The Shell Register

[engelbach]

Originally Posted by krooner

Jerry, please pardon my ignorance, but would you explain what 'Break the voice leading and jump up an octave.' [a la Bud Powell] means.
Cheers.
Kj

KJ,

Voice leading is the movement of the notes between two chords via the shortest possible route. In jazz we call the connecting notes guide tones.

The guide tone line is as continuous as possible, strongest when moving down by half steps or staying on the same note. If the chords start getting too low, jump up an octave and start over.

In the examples below, the red line is the guide tone line, the blue line is the bass.

On the first staff, the A7 and DΔ are starting to sound muddy.

On the second staff, instead of continuing down, the A7 jumps up, breaking the old guide tone line and starting a new one, in which the DΔ it resolves to, the tonic and key center, is now an octave higher.

This is just one possible solution to the problem of getting too low. The D could stay below, and the DΔ played as a tenth instead of a third.

The important thing is to have a guide tone line resolving the A7 to the DΔ. On the too-low staff, this is the shared C# of the two chords. On the bottom staff, it's the G of the A7 moving to the F# of the DΔ.



Cheers,
Jer

[krooner]

Originally Posted by engelbach

KJ,

Voice leading is the movement of the notes between two chords via the shortest possible route. In jazz we call the connecting notes guide tones.

The guide tone line is as continuous as possible, strongest when moving down by half steps or staying on the same note. If the chords start getting too low, jump up an octave and start over.

In the examples below, the red line is the guide tone line, the blue line is the bass.

On the first staff, the A7 and DΔ are starting to sound muddy.

On the second staff, instead of continuing down, the A7 jumps up, breaking the old guide tone line and starting a new one, in which the DΔ it resolves to, the tonic and key center, is now an octave higher.

This is just one possible solution to the problem of getting too low. The D could stay below, and the DΔ played as a tenth instead of a third.

The important thing is to have a guide tone line resolving the A7 to the DΔ. On the too-low staff, this is the shared C# of the two chords. On the bottom staff, it's the G of the A7 moving to the F# of the DΔ.



Cheers,
Jer

Thanks very much, Jerry. Most helpful.
Cheers,
Kj

[jazz oud]

What Jerry didn't mention is that some spots in a chord progression provide good opportunities to leap octaves:

1. after a cadence (even a quick one)
2. any time you have root motion that isn't by fifth or second.

In the first case, the resolution of the previous guide tone line makes the leap less jarring.
In the second case, the guide tones won't be stepwise anyway, you you might as well leap up instead of down.

Typical chord progressions use a lot of root movement down a fifth, in which case the voices keep leading lower and lower, so find good spots to leap up is essential.

[Jeff Brent]

A common three-note LH 10th shell voicing trick is to play the iim7 as [ 1 - b7 - b10 ], then for the V7 chord, simply lower the middle note (index finger LH) one half-step.

The rootless V7 chord formed is now [ 5 - 10(3) - b14(b7) ].

Example in Gb major:

Abm7 -----> Db7/Ab ---> Gb6
(Abm7 ----> G7b9/Ab --> Gb6)

(top notes)
Cb(B) ------> Cb(B) ------> Bb

Gb ---------> F ----------> Eb

Ab ---------> Ab ---------> Gb
(bottom notes)

Some of these combos are easier to reach than others. But they sound fine rolled too (usually with a bit of pedal to smooth out the roll).

Since these voicings are so open, they don't have as much problem with muddiness in the lower registers as some of the more compact* shell voicings do.

*1 - 3 - 7
1 - 5 - 7
1 - 7 - 9
etc

[Jeff Brent]

Originally Posted by DJ Soupalognon

What is the most common thing to play in the left hand ... ???

DJ, below are some articles that deal with jazz piano LH issues:


History of the Jazz Pianist's Left Hand
A brief synopsis of the history of the Jazz pianist's left hand.

Rootless Chord Voicings for Piano
A concise explanation of Bill Evans' "Rootless Chords" system.

Left Hand Closed Voicings for Piano
Where to play closed chord voicings in the left hand.

Left Hand Stride Piano Tenths
An article dealing with 10ths in the left hand and their use in Jazz.

Exploring 9th Voicings
Some interesting uses of LH chord stuctures utilising a major 9th interval span.