This handout is the second in a twopart series of reference voicings for the jazz pianist. Many people have requested a jazz piano chords chart but i created this one to be consistent with how i recommend you learn all the voicings covered in proproach learn each one in all the keys and have fun doing it. Includes a numeric voicing chart, chord indexes in all 12 keys, info about what range of the instrument you can play chords in. Copy and paste chord voicings from here to your own score to get basic chord symbol playback. This pdf will be a big help to many jazz pianists and other instrumentalists who want to get better at voicing chords in their left hand.
Pdf piano chord voicings for jazz combo jaime pitarch. On the piano, the dropped note must normally be played in the left hand, so these are almost always two handed voicing. How to play from a fake book without gettin the blues. To create effective voicings for various chord qualities, be sure to follow these guidelines. In part one, i pointed out that a 7th chord contains four notes. A brief guide to piano fourth voicings introduction this article is intended to give you a basic command of the most useful piano chords voiced in fourths also known as quartal voicings. Bill evans, barry harris, oscar peterson, kenny barron. Two handed chords are great for comping behind a soloist. Chord families every melody and accompaniment is based on a chord. In a nutshell, if you could put another chord tone between any upper notes of a chord, that chord is in open position. All other tones which may be added to a chord only serve to add. In order to improvise you need to know and play every chord very well.
This isnt an allencompassing resource, as a resource that. To play a rootless voicing, we leave out the root of the chord and play one of the chord extensions instead so for example we could play the 3rd, 5th, 7th and the 9th could be the additional extension of the chord. Therefore, he needs two different types of voicings. These altered dominant chord voicings will revolutionize. The newest jazz piano chords pdf that i recently made available features those piano chords and voicings that i used during an eight bar segment of a piano video tutorial i created which focuses on the classic harold arlen tune paper moon. The 3rd of one chord becomes the 7th of the next, etc. Chord symbol voicings for playback sheet music for piano. Drop 2 voicings part 1 jazz chord essentials in this lesson on drop2 chords i want to demonstrate a set of voicings that are fairly easy to play on the guitar and very useful for playing chords with extensions. The ust jazz piano chord voicing collection is a complete method to study and learn all possible upper structure triads voicings over the iim7 and v7 individually and in the progression iim7v7. Lets first have a look at how shell voicings are constructed. To fully comprehend the contents of this page you should be familiar with basic jazz harmony and theory. Prior to this, jazz pianists tended to use shell chords like the bud powell voicing we will learn in a future lesson or stride piano. Rootless chord voicings were developed in the 1950s by pianists like bill evans, wynton kelly and ahmad jamal.
First, he comps for, and interacts with, other players as they solo. Many of them werent to me, which is the main reason ive included this topic of discussion here while were still in the early phases of the course. The phrase chord voicings refers to the way the notes of a chord are arranged, both in musical notation and on our instrument. An essential resource for aspiring jazz musicians mullins, rob on. Enjoy this rich, colorful, yet pretty simple voicings piano tutorial taught by. As i emphatically encourage members of proproach, the value in learning chord voicings in all the keys is tremendous. Notice that in the first example above, the minor chord which uses the 7th as the lowest note resolves quite easily to the dominant chord which uses the. How to play from a fake book without gettin the blues index of chapters chapter 1 g, am7 and d7 page 1. I am presenting you with all the major and minor chord voicings for the most part that can be played. When starting to learn jazz piano chords, a good way to begin is to learn shell voicings. This lesson on chord voicings is taken from voice leading jazz guitar. Jazz guitar voicings and inversions fundamental changes. Understanding the basics of piano voicings and the use of common tensions is a first step in creating effective orchestrations of reharmonized melodies.
Use the general voicing guidelines from page 7, the left hand voicings reference sheet, and the following progression formulas to help. Players will often only use two notes, the root and third, or the root and. Drop 2 voicings bebop, hard bop, contemporary jazz. Piano chord voicings for jazz combo the pianist has a few functions in a jazz combo. Jazz piano voicings and comping techniques to your students. Encyclopedia of lefthand jazz piano voicings learn jazz. Drop 2 voicings part 1 jazz chord essentials jens larsen. Also analyse it what type of chord is it, what are the extensionsalterations, how is the chord voiced. Note that scale degrees 10 is the same as 3, 12 the same as 5, 14 the same as 7, and 15 the same as and root. Melody generally uses the notes of a chord or notes that return to it. Jazz piano basics dan davey tensions are non chord tones that are added to a chord to change the colortexture of the chord. D below middle c up to a above middle c when these voicings are performed, its important that the pianist learn them in. An arranging technique used when voicing for four horns. Beethoven leaves an entire octave and a half between the inner voices of the chord.
Left hand rootless voicings are closely associated with the piano style of pianist bill evans 19291980. As exercises, mainly because many of the chord voicings you see below may not be familiar to you. Many players could benefit from having this reference sheet, which has most of the chords jazz musicians are likely to encounter. But the most challenging aspect of rootless chord voicings is simply the practice that they require. If you dont know anything about chords or cant figure out chord symbols first study. Therefore, beginners and intermediate players may not be able to apply. The basic approach is to take the third and sixth voicings aka fourway close and drop the second from top tone down an octave.
Rootless voicings at the piano cocktail piano lessons. Triads will more than likely be the first types of chords you. Construction of drop ii voicings university of surrey. Jazz piano basics dan davey usually, the guide tones resolve within a step to the next chord. Here are various voicings of the g chord, both with and without. For maximum benefit, practicing playing iivi chord progressions using rootless voicings in all 12 keys. Print and download in pdf or midi chord symbol voicings for playback.
Rootless voicings are quite simply a chord, or voicing, without the root note. Rootless voicings are preferred in jazz piano and guitar playing, especially when playing with a bassist. This sound is heard in the playing of mccoy tyner, chick corea and just about every pianist that has come after them. The easiest way to play two handed chords is through the use of upper structure triads. If youre interested in learning how to play advanced jazz piano chord voicings, then youre on the right page. This combination pdfebook guide on cd and companion 2dvd video piano lesson course may very well be the last chord reference you ever buy, simply because it covers virtually 95% of all the piano chord voicings youll ever need in your playing, from the basic major, minor, dominant, suspended, diminished and augmented triads all the way through slash chords and crazy augmented ths and. Shell voicings were very popular with the early pianists and then bebop pianists too.
When you find something you like, try and play it in all keys. Chord voicings and extensions for guitar fundamental changes. This creates a shell where extensions, alterations and other chord tones may be added. The formulas work well for all the basic chord types. All piano players get many melodic ideas or lines from their voicings. The root what chord is it the third is it major or minor the seventh majorminor6th.
Rootless voicings are an essential skill for the modern jazz pianist. These quartal chords were made popular by mccoy tyner john coltranes piano player and bill evans for example on miles davis standard so what from the album kind of blue. Triads lesson supplement the triad is the basic building block of many different types of chord. As i mentioned in the introduction, it is rarely necessary to play the root of the chord and often other intervals can be omitted too. The same shape technique can be applied to other scales as and when you come to them. This pdf serves as a compliment to a free lesson that i created emphasizing the rewards of smooth voice leading.
I created a jazz piano voicings pdf that you can actually download for free. If you are advanced enough you can even play melodies with two hands by making the melody note the same as the top note of your chord. This voicing is valuable to master, as it can be used easily and practically in the context of your favorite standard ballads. Encyclopedia of twohand jazz piano voicings learn jazz. Substitute 6 for 7 in the formulas for maj6 and min6 chords. Practice all nine chord types with all 4 formulas in 12 keys. An approach borrowed from jazz arranging is to drop the 2nd voice from the top down an octave, to create an open voicing that is readily playable on. This lesson is written with advanced players in mind. Drop 2 and drop 3 voicing can be constructed from any of the inversions of the chord as well.
These advanced jazz piano chord voicings will totally. To play a rootless voicing, we leave out the root of the chord and play one of the chord extensions instead so for example we could play the 3rd, 5th, 7th and the 9th could be the additional extension of the chord rootless voicings achieve very smooth voice leading in the. Chord voicings chart here are the basic standard tuning chord voicings you can use and experiment with. Rootless chord voicings are an essential aspect of jazz and blues playing and usually thought of as an advanced concept.
A shell voicing is the bare necessities version of a jazz chord, so the chord is reduced to three notes. All of these are chord tones ct, and therefore, these are not tensions. In this piano tutorial, i teach you about rootless voicings. Chord voicing techniques a primer piano world piano. Get ideas for voicings from books and from imitating music on disc. Which note is on the bottom determines the inversion. Twohand piano voicings are essential for jazz pianists when comping behind melodists and soloists. For a piano player, knowing how to voice chords is an essential skill, not only for comping accompanying or laying the chord progression for others player to improvise over, but also to use those voicings as an improvisational aid.