Chords & Voicings
A chord is just a group of notes played simultaneously. And a chord voicing refers to the order in which you play those notes – and thus the intervals between the notes. This series of lessons has covered how to play a variety of commonly used chord voicings. So in this lesson we will briefly discuss when to use the various chord voicings.
Of course, you can use any chord voicing at any time. There’s no rule that prevents you from using any particular voicing whenever you want. Ultimately, do what you think sounds good. If you like a particular chord voicing in a particular style, then use it.
Common Uses of Common Voicings
Nevertheless, certain chord voicings do tend to get used under particular circumstances and in particular styles or genres. These are shown below. For an example of each of these voicings have a listen to the video at the end of this lesson.
| Voicing | Genre/Style |
|---|---|
| Shell/ Powell | - Bebop - Ballad |
| Block Chord (Close Tertian) | - Early Jazz: Stride & Strumming |
| Rootless | - Bossa Nova - Ballad |
| Spread | - Ballad |
| Quartal | - Blues - Modal |
| Secundal | - Ballad - Boogie - Free Jazz |
And as I said at the beginning, all voicings can be used in all genres, but for whatever reason these particular voicings tend to get used more in the genres I listed. But by all means don’t limit yourself to these options only. Note also that we will discuss many of the listed genres in the future lessons.