Comping Exercises and Beyond BY MICHAEL GOULD
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azz drummers often play figures on the snare drum, bass drum, and hi-hat that help accompany a soloist. In his book How to Comp—A Study in Jazz Accompaniment (Advance Music), Hal Crook gives an excellent definition of comping and its role within an ensemble: The word “comp” is derived from the word accompany (or accompaniment). It was popularized years ago by jazz musicians who expressed the uniqueness of their new musical idiom even through the language they used.
To comp means to improvise a background for a solo using melody, harmony and/or rhythm. Comping is a kind of secondary soloing that supports, complements and interacts with a primary solo. The goal in comping is to be as musically accurate and creative as the soloist. The emphasis, however, is on teamwork—on enhancing the musical efforts of the soloist in all possible ways and areas. The soloist functions much like the captain of a team. He calls and leads the plays but depends on help from the accompanying players to execute them. So a relationship of mutual dependency exists that requires the awareness, acceptance, and allegiance of everyone involved. In order to become a good accompanist, one must develop a wide variety of comping methods. Too often, drumset players take a one-dimensional approach to comping and tend to play only the figures that they have practiced from an instructional book. In doing so, they are not getting the most from their practice experience or the book being studied. This approach often leads to mechanical playing and a much longer learning curve for the material being studied. By using the following comping practice ideas as a launching point, one can achieve a more well-rounded approach to comping and master a wider variety of techniques. In conjunction with the ideas presented below, one should always let the music dictate what is being played, and use drumset methods as a resource in addition to the crucial element of listening to the music. COMPING EXERCISES Floor Tom
Hi-Hat
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Sm. Tom
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Snare
Ride
All of the ideas shown below will use the same rhythmic phrase: œ
ã 44 œ . PERCUSSIVE NOTES
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18 APRIL 2001
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¿ ¿ ‰ œ¿ ¿ ‰ œ ¿ ‰ œ¿ œ¿ œ¿ ‰ œ¿ ¿ ‰ œ ¿ ‰ ¿ 4 œ ã 4 œ œ¿ œ œ¿ œ œ¿ œ œ¿ Now play the phrase on bass drum, incorporating the snare drum and hi-hat on beats two and four. 3
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4 ¿ œ¿ ‰ ¿ ¿ ‰ œ¿ ‰ ¿ ¿ œ¿ ‰ ¿ ¿ ‰ œ¿ ‰ ¿ ã 4 œ ¿ œ œ ¿ œ œ œ¿ œ œ ¿ When playing the figure on hi-hat, better articulation can be achieved by lifting the heel off the hi-hat pedal and using more leg weight. Use the ball of the foot instead of the toes, and don’t lift your foot entirely off the pedal. The bass drum should play quarter notes to help keep the pulse. 3
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¿ ¿‰¿¿ ¿‰¿ ¿ ã 44 œ¿ œœ ‰ ¿ œ ‰ ¿ œœ ‰ ¿ œ¿ 3
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¿œ ‰ ¿ ¿ ¿œ ‰ ¿ œ¿ ‰ ¿ œ ‰ ¿ œ 3
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ORCHESTRATING THE PHRASE Alternating between snare drum and bass drum in a linear fashion creates more melodic interest. Play the hi-hat on beats two and four, or on all four quarter notes. 3
Bass Drum
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Many drummers comp primarily with the snare drum. Besides writing out your own comping ideas, you can use material from snare drum method books. To achieve a sense of the pulse, softly play quarter notes on the bass drum with hi-hat on beats two and four. (The example has been written in triplets to clarify where the figure lies within the standard jazz ride pattern.)
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¿ ¿ ‰ ¿ ¿ ‰ œ ¿ ‰ ¿ œ¿ ¿ ‰ œ¿ ¿ ‰ ¿ ‰ ¿ 4 œ ã4 œ¿ œ¿ ¿ œ ¿ œ This example combines snare drum, bass drum, and hi-hat for three-voiced linear playing. This is typical of the comping style of such drummers as Tony Williams and Jack DeJohnette.
(John Riley has written two excellent books on this style: The Art of Bop Drumming and Beyond Bop Drumming.) 3
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4 ¿ ¿ ‰ ¿ ¿ ‰ ¿ ‰ œ¿ ¿ ¿ ‰ œ¿ ¿ ‰ ¿ ‰ ¿ ã4 œ œ ¿ œ ¿ œ TRIPLETS Accenting the comping figure within straight triplets helps establish the triplet feel. This type of exercise can help develop a sense of inner pulse, and it also provides soloing ideas and develops hand technique. To help establish a strong sense of pulse, play quarter notes on the bass drum with hi-hat on beats two and four.
> 3 3 > 3 > 3 > > 3 >3 > 3 > 3 ã 44 œœ œ œ œœ¿ œ œ œœ œ œ œœ¿ œ œ œœ œ œ œœ¿ œ œ œœ œ œ œœ¿ œ œ Try the same exercise with the accented notes played on the small tom. This is an excellent way to begin to play melodically around the drumset.
> 3 3 > 3 > 3 > > 3 >3 > 3 > 3 œ œ œ œœ œ œ œ ã 44 œ œ œ œœ¿ œ œœ œ œœ¿ œ œ œ œ œ¿ œ œœ œ œœ¿ œ œ The next example orchestrates the same figure using the small tom, floor tom, and snare drum, which helps develops
musicality in solos. An excellent way to practice these orchestrated triplets would be to start with two bars of time with the figure on the snare drum, bass drum, or hi-hat, followed by the following two-bar phrase.
> 3 3 > 3 > 3 > > 3 >3 > 3 > 3 4 œœœœœœœœœœœœ œœœœœœœœœœœœ ã 4 œ œ¿ œ œ¿ œ œ¿ œ œ¿ Another approach is to play the figure with the right hand on the cymbal while doubling it with the bass drum. Fill in the spaces between those notes with triplets on the snare drum.
> > > >> > > > ¿ œœœœ ¿œœ ¿œœ ¿ ¿œœ ¿œ ¿œœ ¿œœœ 4 ã 4 œ ¿ œ œ ¿ œ œ œ¿ œ œ ¿
R L R L L R L LR L LR R L L R L R L L R L R L 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3
QUESTION-AND-ANSWER The question-and-answer approach helps develop one’s own style, critical listening, and compositional ability. The first two bars of this exercise contain the original phrase. The following two bars are created by the performer. This can be achieved by taking fragments of the original phrase, using diminution or augmentation, retrograde of the original cell, or whatever the performer feels can be the most suitable “answer” to the first two-bar “question.” Another excellent exercise is to convert the original phrase to text and come up with a text-based answer. This can then be converted into a rhythmical answer. (Peter Erskine offers an example of this approach in his book The Drum Perspective.)
PERCUSSIVE NOTES
19 APRIL 2001
Question
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¿ ¿ ‰ œ¿ ¿ ‰ œ ¿ ‰ œ¿ œ¿ œ¿ ‰ œ¿ ¿ ‰ œ ¿ ‰ ¿ 4 œ ã 4 œ œ¿ œ œ¿ œ œ¿ œ œ¿ Answer
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I hope that these exercises will encourage everyone to go beyond the texts and into more creative performance and practice. Good luck. Michael Gould is an Assistant Professor of Music at the University of Michigan. He completed his Doctor of Musical Arts degree in Percussion Performance at the University of Kentucky, and received a Master of Music degree from the University of Nevada-Las Vegas and a Bachelor of Music degree from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Gould has toured nationally as percussionist/drumset specialist with the Dallas Brass and has recorded on the Seabreeze label with jazz artist Miles Osland. He has also performed with the Lexington Philharmonic, Brass Band of Battle Creek, Top Brass, Saxon’s Civil War Band, Nevada Symphony Orchestra, and the Las Vegas Percussion Quartet. PN PERCUSSIVE NOTES
20 APRIL 2001
PERCUSSIVE NOTES
21 APRIL 2001
