Chord voicings (Rootless, Altered Rootless Chord Voicing)

Chord Voicings

Source: thejazzpianosite.com

In a previous module we learned about the theoretical aspects of Jazz Chords. In this series of lessons we will be discussing how chords are actually played in practice. This is a very important part of playing Jazz piano. A chord voicing is just a way of altering the order of and intervals between the notes in a chord. So instead of playing CMaj7 as a block chord (C E G B) we could reorder the notes and play C B E G. Playing appropriate chord voicings can make a song sound very jazzy and very professional.

Omitting Notes

In previous lessons (specifically the one on Shell Chords) we established that in Jazz we don’t need to play every single note in a chord. Specifically, it’s possible to omit the less important notes (root & 5th). Well, using this same idea, we can create rootless voicings.

Rootless Chord Voicings

A smooth and popular type of chord voicing are called (Bill Evans style) Rootless Chord Voicings. As the name suggests, these chord voicings exclude the root note. Instead of the root (and sometimes the 5th) we play chord tensions. This gives us a jazzy sound (because of the tensions) while not being too crowded (you only ever play 4 notes because we drop the root).

Even though we are allowed to omit the root note in a chord, if you’re playing in a band often the bass player will play the root note. Otherwise, there’s nothing wrong with just leaving it out. The root note isn’t really all that important, harmonically speaking.

In short, Rootless Chord Voicings are played as follows:

• For Major and minor chords play: 3rd, 5th, 7th, 9th
• For V7 chords play: 3rd, 7th, 9th, 13th

There are also two ‘types’ of rootless chord voicings. One is just an inversion of the other (if one has the 3rd on the bottom, the other has the 7th on the bottom). These voicing works really well for II-V-I progressions, because you only need to change a few notes (and by only a small interval) to move from one chord to the next (i.e. there is smooth voice leading). Below is an example of a II-V-I in the key of C using rootless chord voicings. Notice how smoothly each chord transitions to the next.

Chord Ambiguity Notice also, that because we are omitting certain notes, chords become a little ambiguous. Rootless Dm9 (F A C E) = FMaj7 = Am♭6 Rootless G13 (F A B E) = Rootless Dm69 = Rootless D♭7#9♭13 Rootless CMaj7 (E G B D) = Em7 = G6 Notice how all the above chords are substitutes for each other (generally Median Note or Tritone substitutes). This is part of the charm of rootless voicings. There are a little ambiguous. Altered Rootless Voicings As we learned in the lesson on Available Tensions, we can alter the chord tensions (♭9, #11, ♭13, etc.). We can apply this idea to Rootless Chord Voicings. We must keep the 3rd and 7th the same, but we are free to alter the other two notes. So you can create chords like a: CMaj7#11 (by substituting the 5th for a  #11th); C69 (by substituting the 7th for a 6th); Dm69 (by substituting the 7th for a 6th); Dm7♭5 (by flattening the 5th). Left Handed Voicing & Rule of Thumb Rootless voicings are played entirely with the left hand. This means your right hand is free to play the melody or improvise. In future lessons we will also discuss numerous two handed chord voicings. Because you are playing 4 notes all within the span of a single octave, these voicings can be a little bit muddy if played too low. As such, try adhere to the ‘rule of thumb’: the top note of a rootless chord voicing (played with your thumb) should be between middle C and the C an octave above middle C on the piano. That is, try stick to the middle register with this chord voicing.

Passing Chords & Approach Chords

welcome back,

Passing chords are literally that chords that you pass by. They are chords you pass through quickly on your way from one chord to the next in the chord progression. Because they are played quickly (they generally never last more than 1/2 a bar), they are not harmonically important. And because they are not harmonically important, they can be almost any chord you like. Passing chords can make a chord progression more interesting because they speed up the rate at which chords change (called Harmonic Rhythm) and make a chord progression more harmonically interesting.

Passing Chords

Passing chords generally have the following features:

• They last for a very short period of time (1/4 or 1/2 a bar). You never sit on them for long, they are passing chords, you pass by them quickly;
• They are inserted between two harmonically important chords (i.e. chords that are written out on a lead sheet and that occur on beats one or three of a bar);
• They can be diatonic (a chord from the key that you are playing in) or non-diatonic (a chord NOT from the key that you are playing in);
• They can be consonant or dissonant.

A specific type of passing chord is called an approach chord. This is a passing chord that is either 1 (chromatic) or 2 (diatonic) semitones away from the next chord.

Let’s take the following chord progression: | CMaj7    | Dm7    ||

We can insert a passing chord between the CMaj7 and the Dm7. The most widely used passing chords are shown in the below table.

Passing Chord Name	Chord Progression
Original Chord Progression	| CMaj7 | Dm7 ||
Tritone (of previous chord)	| CMaj7 - G♭7 | Dm7 ||
Tritone (of next chord)	| CMaj7 - A♭7 | Dm7 ||
Approach #1 (diatonic)	| CMaj7 - Em7 | Dm7 ||
Approach #2 (semitone)	| CMaj7 - D♭7 | Dm7 ||
Approach #3 (semitone)	| CMaj7 - E♭7 | Dm7 ||
Diminished #1	| CMaj7 - D♭o7 | Dm7 ||
Diminished #2	| CMaj7 - E♭o7 | Dm7 ||
Dominant-minor	| CMaj7 - D7 | Dm7 ||
Secondary V	| CMaj7 - A7 | Dm7 ||
Secondary II, V	| CMaj7 - Em7 A7 | Dm7 ||

Note: That both the chord and the bass-line movement are important when transitioning between chords. You want both to be smooth. I will have more to say about this in future lessons

Theoretical Convergence

You may have noticed some of the above approach chords are also chord substitutions. For example, the Diatonic Approach Chord of Em7 is also a Median Note substitution of CMaj7. You will also notice that one of the passing chords is a Secondary Dominant (the subject of our next lesson).

At this point it is worth noting that there is more than one way to analyse a chord progression. We will come across many theoretical concepts that try to explain the same chord in different ways. All of them are right in their own way.

Let’s again take the chord progression: | CMaj7 – Em7  | Dm7    ||

To some the Em7 will be a passing chord. To others the Em7 will be a half-bar chord substitution of the CMaj7 chord. Both of these are correct. I’ll say it again. There are many ways of analysing the same chord progression.

It’s important to remember that: first came music, then came theory. A musician writes a particular chord progression that happens to sound good, and then it’s up to the theoretician to figure out why it sounds good. And in order to do this, they come up with various ideas and concepts. Because of this, there are a number of different ways to analyse the same chord progression. We will find this is the case with many of the concepts we cover in the future.