Welcome to
"The Art of Jazz Piano Comping Vol. 1" — a focused course dedicated to developing a clear, musical, and reliable comping vocabulary at the piano.
Using Mulgrew Miller’s comping behind Kenny Garrett on
“Have You Met Miss Jones” as our central model, this course shows you how to move from simple roots to full, fluid comping that you can use in any jazz setting.
We begin with solid foundations: roots, guide tones, left-hand structures, time feel, and swing anticipations. From there, we gradually expand into major-chord voicings built from the III minor pentatonic, functional dominant vocabulary, and two key categories of dominant voicings: standalone shapes and target-oriented approaches that lead directly into the next chord.
In the following chapters, you’ll explore dominant variations (3–b7–#9, 3–b7–9, 3–b7–b9, b7–3–13, b13), a curated set of upper structures (including #IV and VI triads, bIII47, III47, V48 and #V48), and pure quartal textures that appear throughout Mulgrew Miller’s comping. The final part of the course brings everything together with voice-leading workouts, II–V–I vocabulary, modal quartal voicings, and a closing challenge that asks you to keep written top notes while improvising the harmony underneath.
Every concept is supported by
video lessons and dedicated backing tracks, accessible via QR code or playlist link. You’ll practice with bass-and-drums tracks and versions that include the full sax solo, so you can experience what it’s like to comp inside a real band context.
Designed for pianists who already feel comfortable with basic jazz harmony and want to develop a professional-level comping language, this course invites you to go beyond memorizing shapes. Work through the exercises, listen closely, and let the concepts guide you toward your own sound as a comping pianist.
Table of Contents
Introduction
• What This Book Will Teach You
• How to Use the Backing Tracks
• Developing a Concept-Based Approach to Comping
Part I — Foundations of Jazz Comping
• Exercise 1 — Root Placement & Time Awareness
• Exercise 2 — Roots and Guide Tones (Hands Together)
• Exercise 3 — Left-Hand Guide Tones & Swing Anticipations
• Exercise 4 — Full Transcription Study
• Understanding Comping Through Context
• Building Intuition from Real Phrasing
Part II — Major-Chord Voicings
• Exercise 5 — Major Vocabulary (maj7/maj6) from the III Minor Pentatonic
• Voicing Configurations
• Clusters vs. Fourths
• Top-Note Awareness
Part III — Dominant Vocabulary
• Exercise 6 — Understanding Functional Dominants
• Tension Principles
• Avoid Notes
• b13, #9, b9, #11 Considerations
• Two Types of Dominant Voicings (Standalone vs. Target-Oriented)
• Exercise 7 — 3–b7–#9 Quartal Shape
• Exercise 8 — 3–b7–9 Shape
• Exercise 9 — 3–b7–b9 Shape
• Exercise 10 — b7–3–13 Shape
• Exercise 11 — Adding the b13
Part IV — Upper Structures
• Exercise 12 — #VI Minor Triad (b9#11 Color) — Spacing Concepts
• Exercise 13 — #IV Major Triad
• Exercise 14 — VI Major Triad
• Exercise 15 — bIII47 (Perfect Quartal)
• Exercise 16 — III47 (Clean Quartal)
• Exercise 17 — 48 Voicings (Fourth + Octave)
• Exercise 18 — #V48 Voicings
Part V — Connecting Voicings with Voice Leading
• Exercise 19 — Quartals + Target Dominants Through the Cycle of Fifths
• Two Versions of Left-Hand Voicings
• II–V Modulations
• Register Resetting for Optimal Placement
• Exercise 20 — The Diminished Passing-Chord Approach
• G° over C7 — Whole-Step Tensions
• bVII+ Upper Structures in Half-Step Modulations
• Exercise 21 — A Mulgrew Miller II–V–I
• Parallel Quartals on the I Chord — Expressive Motion
• Exercise 22 — Modal Quartals on III–7 and VI–7
• Pure Quartal Voicings — Same Shapes Over Both Chords
• “Let the Bass Do the Work”
Conclusion
• Integrating Guide Tones, Colors, and Upper Structures
• Developing Your Own Comping Vocabulary
• The Final Challenge: Fixed Top Notes, Improvised Voicings
