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Minor Voicing Options Worksheet
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• When you come across a minor chord on a lead sheet, the majority of the
time, the melody note will be from the Dorian mode. • The Dorian mode contains the scale degrees 1 – 9 – b3 -‐ 11 – 5 -‐ 6/13 – b7 • The following voicings can be applied to any key so if you memorise the scale
degrees you can build then in any key you are in! J 9th In The Melody -‐ Tenderly
• Looking at the A section of Tenderly, there are two minor chords with the 9th
in the melody: the Eb-‐9 chord in the 3rd bar and the F-‐9 chord in the 5th bar. • Here are four options for the Eb-‐9 chord:
• The first option is stacked thirds from the root to the 9th (R-‐3-‐5-‐7-‐9). • You can also add the 11th in the middle of the chord to get a richer sound. • Next we have the Herbie Hancock Voicing • Finally we can stack fourths off the root in out left hand and play a rootless
Type A left hand voicing in our right hand to get 3-‐5-‐7-‐9.
The Dorian Mode
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• Here are the same voicings that can be used for the F-‐9 in bar 5.
Minor 3rd In The Melody – My One & Only Love
• The second line of My One & Only Love contains an A-‐7 chord with the -‐3rd in the melody. Here are 4 voicing options:
• The first chord is a stack of 3rds with the -‐3rd doubled at the top, giving a ‘crunch’ at the top of the voicing.
• The second chord is the same voicing but with the 11th added into the middle of the chord to add more texture.
• The third example is quite a sparse voicing containing the root and 7th in the left and then the 9th and -‐3rd in the right hand. The right hand notes ‘rub’ against each other to create an interesting contrast to the left hand open 7th .
• The final example is the Kenny Barron Voicing but with the top note dropped down a full step from the 11th to the -‐3rd. This is a great sounding open voicing and is usually my go-‐to voicing with the -‐3rd in the melody.
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11th In The Melody – Blue In Green
• In the 7th bar of Blue In Green, there is a D-‐7 chord with the 11th in the melody. Here are a number of different voicing options:
• The first example is simply stacked 3rds all the way up from the root to the 11th. The second is very similar but doubles the 11th with the left hand
• The third example is the Kenny Barron Voicing. This is always a solid option when the 11th is in the melody and you want a full sounding chord. This voicing can be tweaked slightly as illustrated in examples 4 and 5. Firstly we can double the 9th in our right hand and then also double the 11th by playing two notes with our right hand thumb.
• The final example is a rootless voicing. The left hand plays a cluster of notes (-‐3rd – 11 & 5th ) and the right hand plays the 7th – 9th and 11th . You can also look at the top half as a major triad built off the -‐7th.
5th In The Melody – Round Midnight
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• At the end of the second line we have an Eb-‐7 chord with the 5th in the melody. Here are 4 different options to voice this chord:
• The first example is a simple 9th voicing. We play a closed position rootless left hand voicing in our right hand and then the root in our left hand.
• The second example is a bitonal voicing. An easy way to visualize this chord is to play a minor triad built off the root our left hand and then a minor triad built off the 5th in our right hand but in it’s first inversion which means we repeat the Bb (5th) twice in the chord.
• The third example is the So What Chord, this is 4 stacked 4ths from the root and then a major 3rd on top. You can also add F (the 9th) into the right hand which adds more texture. You can add the 9th into any So What Chord.
• The final example is a variation of the So What chord: take the bottom two notes up 1.5 steps or a tone and a half. Completely changes the sound!
6th or 13th In The Melody – Blue in Green
• An alternate voicing for the 1st chord in Blue in Green is G-‐13. (G minor is the relative minor of Bb Major). With G-‐ as the first chord, the 13 is in the melody
• Here are 5 options for voicing a minor 13 chord
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• It’s also worth noting that the 6th/13th in this example is from G Dorian as the 6th from G natural minor would be Eb.
• The first example is a major 7th chord built off the b7 in the right hand and then the Root, 5th and b3 in the right hand. This is quite a stretch so you can ‘roll’ up the left hand if need be.
• The second example contains the same notes in the left hand but the b7 drops to the 5th in the right hand and creates a ‘chunkier’ sounding chord.
• The third example is a rootless voicing with the 9th, -‐3rd and 5th in the left hand and then the major 7th chord built off the b7.
• The final two examples, utilize the relative major -‐ Bb major. Firstly we have the Kenny Barron major alternative and then the same but with the 11th (in terms of Bb) doubled with the thumb.
7th In The Melody – Body & Soul
• At the end of the 1st line, the F-‐7 chord contains the 7th in the melody. Here are some voicing options:
• These are all F-‐11 voicings with the 7th in the melody. • The first example is a root position minor 7th chord in the left hand and then a
stack of 4ths built off the root in the right hand. The stack of 4ths gives you Root, 11 and b7
• The second example is the same but dropping the root and the third example is very similar but with the 11th doubled in the left hand.
• The fourth example is contains the Root, 5th and b3 in the left and then the stack of 4ths in the right. – a nice open sounding voicing.
• The final 3 examples are all similar but with slight variations in the left hand.
