A Compendium of Jazz Piano Voicings

The jazz pianist is an impromptu arranger. This book examines the anatomy of jazz chords and takes a practical tour through the ways that pianists of all eras and styles actually play them. Chapters cover the idea of a big band under your fingers, rhythmic considerations, playing with guitarists, chord-scale theory, defining chord tones, the quality of voicings, shells, expanded shells, thirds, sixths, stride, four-way close, rootless, melodic minor "grips", "add 2", clusters, fourths, "axis", "drop" chords, drop-2 block chords, four-note structures, Shearing block chords, dominant 13ths, diatonic triads and sevenths, upper structures, slash and polychords, "So What" chords, fifths, RH octave-triads and ambi chords, Red Garland block chords, triad expansions, stacks, combinations and approaches, practice suggestions, DIY ear training, examples, patterns and exercises. (112 pages)