There are 7 voicings that I believe every jazz pianist should know. Of course there are many more, and many wonderful voicings like drop 2 and quartals, but I think these 7 voicings are the most basic and useful jazz chords there are to know.
The voicings are AXIS OF 3rd and 7th, Open and Closed Voicing, A and B voicing and a special 3 note voicing towards the end of the video.
Axis of a 3rd and 7th Voicings
These two voicings are wonderful two handed voicings with a simple 5th in the Left hand and the 3rd and 7th in the right.
The Axis of a 3rd is Left Hand 1 and 5 and Right Hand 7 and 3.
The Axis of a 7th is Left Hand 1 and 5 and Right Hand 3 and 7.
They swap beautifully between the two when doing 2 5 1’s or going around the cycle of 4ths.
More info
Open and Closed Voicings
These two voicings are also two handed. One has a very open sound and the other closed.
The Open Voicing is Left Hand 1 and 7 and Right Hand 3 and 5 (or 13).
The Closed Voicing is Left 1 and 3 and Right Hand 7 and 9.
They also swap well between the two.
More info
A and B voicings
A and B Voicings are one handed. You could play in the right hand and play a bass note or use in the left hand when soloing for example.
Even though they do not have the 1 (root note) they still have everything the listener needs to ‘hear’ the changes.
The A voicing is 3 5(or 13) 7 9 and the B voicing is 7 9 3 and 5 (13).
Here’s some more info.
Special 3 note voicing
In the tutorial I talk about a 3 note voicing that I use all the time. In reality it’s multiple voicings that use the one concept.
The concept is to use make sure you have 3 and 7 in the voicing, which are the guide tones and then add some colour (flavour). For example 3 7 and 9 to make it a bit tastier. Or 7 3 and 13 or 3 7 and #9. The options are many.
Using the guide tones you can create awesome sounding 3 note chords
Check out the video for more detail.
Here’s the video tutorial that I put together on youtube for you on the 7 chord voicings that every jazz pianist should know.
Enjoy!
Glenn
I also talk about these voicings and more in my new book …. the Jazz Piano Foundations Book.