Piano chord voicing

Chords, scales, harmony, melody, etc.
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xtp wrote: how do you decide which hand plays which notes, is it a style thing, or is there some formality behind the choice, or would you vary it depending on what comes next -
The answer is in the question. Style should determine a lot and voicing is going to work best with 'voice-leading' in mind.

The particular things you showed an image of might very well be handled the same by a pianist as a guitarist, depending.

the rote ideation of eg., an octave in the left hand for the putative 'bass' of the harmony may not be apt. Context and situation is crucial.

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jancivil wrote:the rote ideation of eg., an octave in the left hand for the putative 'bass' of the harmony may not be apt. Context and situation is crucial.
You must be a pianist! :D

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not even hardly.

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I've seen adverts of a Ebook called String Theory: Guitar and Piano Chords in Parallel.

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Is this Ebook any good?

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This video speaks to some of things we discussed. I particularly like how he explains the tonal differences between voicing lower (bass) notes and higher notes, based on their harmonic relationship and weight; specifically, he explains the importance of spacing out the lower notes more, to avoid muddiness. This is a good synopsis for voicing chords.

As a guideline, if we keep the bass notes farther (spaced) apart and the higher notes closer together, we should be OK in most situations. Check it out:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qL3Y9B34_7w

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blueman wrote:based on their harmonic relationship and weight; specifically, he explains the importance of spacing out the lower notes more, to avoid muddiness. This is a good synopsis for voicing chords.
this is a good rule of thumb for any arranging really. at the end of the day this is a miniature orchestration problem.

one thing to look at might be transcriptions of JS Bach for classical guitar, to gain a perspective a guitarist used to block chords and root position may be lacking, as say an intermediate step to the way a pianist or an orchestrator approaches.

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