The purpose of Jazz Comping for Fingerstyle Guitar is to provide a step-by-step approach for playing both a rhythmic chord comping and a bass line at the same time. Situations where this would be useful include voice and guitar, jazz guitar duets, guitar-drums-horn combinations, etc. This bass-chord approach will also serve as a basis for solo guitar arranging (see Chapter 8). The skills taught in this volume are not new and in fact have been used for years by such guitarists as Joe Pass and Bucky Pizzarelli. 

To use this material to its greatest advantage, you should be able to read music in the first position, know basic music theory, and have at least a folk musician’s knowledge of right-hand technique. A thorough knowledge of Ronny Lee’s book Jazz Guitar Method Vol. II would be helpful but is not necessary.

Two distinct but interrelated styles are developed in this book. The first is a root-5th type bass line approach which is not unlike (at least in principle) to bluegrass accompaniment. The second style is an expansion of the first in which an actual quarter note walking bass line is laid down under chords played on the offbeat. Although one style evolves out of the other, both will stand on their own.

I have tried to include enough chords to make the method work but not so many as to create just another cluttered chord dictionary. If you need more chords, I recommend Mel Bay’s Deluxe Guitar Chord Encyclopedia. This has virtually hundreds of chords cataloged according to their uses and is perhaps the best organized book of this genre.

Written in standard notation and tablature. Includes access to online audio.