Jazz Piano Voicings: A Curriculum for Middle School and High School

Jeff RobilliardJohnston High School

Purpose

● Jazz piano is an expansive topic that is not familiar to most classically trained pianists

● Many students are never taught the necessary skills to function in a jazz combo or intermediate to advanced jazz ensemble.

● College professors are frustrated that many piano majors go to college with little to no knowledge of chord symbols or how to create jazz voicings.

● Lack of instructional material on the subject

Typical Jazz Band Piano Part

● Student does not need to know what chord symbols mean or how to analyze them because voicings are provided for them

● Students have no reason to concern themselves with chord symbols

Advanced Jazz Band Piano Parts

● The problem occurs when a student is given a piece of music as shown on the right.

● Having received no training on how to interpret chord symbols and create proper jazz voicings a student is setup to fail

● Students give up quickly because the task is too overwhelming

The Plan

This sequence of instruction is designed to force students to create their own voicings well before it is necessary

The Process The following curriculum was developed from studying several jazz piano method books, interviewing professional jazz pianists/educators, and from my own experience teaching the subject to many young musicians.

Step 1

Root position chords built on intervals in 3rds

Step 2

4-note voicings “A” and “B” with roots

Step 3

4-note voicings “A” and “B” without roots

Step 4

4-note “left hand only” voicings “A” and “B” for soloing

Step 5

Frank Mantooth’s 5-note voicings (Miracle Voicings and Polychord Fractions)

Step 1A Creating Triads

● The first step in learning to create jazz voicings is to identify the root, 3rd and 5th in every chord

● Play them as root position triads in both hands.

Watch Rachel play through the root position triads on “Solar” by Miles Davis, which is one of the charts she is currently working on in the 8th grade jazz band.

*In all of the student examples in this presentation, none of them are using written out chords - only chord symbols.

Step 1BCreating 7th Chords

The next step is to have the student play all chords as root position 7th chords (Root, 3rd, 5th, 7th) in the right hand only.

Listen to Cameron play through the first half of the form to “In a Mellow Tone” by Duke Ellington playing all root position chords built in 3rds up to the 7th as described in Step 1B

Step 1CCreating 9th Chords

● Play the 3rd, 5th, 7th and 9th in the right hand

● Play the root in the left hand

Watch Jesse play through a portion of “Lover Man” - by Davis/Ramirez/Sherman/arr. Stan Kenton by playing the root in his left hand and the 3rd, 5th, 7th and 9th in his right hand.

Step 2AVoicing “A” with root

● Root position chords built on 3rds lack sophisication

● Voicings “A” and “B” reorder the same notes the students were using in step 1, but create a more favorable jazz harmony.

● In Step 2A, the student will learn to play all chords using voicing “A” as shown on the right (from bottom to top - 1, 7, 3, 5)

Voicing “A” in C major

Coker, J. (1991). Jazz Keyboard. Van Nuys, CA. Alfred

Listen to Kyle play “Recorda Me” by Joe Henderson using voicing “A” on all chords.

Step 2BVoicing “B” with root

● The next step is to learn all of the chords in their music using voicing “B” as shown on the right

● From the bottom up - scale degrees 1, 3, 5, 9

Voicing “B” in F major

Coker, J. (1991). Jazz Keyboard. Van Nuys, CA. Alfred

Hailey playing all chords using voicing “B” over the changes to “Blue Monk” by Thelonious Monk.

Step 2CUse both “A” and “B” voicings to streamline chords

Once both voicings have been mastered on all chords the student can utilize either inversion “A” or “B” to minimize hand movement.

A B A

Weir, M. (2008). Jazz Piano Handbook. Van Nuys, CA. Alfred

Listen to Julie use a combination of voicings “A” and “B” to streamline all of the chords in “Northwest Riff” by Bob Curnow.

Guidelines for the Best Voice-Leading

According to Phil DeGreg in “Jazz Keyboard Harmony” (1992), the following guidelines should be used to determine the inversion of each subsequent chord (p. 4).

1. If the root doesn’t move (but the quality changes)... maintain the same inversion.

2. If the root moves a 2nd or a 7th… maintain the same inversion. 3. If the root moves a 4th or a 5th… switch inversions.4. If the root moves a 3rd or a 6th… either maintain or switch inversions.

Step 34-note voicings without the root

● Voicings with the root - no bass player (solo playing, duo with voice or horn)

● Voicings without root - playing with bass player The chords above are identical to the voicings created

in Step 2, except the root has been omitted at the bottom and the 5th or 9th has been added on top.

Hughes, C. (2016, February 16). Two Beginning Jazz Piano Voicings - Learn Jazz Standards. Retrieved November 30, 2016, from https://www.learnjazzstandards.com/blog/2-begining-jazz-piano-voicings/

Step 4Left Hand Voicings for Solos

The left hand voicings create a harmonic cushion for the right hand to play over

● Playing the melody● Improvising

Hughes, C. (2016, February 16). Two Beginning Jazz Piano Voicings - Learn Jazz Standards. Retrieved November 30, 2016, from https://www.learnjazzstandards.com/blog/2-begining-jazz-piano-voicings/

Step 5“Voicings for Jazz Keyboard” by Frank Mantooth

Mantooth’s book on voicings has become standard literature for intermediate to advanced level jazz pianists.

Key Concepts

● Miracle Voicings - built on 4ths● Suspended and Altered Dominant

Chords using polychord fractions

Keys to Success

● Students will need to have a “basic understanding” of scales and chords before starting this sequence

● Before progressing on to the next step in the process it is imperative that the students have a complete grasp of each assigned voicing. Rushing through the sequence is doomed to failure.

● As Weir (2008) states, “these voicing patterns must become automatic to you. There’s not enough time in the context of playing an actual song to think each chord; your muscle memory needs to take over”

Once a student has gained proficiency in learning various voicings, he/she will begin to see the enjoyment in the

creative process of playing jazz piano, rather than playing the same written out piece of music everytime.

Scope and Sequence

A possible timeline for each step of the curriculum could sequence as shown on the right. However, the teacher should ultimately move a student through the steps at a pace that is most appropriate for that individual.

7th grade - Root Position triads (Step 1A)

8th grade - Root Position 7th chords (Step 1B)

9th grade - Root Position 9th chords (Step 1C)

10th grade - Voicings “A” and “B” with root (Step 2)

11th grade - Voicings “A” and “B” without root/Voicings “A” and “B” Left Hand only (Steps 3 and 4)

12th grade - Frank Mantooth’s “Voicings for Jazz Keyboard” (Step 5)

Resources

Coker, J. (1984). Jazz Keyboard. Alfred Music.

DeGreg, P. (1994). Jazz Keyboard Harmony. Aebersold.

Hughes, C. (2016, February 16). Two Beginning Jazz Piano Voicings - Learn Jazz Standards. Retrieved November 30, 2016, from https://www.learnjazzstandards.com/blog/2-begining-jazz-piano-voicings/

Levine, M. (1989). The Jazz Piano Book. Petaluma, CA: Sher Music Company.

Mantooth, F. (1997). Voicings for Jazz Keyboard. Hal Leonard Corporation.

Wier, M. (2007). Jazz Piano Handbook. Alfred Music.