For the most part it appears to me that professional piano players voice most their chords with one hand because it allows them to accompany such chords with some kind of melody. So far I have been using two hands to voice chords because I can't figure out how to use just one hand to go from regular chords to their extensions and to minor key variations.
Are there any videos/ general pieces of advice for getting used to voicing chords with one hand? I know which keys to press but not how to press them while being able to hit other keys.
How do you voice chords with alterations, extensions, etc with one hand?
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- KVRian
- 1084 posts since 12 Sep, 2008 from Your basement
Just because the chord says D13(-5) doesn't mean that you have to figure out how to slavishly get a D F# Ab C E G and B in there. 
There are a TON of jazz voicing books and videos out there. I have all Warren Berhardt DVDs on Homespun Tapes and they are great. But some of my best learning is by, for example, pulling "Waltz for Debby" into Logic, slowing it down and listening to Evans' changes and trying to figure out what he's doing.
People will give you rules of thumb like leaving out the root, fifth, etc, and that's good information, but voiceleading seems to be a crucial determiner of harmonization and arrangements of the heavies.
Probably best thing is to get a teacher who is an awesome player! Next best thing is to listen and pick up what awesome players do.
There are a TON of jazz voicing books and videos out there. I have all Warren Berhardt DVDs on Homespun Tapes and they are great. But some of my best learning is by, for example, pulling "Waltz for Debby" into Logic, slowing it down and listening to Evans' changes and trying to figure out what he's doing.
People will give you rules of thumb like leaving out the root, fifth, etc, and that's good information, but voiceleading seems to be a crucial determiner of harmonization and arrangements of the heavies.
Probably best thing is to get a teacher who is an awesome player! Next best thing is to listen and pick up what awesome players do.
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- KVRAF
- 1585 posts since 13 Nov, 2005 from St. Paul
this book has a lot of tips on voicings, and some pretty hip ideas for solos as well:
http://www.amazon.com/Post-Bop-Jazz-Pia ... 0634061232
yes, it's hal leonard, but seriously, i've found it very helpful and it's not too basic by any stretch of the imagination.
http://www.amazon.com/Post-Bop-Jazz-Pia ... 0634061232
yes, it's hal leonard, but seriously, i've found it very helpful and it's not too basic by any stretch of the imagination.
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- KVRAF
- 7837 posts since 20 Jan, 2008
It's simple, I'm a guitarist.
You don't need to express all chords to the full extent. You can imply. Many times chord symbols are figurative not literal. Especially when the melody takes an excursion away from the the basic melody/harmony.
You don't need to express all chords to the full extent. You can imply. Many times chord symbols are figurative not literal. Especially when the melody takes an excursion away from the the basic melody/harmony.
Dell Vostro i9 64GB Ram Windows 11 Pro, Cubase, Bitwig, Mixcraft Guitar Pod Go, Linntrument Nektar P1, Novation Launchpad
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- KVRAF
- 26033 posts since 20 Oct, 2007 from gonesville
in the context of a lot of chromatic jazz harmony, a rule of thumb such as 'heed the third and seventh first' takes care of a lot of the voice leading, in practice. 'Omit perfect fifths' streamlines one's options per se and tends to provide for cleaner movement. The more extensions, the less you want that perfect fifth, and as a rule of thumb, where there is a bass player you don't need to be redundant per that root function so much.
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- KVRAF
- 26033 posts since 20 Oct, 2007 from gonesville
where there are 9th chords, chances are you want, for F7: A Eb and G [G#, Gb].
If that is headed to Bb^7, A D G. Then, say:
E7#9-b9 (or Bb7b5 13): Ab D G>F.
et cetera.
add water, makes its own sauce.
you could say, if it's a lot of b5, that b5 has an equivalance with root function, I omitted that E either way.
If that is headed to Bb^7, A D G. Then, say:
E7#9-b9 (or Bb7b5 13): Ab D G>F.
et cetera.
add water, makes its own sauce.
you could say, if it's a lot of b5, that b5 has an equivalance with root function, I omitted that E either way.
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- KVRAF
- 26033 posts since 20 Oct, 2007 from gonesville
the other principle with 9th chords etc is to take them as seconds, eg., the 9th and the third:
Cm9: D Eb Bb
F7b9: Eb Gb A
Bb7b13: D Gb Ab
Eb^7#11(13): D G A
IE: the chances are pretty good whoever decided on the extension to write it down had this sort of voice-leading in mind.
Cm9: D Eb Bb
F7b9: Eb Gb A
Bb7b13: D Gb Ab
Eb^7#11(13): D G A
IE: the chances are pretty good whoever decided on the extension to write it down had this sort of voice-leading in mind.