Beginner chord voicings question

[Keys617]

Ok so I've been playing a couple years and I'm pretty much stuck in stacked thirds chords. I like Chick Corea and alot of fusion jazz and want to learn some nice voicings. What kind of voicings do these guys consistently use that i can learn as a starting point. Help me escape from stacked thirds!!!

[custard apple]

1. Do you know major, minor, and dominant chords ?
2. For each of these chord types, you can do shell voicings which are 1 3 7.

[michaelsorg]

I can only recommend 1 3 7 voicings for horn players who have no further ambitions with the piano. A pianist must learn to create voicings which most often are formed without the root. We practice these voicings in the right hand with the left playing a single bass tone, and once this is comfortable, transfer the voicing to the left hand, and practice hearing the bass IN OUR HEADS! These mostly rootless voicings are the essence of jazz piano playing (what Chick Corea or anyone else is doing). It takes long enough to develop this, there's no sense in developing any other habits!

There is a book which is as often recommended as it is criticized, the Mark Levine book. I too stand in the critics column. Not a bad book for those who already understand jazz and want some new concepts, but hardly a method.

My recommendation goes to a man who has spent his life as a jazz pedagog (OK, he was my teacher in college...) and has written not one, but many books. His name is Dan Haerle, long-time professor at Univ. of North Texas, formerly No. Texas State Univ. I'll give here a link to the most complete and methodical of these (covers all aspects of playing, not just voicings).

http://www.penders.com/p/5289300/jaz...yboard-players

[duane massey]

+1 on Haerle. I am a trumpet player, but play keys in self-defense, and my keyboard chops are firmly rooted/trapped in blues and rock. Haerle's stuff is a great starting point for someone who already has some keyboard skills, but is stuck in the tertiary world.

[Aquatist]

Study fourth voicings, and quintal harmony. From experienced:

1. You get a lot of good voicings by transcribing the jazz pieces you like.

2. Yes, transcribing voicings may seem fun. But in my opinion, once you know your scales, each note of a particular scale will start to become a palette, an available pool of notes for you to choose from and make your own, unique voicings.

But custard apple also makes a good point. You need to have some basic knowledge forming minor, major, and dominant chords. Make sure you know that first. Transpose the crap out of them in different keys and slowly work your way up. Cheers.

[dogbite]

i think this is a real good primer on escaping what frank mantooth calls, "third city:"

http://www.amazon.com/Voicings-Jazz-.../dp/0793534852

[Keys617]

I appreciate the replies. I've got all my major minor dom7th and diminished down and the shells are basically the same minus a few notes so those are doable. I'm definately liking the sound of those quartal/quintal chords, thanks. Also thanks for the Frank Mantooth book, looks like just what I need.