The Sound of One Hand Comping

BYLARRY GOLDINGS

As an organist, I am often in the classic jazz trio setting of organ, guitar, and drums with
no bass player, and Im usually playing chords with just my right hand, since my left
(usually in tandem with the foot pedals) is playing bass lines. Even when there is a bass
player, one-handed chordal playing is still the most attractive sound due to its
uncluttered and transparent nature. How do we get the most variety out of this
limitednumberof voices? How do we imply a lot of harmony, thus exploring a wide
range of emotions? In general, the answer lies in excellent voice-leading and having a
solid knowledge of harmony so as to see a variety of possibilities at any one given
moment. This last one is a biggietoo often I hear players who seemingly have only
one or two ways of navigating through a particular set of chord changes.

The following examples are all based on the first four bars of Irving Berlins classic
song How Deep Is the Ocean. Lets look at five dierent one-handed accompaniment
approaches to it. Ive included the bass lines for reference purposes.

Editor's note: This lesson appears in our September 2014 print issue, in which some of
the music notation examples contained errors where in a sharp symbol (#) was replaced
by an "8vb" symbol. This, of course, obscured the author's intended chord voicings.
Because this was a character substitution issue having to do with a missing font on our
print server, it happened downstream of our usual proofing process. We've amended
our proofing process to ensure this mistake will not be repeated, and sincerely
apologize to our readers and to Mr. Goldings for the resulting confusion. Below is the
correct version. Scroll down for audio examples, and click images to enlarge.

1. Harmonizing a Melody

More often than not, my comping ideas are led by my top note. In other words, Im
spontaneously harmonizing a melody, as seen in Ex. 1. This provides glue for my
harmonic ideas. Hopefully, in a real-life playing situation, youll be reacting to or
conversing with the soloist while your melodically-driven accompaniment adds
emotion. Let me point out the Bbmin7(11/13) in bar 3; normally this would be a C minor
chord with a Bb in the bass. The liberty I took here creates three consecutive parallel
minor seventh chords (C, Bb, A),each with slightly dierent alterations. The extension
notes on top give the minor chords dierent colors.

2. Wide Open Chords

Voicing chords in fourths is a powerful way of getting a more open, modal sound, as
illustrated in Ex. 2. Some of these chords may be too big a stretch for some hands. In
this case, try omitting the top note, or bringing the top note down the octave to tuck it
in. Notice a few chord substitutions here: In bar 2, I wrote a D dominant seventh,
instead of the half-diminished, which would be the more common ii chord when
playing in a minor tonality. I use this device a lot, as it gives the resulting II-V-I a more
bluesy sound. Also note the parallel minor chords starting frombar3 to the end of the
example. The penultimate chord Abmin7(11), can be seen as a tri-tone substitution for
a D7 chord.

3. Clusters

Clusters are a real friend when chording with one hand. The dissonance of a minor or
major second will always create a warm buzz that makes even a three-note chord
sound thicker than it actually is, and theres no physical stretch involved. Note the
clusters used in this example: a ninth next to a third (as in the first beat of both
measures 1 and 2); a third next to a 13th (as in beat 3 of measure 1); a third next to a
flat fifth (beat 3 of measure 2); a minor third next to the 11th (both chords, measure 3);
and the 13th next to the 11th (final measure). Also, in bars 1 and 2, I have substituted
the I-biii-bVI(maj7)-V for the normal I-VI-II-V, a device used by Thelonious Monk and
many others since.

4. Scalular Lines

Ex. 4 can help provide clarity and drama to your comping, and is also a great exercise
in spontaneously harmonizing an ascending (or descending) scalular top line. Notice
the sparse and modal sound of the Cmin11 in bar 1. There is no third. If you invert this
chord, its built in fourths. This more compact way of playing a fourth chord is
extremely eective. Also take note of the next chord in measure 1; the natural ninth on
the half-diminished chord is often overlooked, although in Brazilian bossa nova
harmony its used all the time. In the second half of bar 2, Im superimposing a Dbtriad
over a G in the bass; a triad thats a tri-tone away from the bass note is a commonly
used upper-structure chord. Also, I took the following harmonic liberties: the minor/
major seventh chord in bars 3 and 5, and the natural fifth in the Amin7 of bar 4when
in a minor key center, the minor ii chord would normally be half-diminished.

5. Two Voices with Inner Movement

Sometimes you just want to thin out, as seen in Ex. 5. Given the organs ability for
ongoing sustain, using just two notes with one or both in motion can create a beautiful
and Bach-like eect. In this example, notice in bars 1 and 2 the voice moving in
quarter-notes. Im trying to be as melodic as possible while implying some interesting
harmony: the ninth on beat 3 of bar 1; the natural fifth (instead offlat) on the 3rd beat of
bar 2; and the A in beat 3 of bar 2, which is acting like a lower suspension of the
subsequent third. For the second half of the passage, another highly eective device is
used: melodic motion in sixths.

Study the great arrangers and orchestrators for harmonic and textural ideas. As as
accompanists, were like mini-orchestratorsarranging and providing color and texture
on the spot, says Grammy-nominated Hammond organist Larry Goldings. Also,
dont neglect studying the great jazz guitarists, as theyre working within a similar set of
limitations as organists who have to comp with one hand. Goldings has played with
James Taylor,John Scofield, Maceo Parker, and Jim Hall.His most recent recording
withlongtime collaborators Peter BernsteinandBill Stewart, Ramshackle Serenade, is
out now. Find out more at larrygoldings.com.