Jens - PLEASE, do more of these conversations with other musicians. Your very good at it! Thank you for all you do in the Jazz Community. Have a great day my friend!
I’m 100% with you on this one. When both instruments are in the mix the piano is the ultimate comping instrument. It has everything going for itself in this realm while we are struggling with the limitation of standard tuning, less digits available to play actual notes, as well as the overall timbre of our instrument being not as globally inviting as a piano is.
If the piano player is any good then he/she should actually do the same in Jazz, so for comping together it doesn't really solve anything. However, for comping and locking in with the band it is the highest truth and the best advice! 👍🙂
A great example of adding "sounds" on top of piano comping is Mike Moreno, look for the Smalls live videos or the Kendrick Scott albums. Adding soundscapes on top of the piano.
One more comment: I really appreciate these two videos. Honesty, my progress on jazz has been slow and I was losing enthusiasm. This has energized me again. Thank you Aimee and Jens.
Fantastic. Two of my favourite Jazz youtubers. Most of what you talk about is way over my head but some of it usually seeps in, and always a pleasure to watch two masters of the craft.
Oh, this was so great. I'm getting back to playing after a long time and Jens you've been more help that I can describe. And even though she's a keyboardist, so has Aimee. I follow you both closely and am enriched because of it. Seeing a video with you both is like some kind of alignment of the planets!
I just LLLEEEERRRVVVEE Aimee Nolte !! She is the BEST Music Educator ever. Reminds me of someone else - whose name I can't remember just now. This video will be dangerous !! 🤘🤘
This is wonderful. Can we please get an extension discussion on comping under a bass solo when there is both guitar and piano in the group? I’m a bassist as well as guitarist. I find when I’m soloing on bass, comping instruments don’t know what yo do. They lay out entirely, which I don’t really like, as it’s then just bass and hi hat, or the piano and guitar get into a comping battle and the poor bass is drowned out. Comments? Suggestions? Tips?
That’s a good question. It’s very specific, and probably if we made a video specifically about this, I would guess that not many people would be as interested. However, I do have some tips. It’s better to lay out then to get in the way. A guitar player can always play very light Freddie green style Over a bass solo and it works great. As a Pianist, I really make an effort to stay out of the bass players range. This only becomes an issue when they play up high. Then the best advice I have is just to listen. If you’re listening close to what someone else is doing, ideas will come. Your main job is to support the soloist by outlining the harmony from time to time. But you don’t have to feel like you have to play in every bar. Key moments are good to lock in on. Transitions between sections for instants are important to lay down. And if all else fails, just ask the bass player what they like during their solo. No shame in that.
Guitar and Piano comping at the same time is very difficult, its like playing twister in a straight jacket! It’s tough to Cut through piano, and even tougher to blend with piano! The best tip for a guitar player at a jam is to be just as confident sight-reading the head as reading the chords. Often guitar players cant play a head spontaneous like that so they just comp till their solo. Man, guitar and piano comping at the same time without a lot of consideration sounds so bad! When done right piano and guitar isn’t a bad combo!
Yesterday ( saturday 6 ) i listened a Jazz quartet in a small French village . ( acoustic bass , drums , piano , and guitar ) . The guitar player ( Pascal MARTINEZ ) could illustrates JENS and AIMEE the perfect connection to achieve . Next time I shall record and film to send you the ideal you talk about . JENS should be staggered .
2 minutes in and I'm side-tracked by the lead sheet with a different harmony than I am used too 😁 I'm assuming by "just be a horn player" you mean use single notes rather than trying to operate your instrument with you mouth?
This is probably one of the most (if not THE most) important jazz education videos I've ever viewed. This was a subject probably every ensemble guitarist in the world would appreciate! Thanks Jens from southern California!
Jens, I don’t mind confessing, I’ve had a shitty day at work, but sat in the bath, a glass of wine and checking out yours and Aimee’s duets on her channel, is like a shot of vitamin C for my ear holes. A very sincere thank you to you both. 👍👍👍
Awesome to see you doing collaborations man. Seeing two great minds of music sharing perspective and advice is something I'd say is definitely vital to the growth of musicianship for all. Cheers guys.
Good conversation, thank you both! There's no reason for guitar/piano not to comp together in an interactive call and response format. All it takes is checking both players' egos at the door. Try playing 1/2 as much. Everyone in Jazz has creative ideas, and everyone needs a chance to express their creativity. I don't buy this concept that guitarists need to subvert their creative ideas to keyboards all the time. What if we said keys need to yield to guitars all the time? Either approach unnecessarily limits the possible tonal colors and textures. Aimee talked about discussing/planning taking turns comping for different sections of the tune. This could also be done comping via alternating phrases. Listening sympathetically is all it takes. Unfortunately, that is all too rare. Thanks again!
I like to listen to the Nat King Cole Trio and Diana Krall's tribute to them to be reminded that Guitar and Piano really can live together in harmony (pun intended).
This was terrific! I watched the performance by you and Aimee on her channel before watching this video. While watching, I was thinking to myself about how great the communication and listening was between you two. It made me smile to see that this video is all about communication.
I know this video is more than a year old, but I just discovered it. It was wonderful watching you, Jens, and Aimee playing and having a "difficult" discussion. You both did such a fantastic job of playing together and staying out of each other's way. Thank you for collaborating with her!
That was a fascinating conversation. Thanks to both of you for sharing this! _Fantastic_ . P.S.: I have watched Aimee's videos and I believe I'm subscribed to her channel. But if I'm not, I will correct that by subscribing!
Super cool video ! At 16:30 you talk about Freddy Green style, isn't that what they basically do in manouche too, having no drummer? For a band with drums FG is almost a second (simple) drums line leaving the drummer some more freedom.
Thanks! Gypsy rhythm guitar and Freddie Green are both quarter notes, but the two styles use very different voicings and phrasing. The thing that people don't realize with Freddie Green is that the bass player may not find it very nice to have to play unison rhythm with a guitar, and that can be very limiting. Try to ask some double bass players about it 🙂
Wonderful! So glad you are visiting Aimee! I always think back to Joe Pass "Don't compete with the piano, it's bigger so it will win" lol. Or something like that. I love "The New York Rhythm Section" album with Hank Jones, Barry Galbraith etc. They've obviously worked it out so that all that stuff happens nicely. Or Barry turns down his guitar and just plays guide tone comping. That works, too. But it can get pretty hazardous if you don't figure it out first ha ha.
@@matthewgoldberg1461 It's difficult to compare the interaction and conversation between Joe Pass and Oscar Peterson to any other pairing of piano and guitar. They have developed a language that is both highly idiomatic and refined at the same time. Also at times very competitive, which adds energy and spontaneity to the improvisation. They knew one another so well that they could play with great freedom within each others envelope without getting in each others way.
Fantastic video!!! This is one of the most important topics for guitar/piano that as you said is rarely talked about!! I agree with almost everything pointed out here. I would also like to add that if you are playing some more modernish approach to your tone (guitar with alot of effects like reverb and delay and such) a beautiful sound is doing synth like effects on the guitar while the piano does "normal" comping and such. I think that if the two players know each other and listen to each other the sonic possibilities of the 2 instruments together are endless!
great conversation! I'm a guitar player and always take a back seat to the keys, I actually really like to focus in on the bass with shell voicings, I love the Freddy Green sound, so fun - toss in a punch or fill every once in a while - the soloist kind of picks the weird harmony stuff, the pianist can pick up on that a little better - I've learned all my chords with NO Fifths!
Do you alter your chord voicings when a pianist is present and also comping? Regarding Freddie Green voicings, they have the root.... Ever get complaints from the bassist about this? Nice meting you briefly at the hotel lobby!
I alter the chords for any setting that I play in, not just piano. It is always about context. When I play freddie green I usually don't play the root if there is a bass-player, but that is all about right hand technique.
@@JensLarsen Thanks... I sounds like you grip the chord with the left hand but omit strumming / plucking the string that would be playing the root (5 or 6 string)?
Hey folks, in case you haven't seen it, there are more complete musical examples from these sessions over on Aimee's channel, released on the same day as this video.
Thanks Adam! I imagine that since I mention it in the video, link to it in the pinned comment, in a card in the video and in the video description they should have a fair chance of seeing it, but I appreciate the effort 🙂
Jens - PLEASE, do more of these conversations with other musicians. Your very good at it! Thank you for all you do in the Jazz Community. Have a great day my friend!
Thanks Chris!
Unfortunate choice of conversation topic. This is bad and worse if you have it with a thin-skinned purist like the one you spoke to here.
Thanks for coming over, Jens! It was blast to chat and make music with you!
Such a great video! I loved being able to sit in this instructive jam session.
Stuff like this is what is so great about the internet
Thanks to you both for the conversation. It seems, as always, that it's really about how to listen...
Great how easy it is to make music together, and it is nice to read the comments and see that the video is useful 🙂
That was delightful, and insightful. Thank you both!
Unbelievable! Do you know each other?
that is exactly what i was looking for! the guitar-piano duet
Great 🙂
I’m 100% with you on this one. When both instruments are in the mix the piano is the ultimate comping instrument. It has everything going for itself in this realm while we are struggling with the limitation of standard tuning, less digits available to play actual notes, as well as the overall timbre of our instrument being not as globally inviting as a piano is.
Thanks Chris! 🙂
this is really awesome! I tend to think of comping on guitar as acting like a snare, I find this helps me avoid over complicating rhythms
If the piano player is any good then he/she should actually do the same in Jazz, so for comping together it doesn't really solve anything. However, for comping and locking in with the band it is the highest truth and the best advice! 👍🙂
A great example of adding "sounds" on top of piano comping is Mike Moreno, look for the Smalls live videos or the Kendrick Scott albums. Adding soundscapes on top of the piano.
Jens and Aimee on the same stage? Yes, please!
Aimee you should do the same type thing with Rich Severson. This is great !
I never comp with the piano - we always stick to different songs or alternate between A and B sections of most standards. Seems to work much better.
What a great segment! For a "difficult conversation", you both made it sound effortless!
Great crossover on a very important topic by two wonderful communicators!
20 out of 10 score on this conversation. Thanks
You two are awesome, I love learning from you
One more comment:
I really appreciate these two videos. Honesty, my progress on jazz has been slow and I was losing enthusiasm. This has energized me again.
Thank you Aimee and Jens.
Glad you liked the videos, Jim 🙂
Let me add to all the glowing compliments on this video. Excellent concept, even better execution.
Thank you 🙂
Man i love this! Your both incredibly talented, its also amazing to hear your combined spontaneous thoughts.
Thank you Chris!
Jens and Aimee - I really enjoyed being a fly on the wall listening to your “difficult conversation”.😊
Glad to hear that 🙂
wow. two absolute legends!!
Great sir ❤.
Small session but very deep
I would love to have been a fly on that wall! Two awesome talents, talking shop! I'm a fan of both.
Fantastic. Two of my favourite Jazz youtubers. Most of what you talk about is way over my head but some of it usually seeps in, and always a pleasure to watch two masters of the craft.
Fantastic and very useful conversation, Amy and Jens!
Looking forward to more of these!
And lovely playing!
thanks!
Thank you
Thank you for your support! I am glad you like the video! 😎
You’re both amazing!
Thank you for this crossover and the useful information
Glad you like it 🙂
Oh, this was so great. I'm getting back to playing after a long time and Jens you've been more help that I can describe. And even though she's a keyboardist, so has Aimee. I follow you both closely and am enriched because of it. Seeing a video with you both is like some kind of alignment of the planets!
Thank you Dean! That is really great to hear! 🙂
Very informative and fun to watch!
Glad you like the video! 🙂
Greaaaaat topic, you guys!!
What a great video! Thank you!
Glad you like it!
Great conversation!
nice video . thanks for producing it
This was fantastic!!
I just LLLEEEERRRVVVEE Aimee Nolte !! She is the BEST Music Educator ever. Reminds me of someone else - whose name I can't remember just now. This video will be dangerous !! 🤘🤘
This is wonderful. Can we please get an extension discussion on comping under a bass solo when there is both guitar and piano in the group? I’m a bassist as well as guitarist. I find when I’m soloing on bass, comping instruments don’t know what yo do. They lay out entirely, which I don’t really like, as it’s then just bass and hi hat, or the piano and guitar get into a comping battle and the poor bass is drowned out. Comments? Suggestions? Tips?
That’s a good question. It’s very specific, and probably if we made a video specifically about this, I would guess that not many people would be as interested. However, I do have some tips. It’s better to lay out then to get in the way. A guitar player can always play very light Freddie green style Over a bass solo and it works great. As a Pianist, I really make an effort to stay out of the bass players range. This only becomes an issue when they play up high. Then the best advice I have is just to listen. If you’re listening close to what someone else is doing, ideas will come. Your main job is to support the soloist by outlining the harmony from time to time. But you don’t have to feel like you have to play in every bar. Key moments are good to lock in on. Transitions between sections for instants are important to lay down. And if all else fails, just ask the bass player what they like during their solo. No shame in that.
Maybe find examples of how you would like to be comped on albums and then share those with the people you play with?
super interesting
Glad you like it!
This is awesome! love both your channels! 💛
Communication, what a great idea. My experience is that piano players rarely even acknowledge guitar players. It's hard to compete with the 88s!
Guitar and Piano comping at the same time is very difficult, its like playing twister in a straight jacket! It’s tough to Cut through piano, and even tougher to blend with piano! The best tip for a guitar player at a jam is to be just as confident sight-reading the head as reading the chords. Often guitar players cant play a head spontaneous like that so they just comp till their solo. Man, guitar and piano comping at the same time without a lot of consideration sounds so bad! When done right piano and guitar isn’t a bad combo!
For great guitar/piano interplay check out any Wes Montgomery album with Wynton Kelly on piano.
We've got two heavyweights here
🎸☮️💕
I think the guys who hold jazz guitar camps need to include a pianist. We need practice before the jam session.
For great guitar/piano interplay check out any Wes Montgomery album with Wynton Kelly on piano.
I like it reminds me of how id try you get guitarplayers to swap solos in a rock scenario. ie talk it out ahead of time
Steve Khan speaks extensively regarding this in his lesson books.
😮 I can’t believe it
Yesterday ( saturday 6 ) i listened a Jazz quartet in a small French village . ( acoustic bass , drums , piano ,
and guitar ) . The guitar player ( Pascal MARTINEZ ) could illustrates JENS and AIMEE the perfect connection to achieve . Next time I shall record and film to send you the ideal you talk about . JENS should
be staggered .
uah! 💥🎸💥 🌟🎵🎶🎹🎶🎵🌟
2 minutes in and I'm side-tracked by the lead sheet with a different harmony than I am used too 😁
I'm assuming by "just be a horn player" you mean use single notes rather than trying to operate your instrument with you mouth?
Yes!
LOL @0:16
I wouldn't want to get on her bad side during a tune
You’d be fine 😅
Oh god Jens has a crush
Aimee always try to show her superiority sucks 🤣🤣🤣
I really don't see that. What an odd thing to focus on?
A horn player once told me “horn players solo and piano players comp, and guitarists do both worse.”
How wonderful to enjoy the sharing of wisdom from 2 admired teachers.
Thank you Paul! 🙂
This was a joke and YT algorithmic is totally rubbish.
➡ If we should do another video what should it be on?
Check out the video on Aimee's channel: th-cam.com/video/4wvWkP1_C68/w-d-xo.html
This is probably one of the most (if not THE most) important jazz education videos I've ever viewed. This was a subject probably every ensemble guitarist in the world would appreciate! Thanks Jens from southern California!
Jens, I don’t mind confessing, I’ve had a shitty day at work, but sat in the bath, a glass of wine and checking out yours and Aimee’s duets on her channel, is like a shot of vitamin C for my ear holes. A very sincere thank you to you both. 👍👍👍
That is really great to hear! Glad it could turn it around 🙂
This is the collaboration (or maybe 'Clash of the Musical Titans') we need.
So cool to see you two talking! I've leaned a lot from both of your channels!
Awesome to see you doing collaborations man. Seeing two great minds of music sharing perspective and advice is something I'd say is definitely vital to the growth of musicianship for all. Cheers guys.
Thx Jim Hall & Bill Evans?! Jens &: Aimee, you two my favorite TH-cam buddies!
Glad you like the video! 🙂
Very nice I've been watching both of your channels for a long time.
Good conversation, thank you both! There's no reason for guitar/piano not to comp together in an interactive call and response format. All it takes is checking both players' egos at the door. Try playing 1/2 as much. Everyone in Jazz has creative ideas, and everyone needs a chance to express their creativity. I don't buy this concept that guitarists need to subvert their creative ideas to keyboards all the time. What if we said keys need to yield to guitars all the time? Either approach unnecessarily limits the possible tonal colors and textures. Aimee talked about discussing/planning taking turns comping for different sections of the tune. This could also be done comping via alternating phrases. Listening sympathetically is all it takes. Unfortunately, that is all too rare. Thanks again!
Sick!
SOLI DEO GLORIA
(To The Glory of God Alone)
Father, Son & Holy Spirit
-Ronnie
10:40 Octaves! (like Bill Evans solos with Jim Hall.)
I respect and admire ALL instruments, but Guitar and Piano are my favorites hands down.
I really like this format Jens. Excellent
Thank you, Ben! I hope to do more collaborations, with Aimee and others as well.
Great video, love it. She sings so beautifully.
Thank you Vince! 🙂
I love the Interplay album by Evans and Co. It has many great examples of comping textures between piano, guitar, horn, bass, and drums.
Beautiful conversation
I like to listen to the Nat King Cole Trio and Diana Krall's tribute to them to be reminded that Guitar and Piano really can live together in harmony (pun intended).
This was terrific!
I watched the performance by you and Aimee on her channel before watching this video. While watching, I was thinking to myself about how great the communication and listening was between you two. It made me smile to see that this video is all about communication.
I know this video is more than a year old, but I just discovered it. It was wonderful watching you, Jens, and Aimee playing and having a "difficult" discussion. You both did such a fantastic job of playing together and staying out of each other's way. Thank you for collaborating with her!
Thank you so much! It was a lot of fun to hang out with Aimee
Wes and Wynton could play at the same time and it was brilliant because they listened 🎵
Best ever.
Jens and Ed Bickert can comp just like good piano players can 🎸
That was a fascinating conversation. Thanks to both of you for sharing this!
_Fantastic_ .
P.S.:
I have watched Aimee's videos and I believe I'm subscribed to her channel.
But if I'm not, I will correct that by subscribing!
Super cool video ! At 16:30 you talk about Freddy Green style, isn't that what they basically do in manouche too, having no drummer? For a band with drums FG is almost a second (simple) drums line leaving the drummer some more freedom.
Thanks! Gypsy rhythm guitar and Freddie Green are both quarter notes, but the two styles use very different voicings and phrasing.
The thing that people don't realize with Freddie Green is that the bass player may not find it very nice to have to play unison rhythm with a guitar, and that can be very limiting. Try to ask some double bass players about it 🙂
hola a los dos desde Chile. greetings !!!
Nice to see you both ...
Amazing conversation, we all, the watchers became richer. Thanks a Lot, you both
Joe Pass spoke about playing sparse 2 or 3 note chords, he said Oscar Peterson had him bet with 88 keys. lol
I loved this video. I’ve learned over the years to always defer to the piano. It’s bigger and louder. Ha ha.
Thank you! Yes that is also how I think about it 🙂
Wonderful! So glad you are visiting Aimee! I always think back to Joe Pass "Don't compete with the piano, it's bigger so it will win" lol. Or something like that.
I love "The New York Rhythm Section" album with Hank Jones, Barry Galbraith etc. They've obviously worked it out so that all that stuff happens nicely. Or Barry turns down his guitar and just plays guide tone comping. That works, too. But it can get pretty hazardous if you don't figure it out first ha ha.
@@matthewgoldberg1461 It's difficult to compare the interaction and conversation between Joe Pass and Oscar Peterson to any other pairing of piano and guitar. They have developed a language that is both highly idiomatic and refined at the same time. Also at times very competitive, which adds energy and spontaneity to the improvisation. They knew one another so well that they could play with great freedom within each others envelope without getting in each others way.
That's really an amazing conversation and very helpful!!
Never trust piano players
great conversation !
My two favorite TH-cam educators chillaxin.
Fantastic video!!! This is one of the most important topics for guitar/piano that as you said is rarely talked about!! I agree with almost everything pointed out here. I would also like to add that if you are playing some more modernish approach to your tone (guitar with alot of effects like reverb and delay and such) a beautiful sound is doing synth like effects on the guitar while the piano does "normal" comping and such. I think that if the two players know each other and listen to each other the sonic possibilities of the 2 instruments together are endless!
great conversation! I'm a guitar player and always take a back seat to the keys, I actually really like to focus in on the bass with shell voicings, I love the Freddy Green sound, so fun - toss in a punch or fill every once in a while - the soloist kind of picks the weird harmony stuff, the pianist can pick up on that a little better - I've learned all my chords with NO Fifths!
👍🏻 wow you guys are so intelligent, just blows my mind .
Do you alter your chord voicings when a pianist is present and also comping? Regarding Freddie Green voicings, they have the root.... Ever get complaints from the bassist about this? Nice meting you briefly at the hotel lobby!
I alter the chords for any setting that I play in, not just piano. It is always about context. When I play freddie green I usually don't play the root if there is a bass-player, but that is all about right hand technique.
@@JensLarsen Thanks... I sounds like you grip the chord with the left hand but omit strumming / plucking the string that would be playing the root (5 or 6 string)?
I really enjoyed this video, Jens. Great insights. I second the suggestion for similar videos with other instrumentalists.
Glad to hear that!
Refreshingly valuable video
Thank you (I hope 😁)
Very interesting vid. Cheers!
Hey folks, in case you haven't seen it, there are more complete musical examples from these sessions over on Aimee's channel, released on the same day as this video.
Thanks Adam! I imagine that since I mention it in the video, link to it in the pinned comment, in a card in the video and in the video description they should have a fair chance of seeing it, but I appreciate the effort 🙂
On the same day!? Gotta check this out!!
Beautiful! You two are great! Thank you.
Thank you Michael!
Awesome. Perfect tone for @jens. What's your rig if I may ask?
Thank you! It was a QSC monitor that I plugged into, I believe Aimee might have done some post production?
No I didn’t. Maybe a tiny bit of compression, but I left it flat. At least I think I did. You were a good sport to play out of my speaker.
Yes!
Great video Jens and Aimee!
Thank you James!
Dream team!
I’ve just had coffee. This is sooo good!
Glad you like it 🙂