The Complete Idiot''s Guide to Music Theory

Par t 3:Tunes

Changing chords in your music.

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If you’re writing a part for guitar, or for a rhythm section (bass, piano, and so

forth) in a pop or jazz band, you don’t have to write out specific notes on the

staff. A guitarist will know to strum the indicated chords, a piano player will

know to compthrough the chord progressions, and the bass player will know to

play the root of the chord.

You write a comp part by using slashes in place of traditional notes on the staff.

Typically, you use one slash per beat, so a measure of 4/4 will have four slashes,

like this:

Compingis a

technique used by jazz

and pop musicians to play

an improvised accompani-

ment behind a particular

piece of music. A piano

player might comp by

playing block or arpeg-

giated chords; a guitarist

might comp by strumming

the indicated chords.

Definition

Writing chords for a rhythm section.

You can indicate specific rhythms that should be played by writing out the rhythm,

but with slashes instead of note heads. The result looks something like this:

Indicating a specific rhythm for the chord accompaniment.

If you’re writing specifically for guitar, you also have the option of including

guitar tablature. Tablature shows the guitarist how to fret the chord, and is very

useful for beginning-level players. More advanced players probably don’t need

this assistance, unless you’re indicating a particularly complex chord.

A guitar part with tabla-

ture is sometimes called a

guitartab.

Note

A guitar part with tablature added.