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When playing chords there are a few techniques that you need to know to make your chords sound more interesting and easier to perform. Areas covered in the following examples include:

  • fingering;

  • voice-leading;

  • rhythmic variation; and

  • improvised comping.

    All of these examples are presented with a swing 8ths feel and are all based in the key of C so you’ll have to transpose the ideas to other keys to gain greater versatility in different progressions and situations.

    Confronted with the scenario of playing a C major chord for 4 bars you might find that just playing a C major with whole notes could become boring and dull. Spice those bars up rhythmically with the right hand playing the quarter-note beats and the left hand supporting the chord by playing the bass note on the first beat of the bar then syncopating with the octave above between the right hand in eighth notes. Once you have gotten used to this, experiment with different ideas to create interesting new ways of playing rhythmically.

    The first thing to try with the chords to add variety to the bars is using the C major, C sus4 and C sus9 chords. Try them in different inversions getting used to the sound they create. Follow and memorise the suggested fingerings letting them become like second nature to you as this will make executing and voice-leading the chords easier.

    Option # 1

     

    Option # 2

     

    Option # 3

     

    The second combination you could use will require the IV (4th chord which is F major) and V (5th chord which is G major) chords associated with the main chord of C. This gives us a similar sound to the previous examples but with the addition of a couple of new notes adding color and variety to the chord progression.

    Option # 1

     

    Option # 2

     

    Option # 3

     

    Another idea to try could be adding a common gospel type coloring to the main chord by alternating it with it’s associated II chord, in this case D minor. By changing inversions through the alternating chords you can achieve a gospel backing vocal type coloring. This idea can be applied to minor chords as well and even combinations of the major and minor are possible. The following examples also feature a common bass line fill in bar 4, utilising the 1st, 6th, flat 7th and major 7th of C to create some more variety.

    Major "Gospel Type" Option

     

    Minor "Gospel Type" Option

     

    Combination Major/Minor "Gospel Type" Option

     

    Using modes as a basis for adding variety to a chord is yet another idea that can be attempted. The mixolydian mode is a good place to start considering it contains the 1st, 3rd & 5th of the major chord plus the flat 7th, commonly used in rock, pop, blues etc. The following example is commonly used in various ways by different players but it is all based on the same idea. The notes in this example are implying C, F and C7 chords.

    C Mixolydian Mode

     

    Using C Mixolydian Mode - Option # 1

     

    This can be used to play over a C or C7 chord depending on the rest of the tune. We can extend our use of this modal idea to seventh chords as well. Try playing a C7 chord with the flat 7th at the bottom of the chord making it a 3rd inversion. Take out the C because it isn’t needed seeing as you are going to play C in the bass anyway. Now while keeping this position move up and down the keyboard using the notes of C mixolydian. You can also try this idea with the other chord inversions.

    Using C Mixolydian Mode - Option # 2

     

    This same idea can be translated to other modes. Another commonly used mode is the dorian. Although you primarily use this to play over Cm and Cm7 chords, it can be used to add some bluesy ideas over C and C7 as well. Using a combination of all these ideas over a chord can give you a large range of things to do with what normally may have been quite dull.

    C Dorian Mode

     

    Using C Dorian Mode

     

    Combination Option

     

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