3-Note 7th Chords
An Introduction to Jazz Comping
Jazz comping is the art of accompanying a soloist or a melody. One of the best way to get started comping using jazz chords on guitar is to focus on small 3-notes voicings.
You’ll be amazed at how much music you can make with these simple voicings shown below. Additionally, once you’ve mastered them it’s easy to layer additional concepts on top of these small 3-note chord shapes.
We can think of jazz chords in their simplest form as triads + a 7th. This is an oversimplification, of course, but will work for our purposes. Here are the generic formulas (triads + 7th) that basic jazz chords. For an overview on how chords and chord symbols work go here.
- C7 = C, E, G +Bb (Maj Triad + Dom7) — R, 3, 5, b7
- Cm7 = C, Eb, G, Bb (Min Triad + Dom7) — R, b3, 5, b7
- Cm7(b5) = C, Eb, Gb, Bb (Dim Triad + Dom7) — R, b3, b5, b7
- C∆7 = C, E, G, B (Maj Triad + ∆7) — R, 3, 5, ∆7
Because we’re going to use only 3 notes we’re going to leave of the 5th for all of the voicings below (with the exception of the m7(b5) chord). The 5th is the least important note of the chord, so it’s okay if we leave it out.
The chords will fall into 2 basic categories:
- Root on 6th String
- Root on 5th String
Root on 6th String
3-note 7th chord voicings with the root of the chord located on the 6th string will produce a voicing of: R, 7th, 3rd (low to high)
The Root of the chord will always be played on the 6th string, the 7th and 3rd of the chord will be played on the 4th and 3rd strings, respectively.
Here are the voicings 3-note voicings with the root on the 6th string:
Root on 5th String
3-note 7th chord voicings with the root of the chord located on the 5th string will produce a voicing of: R, 3rd, 7th (low to high)
The Root of the chord will always be played on the 5th string, the 3rd and 7th of the chord will be played on the 4th and 3rd strings, respectively.
Here are the voicings 3-note voicings with the root on the 5th string:
Once you are comfortable with these basic shapes the next step is to start applying them to songs. Here are the chords to Autumn Leaves to get you started.
I would recommend started with slow 1/4 notes and then progressing to simple syncopated rhythms. At first leave out the chords that are in parentheses. Add them back in as you feel more comfortable.
Make sure to play every chord using both sets of voicings (root on 6, root on 5). I’ve included a video demonstration as well.
Applying 3-Note Chord 7th Chord Voicings
