Slash chordsĪ whole world of extra chord voicings can be accessed by putting one of the 60 seventh chords over an alternative bass note. For example, drop-3 can lead to intervals of a second at the top of the chord, making it less stable and in the way of the melody. But these are less easy to use and therefor less common for jazz piano than drop-2. Other “drop” voicings are possible including drop-3, drop-4 and drop-2&4. Some think it old fashioned, but it is a very useful technique. If you play close-position voicings in the right hand and double the top voice in the left hand, this is sometimes referred to as “locked hands”. The world of Barry Harris lies in that direction, based on the “6th-diminished” or bebop scales voiced as 6th chords alternating with the diminished chord representing the dominant 7b9. A potentially more pianistic voicing and a bigger sound but requiring two hands to play.īoth of these two basic voicings can lead you off in the direction of “block chord” voicings as discussed in many other articles on this blog. This is just close position with the second voice from the top played an octave lower. Next you should learn to do the same, but in “drop 2”. If the melody is not a chord tone, skip a chord tone below before adding the close position voicing so as to avoid too much dissonance with the melody. When voicing a melody, voice the chord in an inversion immediately below the melody note. Why 60? Because 60 = 5 qualities x 12 keys.īy contrast, Santisi considers there to be seven basic chords (he adds major and minor 6), leading to an 84-chord system to practice (84 = 7 x 12). John Mehegan talks about the 60-chord system, because he considers five basic seventh chord qualities: This ensures that you know their notes and gives you an essential voicing as was used in early jazz piano before considering extension beyond the 6th or 7th. as close as possible, no gaps) all over the keyboard. The first thing to learn is to play all the basic 4-note chords in “close position” (i.e. A resulting rule of minimal movement between chords makes both the performer’s life easier and the listener’s experience more enjoyable. Therefore, part of the solution is to learn standard ways of voicing chords that can be practised until they can be played on demand.Īn additional demand of sounding good is moving smoothly from one chord voicing to the next. Obviously, what is considered to sound “good” is in the ear of the beholder, but some tactics are needed for the aspiring jazz pianist to be able to provide voicings in demand. And of this second subset, only some will work with whatever else is being played at the same time. Of this subset, only some will sound good. Only some of the possible combinations will be playable by a human with average size hands and numbers of fingers. The challenge with voicings on the piano is that there are many possible choices when distributing the notes of the chord across the keyboard. I use my transcription of this arrangement to illustrate how the voicings discussed in this article are used in the real world. The Kenny Barron trio version was recorded in the 1990s and grabbed my ear enough to make me want to transcribe it for playing in my trio, along with his song Calypso and his arrangement of Love for Sale. ➡️ I made a playlist of the few versions I could find. The Courtshipīenny Carter recorded this tune in the 1970s, it is not very widely played. All of these voicings can also be used for arranging horn sections in bigger bands.Ī list of suggested further reading is provided at the end of this article. This article makes a survey of common practice in modern jazz piano and illustrates using a Kenny Barron arrangement of a Benny Carter tune, The Courtship. It applies to both playing melodies and when comping for others. As a jazz pianist, how to voice chords is a tricky question.
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