Major Voicing Options Worksheet www.pianogroove.com The Lydian Mode • When you come across a major chord in a jazz standard, the majority of the time, the melody note will be from the Lydian mode. • The Lydian mode contains the scale degrees 1 – 9 – 3 -­‐ #11 – 5 -­‐ 6/13 – 7 • The following voicings can be applied to any key, memorise the scale degrees. Root in the melody • When the root is in the melody over a major chord, major 69 chord is always a good choice. • If you play the major 7th in the chord, is creates a half step interval between the major th 7 and the root which can sound dissonant. • Replacing the major 7th with the 6th removes this dissonant interval. 9th in the Melody • Try these voicings out on the Fmaj7 th chord in the 4 bar of ‘What Are You Doing The Rest Of Your Life • When the 9 is in the melody, the simplest option would be to stack 3rds all the way up from the root to the 9. • Other options would be to play replace the 7th with the 6th to create a major 6/9 sound. You can also create th a stack of 4 intervals from the rd major 3 to get scale degrees 3, 6 & 9. 3rd in the Melody • Try the first two voicings on the Abmaj7 chord in th the 5 bar of ‘My Funny Valentine’: • A light and airy voicings can be ng achieved by splitti the primary chord tones into 2 hands – the root and 5 in the left hand and the 7th and 3rd in the right. • We can also include the 9th into this voicings to add more colour and teXture • The final 2 voicings are useful when rd the 3 is around an octave above middle C. These two voicings both contain a stack of 5ths in the right hand. • The final voicing combines a stack ft of 5ths in the le hand and a stack of 4ths in the right hand. The right ts hand stack star on the #11. • Try these 2 voicings out on the Abmaj7 chord in the 3rd A section of the tune: 2 #11th in the Melody • Try these voicings out on the Cmaj7#11 chord in nd the 2 bar of ‘Time Remembered’ • The first voicing is the Kenny Barron Major Alternative – this is built from a stack of 5ths in both hands, separated nd by a major 2 interval. • The second voicing is a major upper structure. Build a major triad from the 9 to access tones 9, #11 and 13. In the key of C this is a D Major triad. The upper structure triad is played nd in it’s 2 inversion to get the #11 on the top. Play the triad over th the Root, 7 & 3rd in the left hand for a full sounding chord • The final two voicings can be analysed as slash chords. Bm/C is simple 3rds stacked all the way up from the root to the #11. • D/C is similar nd to the 2 voicing above, but is more condensed on the keys. The 5th ‘rubs’ up against the 6th to create an interesting texture. 5th in the Melody • Try these voicings out on the th Cmaj7 in the 5 bar of ‘Easy To Love’: 3 • A cool sounding quartal voicing can tacking be achieved by s th 4 intervals from the major rd 3 . This gives you scale degrees: 3, 6, 9 & 5. We can then add the root at the bottom of the chord. ious This creates a spac and open sounding voicing that is always a good choice when the 5th is in the melody. • Play the voicing in the second bar to hear how different the stacked 4ths sound compared to stacked 3rds. • Remember stacked 4ths are your friend in major voicings! 6th in the Melody • Try these voicings out on the Fmaj7 in the 3rd bar of Autumn In New York • Using 4ths again, we can stack 4ths down from the 6 or 13. This gives us 7, 3 & 6/13 in our right hand. • You can then play root and 7 with your left hand or root, 5 and 7 for a bigger sound. • Another variation is to add the 9 into the right hand stack of 4ths. Play the 9th with your index finger a whole step below the 3. • This creates more colour and teXture in the voicing. 4 7th in the Melody • Try these voicings out on the Cmaj7 in bar 7 of the bridge of ‘Nardis’: • The first voicing just contains the primary chord tones: root, 3 , 5 & 7. • You can play the root and 5th in your left hand and the 3rd and th 7 in your right hand. This voicing wouldn’t be my first choice in the tune above but it is a useful voicing to learn and memorise. • The second voicing is the Major So . What Chord variation When th the 7 is in the melody over a major chord, we can build a So What Chord from the major 3rd. • So in the key of rd C, the major 3 is E and so we build an E So What Chord and put the root C underneath. • This gives you a stack of 4ths with a rd major 3 interval on the top and bottom. • Check out the dedicated lesson on this voicing for more information. 5 .