Introduction
In this module, we learned a whole bunch of Jazz Chord Voicings. But just knowing individual voicings is not enough, combining chord voicings smoothly and applying them to actual songs is also of paramount importance.
Combining Chord Voicings
To do this, perform the following steps:
- Take a song – a simple one at first – and go through it bar by bar taking note of the
- Chords in each bar; and
- First (or Main) Melody Note of each bar
- Find a voicing for that particular chord type that has the melody note on top
- This requires you to have a mental list of voicings for each type of chord (see below)
- If you’re struggling to find an appropriate voicing, just add the melody note on top of any voicing
- This is especially useful with simple voicings such as:
- Two Hand Voicings: Three Note or Open
- Left Hand Only Voicings: Rootless, Monk, or Powell
- This is especially useful with simple voicings such as:
Voice Leading
Subject to having appropriate voicings with the melody note on top, the way to make a chord progression sound smooth & pleasant is:
- Choose the appropriate register for the chord voicing
- Minimise Movement between chords – i.e. no jumping around
- When you change from one chord to the next, change as few notes as possible and those that do change move as little as possible
For example, take the below chord movement. We move from a Dm11 (So What Voicing) to a G9 (Open Voicing). In order to move from one chord to the next, we only had to change one note and we only had to change that note by one semitone.
Selection of Chord Voicings Covered in this Module
| Dm7 | G7 | C | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Voicing | Notes | Top Note | Voicing | Notes | Top Note | Voicing | Notes | Top Note |
| Rootls | FACE | 9 | Rootls | FABE | 13 | Rootls | EGBD | 9 |
| Monk | EFA | 5 | Monk | EFA | 9 | Monk | BCE | 3 |
| 3 Note | D-FC D-CF | 7 3 | 3 Note | G-BF G-FB | 7 3 | 3 Note | C-EB C-BE | 7 3 |
| Open | DFAC | 3, 5, 7 | Open | GBDF | 3, 5, 7 | Open | CEGB | 3, 5, 7 |
| Hanck | DAF-GCE | 9 | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Barron | DAE-FCG | 11 | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| SW | DG-CFA | 5 | SW | BE-ADF | 7 | SW | EA-DGB BE-ADF# | 7 #11 |
| Qtr | AD-GCF | 3 | Qtr | FB-EAD BF-ADG | 5 1 | Qtr | BE-ADG EA-DGC | 5 1 |
| - | - | - | US | Multiple | - | - | - | |
In the below video I play the Jazz Standard Satin Doll using all the voicings we learned in this module. Pay special attention to how I am combining chord voicings. Have a listen to it and see what you think.