Jazz Voicings for Piano: The Complete Linear Approach

Jazz Voicings: The Complete Linear Approach is designed for jazz pianists seeking to broaden their knowledge of jazz harmony and to cultivate practical skills for mastering the harmonic progressions found in standard tunes and jazz instrumentals. Created for amateur or professional jazz pianists, this path takes you step-by-step through all essential aspects of the linear approach. Part I: The “Drop-Two” Harmonic Technique begins with the simple process of dropping the second note from a close-position chord down an octave to create an open-position voicing. Making an analogy between language and music, natural languages contain a lexicon of words that allow people to communicate their thoughts and feelings to others, music (jazz) harmony contains a lexicon of chords that allow jazz musicians to communicate. Part I defines these rules and clearly explains how to use them with a distinctive approach to voice leading, dissonances treatment, and counterpoint, which are logical extensions of the syntax of jazz harmony. The chapters are: “Four-Part Chords,” “Inverted Chords,” “Five-Part Chords,” “Rootless Chords,” and finishing with “Six-Part Chords” and “Incomplete Chords.” The concluding Exercise Section contains carefully-designed harmonic drills that utilize and complement the content of each chapter in unique and interesting ways.