Guitar/Mando Chord Voicings for Duos

djazzbird

I'm playing in a quintet, but also spend a bunch of time jamming with just the guitar player in my band. When we play with the whole band we try to play rootless voicings most of the time, letting the bass fill in the root. I'm wondering if someone out there could give me the scoop on duo playing - is it poor form to play rootless when comping for one other person? Is there a rule of thumb? I'm figuring that the root should probably be in there for duos, but I'm a rookie so I thought I'd ask.
Just having the 3,7 and color in there just doesn't sound right to me without the bass. :?:

jmcgann

It's musically (as in "music police") totally cool to play rootless voicings on mando- i do it all the time; so do many guitarists and pianists. It may take a little while for your ears to grow accustomed to it, but the 3rd and 7th "define the chord sound" as they say at Berklee (and it's even true!)