Comping Exercises and Beyond

BY MICHAEL GOULD

azz drummers often play figures on the snare drum, bass

drum, and hi-hat that help accompany a soloist. In his book
How to CompA 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 teamworkon 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

Sm. Tom

Snare

Ride

All of the ideas shown below will use the same rhythmic
phrase:

44 .
PERCUSSIVE NOTES

j j j
j

18 APRIL 2001

4
Now play the phrase on bass drum, incorporating the snare
drum and hi-hat on beats two and four.
3

4
4
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 dont
lift your foot entirely off the pedal. The bass drum should play
quarter notes to help keep the pulse.
3

44
3

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

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.)

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

4
4

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

44
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

44
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
4
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.

>
> > >> > > >

4
4

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 ones 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.)

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19 APRIL 2001

Question

4
Answer

.
.

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, Saxons Civil
War Band, Nevada Symphony Orchestra, and the Las Vegas
Percussion Quartet.
PN
PERCUSSIVE NOTES

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21 APRIL 2001