musicality is the key: Jim understands musicvery, very thoroughly, so when he accompanies youespecially in a duo situationhe hears everything youre doing and reacts to it with a deep-swinging groove. Itmakes you want to really play.

One of the things I admire about Jims comping is his sound. Its one thing to hearhim on a record, but when youre playing with him, you appreciate what a beautifulsound he gets out of the instrument. Then theres his harmonic awarenesshis voicingsand voice-leading are perfect. Every time I play with him, its like a guitar lesson.

OPEN LETTER FROM A FAN

eighth-notes, and just play accents where theyreneeded. Sometimes Im hardly hitting the stringsat all. Jazzers often call this comping FreddieGreen style in homage to the great rhythm gui-tarist in Count Basies big band.

Harmonized Bass LinesAnother technique is what Hall calls a har-

monized bass line. The idea is this: Walk aquarter-note bass line on the sixth string anddrag simple chord voicings (usually just the 3and 7) along the third and fourth strings toshadow the bass line.

This type of comping is particularly effectiveif youre playing without a bassist. When makingup your own harmonized bass lines, be sure totreat the line as the most important element.This isnt about hip chord voicings; its about

making a strong bass line and creating momen-tum with a steady rhythm.

EExx.. 55aa shows a walking bass line for the firstfour bars of a blues in G. EExx.. 55bb shows Halls har-monization, and EExx.. 55cc shows a variation.

Work It OutPractice these comping techniques until you

can make them swing with any kind of chordprogression at any tempo. Apply them to yourfavorite standards. For practice, record yourselfplaying a melody, and then comp along withthe tape, Hall suggests, though he adds thatthis is no substitute for playing with living,breathing musicians.

Hall finishes our comping lesson with a bitof Zen guitar philosophy: One of the most im-portant lessons Ive learned is you dont haveto play all the time. When youre not sure whatto play, lay out. In other words, dont just dosomethingsit there. g

4 GUITAR PLAYER AUGUST 1999

===================================TAB

&Medium swing

# 44 # # n b b etc.

C7G7G7 C7 C 7#

3 4 5 7 8 8 9 9 10 15 14 13 12 11 10 9 8

===================================TAB

&Medium swing

# 44etc.

n # # nb nn( ) #

n bb n bb n( ) n( ) bC7G7G7 C7 C 7#

4 3 3 4

4 3

5

5 4

7

7 5 8

8 8 9

9 8 8

8 9

9 10

10 9

15 15

14 14

14 12 13

12

12 10 10

11

11

10

10

10 9 9

9

9 8 8

9 9

##

===================================TAB

& # 44etc.

n # # nb

G7 C7 C 7#

4 3 3 4

4 3

5

5 4

7

7 5 8

8 8 9

9 8 8

8 9

9

n bb b n bb bn( ) n( ) n( ) G7 C7

10

10 9

9

9 8

8

8 7

7

7 5

5

5 4

4 3 3

3 4 4

3 3 2

10

10 9

##9 9

Ex. 5a

Ex. 5b

Ex. 5c