Green Dolphin Street Comping & Improv
In this lesson we explore a selection of comping voicings and improvised solo ideas for the famous tune ‘On Green Dolphin Street’.
This tutorial features 3 comping choruses, 2 choruses of improvised solo, and a head-in and head-out. The scrolling score contains annotations of the theory areas for additional explanation on the styles of voicings being used.
Comping Voicing Styles
We incorporate a wide range of comping voicings and styles to achieve different textures and colours in our accompaniment. In particular we apply the following theory areas:
- Simple left hand voicings and melody
- Dominant chain turnarounds (G7 – C7 – F7 – Bb7)
- Basic drop 2 voicings
- 4th voicings & ‘So What’ voicings
- Red Garland voicings
- Upper structure triad voicings
See the related lesson section below for in-depth tutorials on these theory areas.
Lesson Downloads
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Green Dolphin Street – Supporting Material File Type: pdf
Practice Tips
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First learn the left hand voicings that are used to accompany the head-in and head-out.
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Once you are familiar with the harmony of the tune you can spread the voicings over 2 hands in drop-2 configuration.
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The final step is introduce the bigger 2 handed voicings such as the Red Garland voicings and the upper structure harmony.
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See the related lessons above for theory lessons on these voicing concepts.