JAZZ METER and CHORD COMPING

Hoday,

Today let's talk about jazz meter by looking at All Blues by Miles Davis:



Please bear with me as I use fractions to demonstrate time signatures. As you can see this tune is written in 6/8. If we use the "1-A-Trip-A-Let-A-2-A-Trip-A-Let-A" system of counting then the emphasis of the chord comping works well on the "A" and the "Let" of "1" and the "A" and "Let" of "2", thus creating a jazz swing waltz effect.

I know that a waltz is a simple triple meter but a 6/8 time signature is often counted 1-2-3-4-5-6 so it's like two 3/4's per measure, but I digress.

Take a look at my written chord comping suggestions in measure one and two:



Notice how the rhythm of the chords are written to give the feeling of the swing waltz. Try to be smooth, listen to the song, count out the beats with Miles "1-A-Trip-A-Let-A-2-A-Trip-A-Let-A" and Swing it man!

Later,

John