Motion in Comping: Creating Movement Through Chords

Adding Motion to Your Jazz Guitar Comping: Tips and Tricks

Hey guys, welcome back to Jazz Guitar Lessons! Today, I want to give you a quick tip on how to add motion to your jazz guitar comping. Imagine you're playing a song like "All of Me," which has a C major chord (Cmaj7 or C6) and an E7 chord that last for several bars. The question is: what do you do in between? Do you simply sit on a chord and strum, or do you vary it? And if you vary it, how should you do it? Should you learn all the inversions, do a walking bass, or use half-step approaches?

In this blog post, I'll give you three basic options for adding motion to your chords, from simple to more advanced, plus a bonus tip at the end on how to really wrap up the chord motion within static chords. Let's get started!

Tip #1: Half-Step Approach

One simple way to add motion is the half-step approach. You can either approach the chord from below or from above. The great news for guitarists is that we can keep the exact same chord fingering and just move into the chord we're aiming at. For example, if you're playing the first four bars of "All of Me," you can go from a Db to a C6. This approach is easy to achieve and adds a lot of strumming and motion for free.

Here's an example:

• Play Db
• Move to C6

This technique works because our ears will pick up on a tritone substitution, making it sound like a V-I motion (G7 to C) even though you're playing Db to C.

Tip #2: Pivot to Another Known Chord

Another way to add motion is to pivot to another known chord of the same name. For example, if you have an Am7 chord, you can pivot to an Am9 chord. This isn't necessarily an inversion but a different version of the same chord. You can combine this with the half-step approach to add even more interest.

For example:

• Play Am7
• Move to Am9

You can do the same with C major chords:

• Play C6
• Move to Cmaj7
• Move to Cmaj9

This technique adds a ton of motion and interest to your comping without needing to learn all the different inversions of every chord.

Tip #3: Inner Voice Movement

My favorite tip is adding inner voice movement to your chords. This means making one element of the chord move to the next element. For example, if you're playing a C6 chord, you can move the E note down to a D note.

Here's how it works:

• Play C6
• Move the E note to D

You can do the same with other chords, like E7:

• Play E7
• Move to E7#9 or E7b9

This technique allows you to create beautiful inner voice movements that add depth and complexity to your comping.

Bonus Tip: Altered Dominants

One of the best ways to add motion is to use altered dominants. When you have a chord that goes up a fourth, you can make the dominant chord altered. For example, if you're playing C and then moving to E7, you can make the E7 an E7#9 or E7b9.

Here's an example:

• Play C
• Move to E7#9
• Resolve to A7

This technique can be a bit more advanced, but it adds a lot of spice to your playing. Just remember to resolve it properly to the next chord.

Conclusion

I hope these tips help you add motion to your jazz guitar comping. Remember to experiment and find what works best for you. If you have any questions, feel free to leave a comment. And don't forget to check out the video demo where I apply all these techniques to "All of Me."

Improve your jazz guitar playing with a real teacher at JazzGuitarLessons.net. Thanks for reading, and happy playing!