Comping Styles for Guitar

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

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Q I left music as a professional classical guit player & teacher to raise a family. I keep practicing and learning but with limited time. I am very interested in your books. Haven't bought any yet. I am very interested in learning to comp without bass and drums to work with singers and with a clarinetist. I listen to a lot of jazz, and have a decent classical right hand technique. I work at learning voicings but need a way to put it together. Can you suggest which of your books to get to help develop a good comping ability? Do you offer qty discounts? Truthfully, all your books sound interesting.
A I look at comping from a few different angles. Within any given musical style you could look at playing chords in the following ways

1. Knowing different chord voicings.
2. Knowing different possible rhythms that could be used.
3. Being able to add or subtract chords to create diversity
(reharmonization)
4. Developing alternate possible style of comping within a given style.
(i.e. chords and bass at the same time)

I have address each of these in different ways in different books.

"Chord Workbook for Guitar Volume One" gives you the common chords a professional musician uses. You probably know most of these already. But, the back of the book gives you 36 chord progression which have been reharmonized using the techniques I layout in a reharmonization section found before the progressions. So this book will help you develop number 3 from the list above.

"Chord Workbook for Guitar Volume Two" gives you all the upper 4 string voicings which are great for chord melody playing. You once again probably know a lot of these but this book gives you all the possibilities within 5 frets. The back of this book gives you 24 chord progression which have been reharmonized used the techniques I layout in a reharmonization section found before the progressions. This reharmonization method is different from book one but it does use the same progressions as book one and then reharmonizes the reharmonizations. This book will also help you develop number 3 from the list above.

"Comping Styles for Guitar Volume Two FUNK" takes the progression found in Chord Workbook for Guitar Volume One and plays them in a funk style. This funk comping uses a bass and chord funk style so you could lets say accompany a vocalist with a funky style of chord comping. I find this book to be very useful for developing alternate ways to comping and create the feeling of a whole rhythm section.

"Guitar Clinic" is a book which covers many of subjects I present at clinics. This book contains one of the possible bass and chord comping style that jazz players commonly use in duet playing. I think you would find that half of this book is stuff you already know or is very much pitched to a beginner but the other half would contain important information you could use. Below is a list of some of it's other content:

1. Exercises from my "Rhythm Series" of books which are basically sight reading books to develop your rhythm. (If your interested in developing your sight reading or honing in on your rhythm the rhythm books will kick your ...)

2. Excerpts from two theory workbooks which are meant mostly for beginning to intermediate students to develop their understanding of chord building and scale construction. (This would not be a section that would apply to you)

3. How to read music. (This would not be a section that would apply to you)

4. Modal sequencing (developmental exercises for playing scales which gives you a good way to develop a through command of scales on the guitar)

5. Approach Note Theory (developmental exercises for playing bebop lines)

6. Hexatonic Improvisation (developmental exercises for using these scales)

If you have a more questions about the books let me know. If you want to order any of these you would get a better deal by ordering them direct from muse-eek publishing company. Some of these book they have "seconds" of (these are books that are nearly new or just have a typo or other small problem but are just fine) Many of these are half price. You can go to www.muse-eek.com website to look at all the books and see what they have for seconds. I know sometimes they have seconds that aren't listed so ask. I know they have the Chord Workbook for Guitar Volume One as a second but send them an e-mail at info@muse-eek.com after you check out the site and tell them what your interested. Depending on how many books you get I would think they probably will give you a discount. I'm not sure what that would be but certainly ask them if they will give you one.

As a personal recommendation I would check out the ear training books. You should probably start with Ear Training One Note Advanced. A development of your ears is of utmost importance in your development as a musician. Of all the concepts and things I've worked on this has advanced my ability more than anything.
Hopes this help you understand the books. Thanks again for contacting me.
 
Q I have purchased your Comping Styles for Guitar Vol. II Funk and thought you might care for some feedback.

First off, the positive aspects: I am very pleased with the structure of the text. The sequencing from minor blues to major blues to rhythm changes is simple and clear. I am also very glad about the music itself - the choice of rhythms suits my level of playing, and I am particularly pleased with the harmonic choices - good variation and complexity.

Now, the negative critcism, which is unfortunate because it could have so easily been rectified: a CD is enclosed, yet examples are only played once. I believe that if you were to ask most anyone who uses training CDs you'd find that they like them to repeat. If I use the repeat program on my CD player the timing is off. I would have been able to practice soloing and creating bass lines with this had more thought been put into it. As it is, I am fortunate to have a sequencer which I have put to use, but I feel this was a major oversight of yours. So much so that I have decided to forsake my purchase of Contemporary Rhythms. In addition, the D flat minor blues on page six seem to have a typo, measure 3 the second chord is recorded as Gflat7#9, not flat9, I believe.

So, on the whole, good but frustrating because not user-friendly. Is this true of your other publications? I wanted to contact you before writing review for Amazon.

Thank you for listening.
A Thanks for your comments, and thanks for the courtesy of contacting me before you wrote a review for Amazon.

I totally agree about the shortness of the examples. I thought each example should be 5 minutes long so people could really get into the exercise. Unfortunately that would be 180 minutes of music which would take 3 CDs. I was trying to keep the cost down and 3 CDs would bring it up to about $45-50 per book-- a perfect workout, but unaffordable for most music students.

I'm currently looking for a "looper" that all IBM and Mac-using students could implement to repeat the progressions. If you have a Mac computer I can e-mail you a program that would loop the example on your CD-- it's pretty easy; you would have to hook up your CD player to the computer and play the exercises in first. I also believe you could play them directly in through the CD player into your computer. Let me know and maybe this could help you out.

If your not a Mac user we WILL find a looper sooner or later on the internet that will work for the application you need. (I'll let you know, if you don't find one first--if you do, please inform me!). There are currently ones out there but I'm looking for a simple (and free) one that will help my students. We are planning on putting up some downloadable files in the "Members Section" of the muse-eek.com website for improvisation but have to find a looper first.

I'm sorry that you were upset enough to forego your purchase of one of the "Rhythm Series" books. I can sympathize with you. One of the reasons I started writing was because I was frustrated with what was available in music education books, and I wanted to create some truly useful, informative texts. It's also one of the reasons I created a FAQ section of the muse-eek.com website; so people could communicate, ask questions, and understand my methods. I like to think that when you buy one of my books, it's not the end of the process, on the contrary, it is the beginning--I am here, ready to answer questions, and in this case, react to constructive criticism. It is a "work in progress" with feedback from customers and students helping me to hone the books down to their best.

As far as your question regarding the formats of my other books, they vary greatly. The "Ear Training Series" has CDs which give you short 30-40 second examples with an immediate answer. The "Rhythm Series" uses Midifiles which can be downloaded from the muse-eek.com website (there is also a free midifile player available for people without sequencers.) The "Doing Time" series which includes the "Big Metronome" has CDs were each track is 5-8 minutes long. The "Music Theory Workbook for Guitar Volume Two" has audio files on the muse-eek.com website but will also soon have extra audio files that can be looped. (We just need to find that looping program first!)

I hope this helps answer your questions. Let me know about the looping program and whether you have a Mac. Thanks again for your comments.


PS Thanks for letting me know about the typo too-- we proofread the books several times, but it seems inevitable that some typos do slip through. We have started a new section on the muse-eek website where people can download any page corrections that we (or they) find. If you download the corrected page you can print it and insert it yourself, or if you want, you can take it to a local printer-- they will insert it in your book for a very nominal fee. Because muse-eek is such a small publisher they do very limited printings of the books, and most typos are eliminated within 3 to 4 months.
 
QHi. I just downloaded your comping Ebook from Amazon and wondered how to get to any associated music files that you might have associated with this book. Also, few queries:

1) The C minor 5th string is of course C minor-7 but listed as C minor (you've probably been notified already).

2) It seems awkward to shift from the 1-2-4 fingering of 5th string C7 to 1-2-4 of 5th string C-7. I haven't tried the pieces yet, but will you tell me that this might help for the individual notes?
AThanks for contacting me and letting me know about the missing '7' on the C- chord. There are no other associated files for this book currently but if you have some ideas let me know. I'm unsure of what you are referring to with your second question. I don't see a C-7 chord root on the 5th string with the fingering 1-2-4 listed in the book. Perhaps you are referring to something else. Let me know.
 
QWhat I meant was that it seemed easier for a 5th string drop3 C7 fingered 1, 2, 4 to become c-7 by either sliding the 4th finger down from E to Eb, or better, just to use the 3rd finger on Eb with 1 and 2 on C and Bb respectively. I don't know if you want these fingerings written in stone for ease of use in the actual application, which I'll find out as I go, or to use consistently what comes comfortably.
AThere is a reason for the -7 fingering. A '-7' most commonly moves to a dominant 7th. You will find the fingering in the book to be the best way to play a ii-7 V7 chord pattern fast. While I agree that moving from a C7 to a C-7 would be awkward this type of progression is not that common in music. If you do come to a progression that contains a C7 to C-7 and is not followed by a V7 then your fingering would be fine.
 
QI'm an intermediate guitar player trying to learn jazz. Want to comp better. Know a lot of chords, some jazz blues chord progressions, some rhythm changes. Which chord book would you recommend for me? I've already bought quite a few books.
AWell I can think of a few books that might be of interest to you. I'll list them and tell you what additional information you can get from these books that I think is important.

Chord Workbook for Guitar: Volume One

Has 36 chord progressions in the back of the book. 12 different progressions one in each key for blues, minor blues and rhythm changes. I use a reharmonization concept with these progressions that is quite important to know so you can create your own progressions later on. I give an explanation of the reharmonization method right before the chord progressions. There are also MP3's of the progressions on the www.muse-eek.com Web site so you can make sure you are playing with the right feel. The chords covered in this book are all the chords with roots on the 5th and 6th strings that a professional guitarist should know.

Chord Workbook for Guitar: Volume Two

Covers all the voicings on the upper 4 strings that can be played within 5 frets. Great book but will take a long time to work through because of the quantity of chords. Also contains 12 keys of major and minor blues. These are the same progressions as Volume One but have been reharmonized again with another reharmonization technique. I give an explanation of the reharmonization method right before the chord progressions. This book also contains a comprehensive study of which scales work over which chord and the passing diminished scales, which I don't think you will find anywhere but here.

Comping Styles for Guitar Volume Two: Funk

Takes the progressions found in Chord Workbook for Guitar: Volume One and plays them with a funk feel. Very good for developing a funk feel and learning to read 16th note funky guitar riffs. Contains an audio CD so you can hear each example

Accompaniment, Volume 1: Learning to Play Bass and Chords Simultaneously on the Guitar

This is an ebook which teaches you how to play chords and bass lines at the same time. A simple book but this technique is very useful when playing duets.