Stella By Starlight Chords: Quick Tutorial

Want to learn some cool ways to play Stella By Starlight chords? 

Then you’ve definitely come to the right place!

In today’s quick video tutorial I’m going to teach you how to play some really cool voicings in context of the Stella By Starlight chords. Let’s dive right in!

Stella By Starlight Chords: Video Tutorial

Watch this video as I break down some awesome chords and moves in this advanced arrangement of Stella By Starlight. 

Be sure to continue reading after you’ve watching this quick tutorial. I’ve given you some great starter tips to help you learn this tune below. AND I share with you everything you’ll need to know so you can access the entire lesson.

3 Tips For Playing These Stella By Starlight Chords

Alright lets jump into the bonus tips to help you master some of the moves in this video. 

1. How To Make Your Melodies Sound BIG

Being able to hear the melody is super important. And sometimes it can be hard to hear the melody when you add a lot of notes in chords. 

So, one of the techniques I used in this arrangement to make the melody sound lush was to double the melody in my voicing.   

This is a great technique if you want to really make your melody shine and stick out. 

Take for instance the first chord in the arrangement:

Em7(11,9) – Left Hand: E B G Right Hand: A D F# A

A is the melody note here and it so happens that it’s the 11th of this Em7(11,9) chord. 

All I do to add some real thickness to that melody note is double it an octave higher or lower. Simple as that.

You want to make sure you have a well structured voicing when you double the melody note. 

A good open solo piano voicing will feature a combination of a root, 3rd, 7th, melody, and 1-2 chord extensions.

If you decide to double your melody note you want to make sure that every note has space in the voicing.

Otherwise it will sound more like watered down cocktail music and not real jazz piano. So many students do this incorrectly. 

So, please make sure you are playing it correctly otherwise your playing will always sound like it’s missing something.

And if you want to learn over 120 voicing formulas so you can instantly make your playing more pro then check out this program The Premium Jazz Elite Membership Program.

2. How To Play Your Chord Voicings For This Arrangement

Ok, now that we talked about a cool melodic technique, lets jump right into the voicings I use in this arrangement. 

Here are the chord voicings I cover in the video:

Chord #1: Em7(11, 9) – Left Hand: E B G Right Hand: A D F# A

Chord #2: A7(#11, b9) – Left Hand: A G Right Hand: Bb C# D# A

Chord #3: Cm7(11, 9) – Left Hand: C Bb Right Hand: D Eb F

Chord #4: F7(13) – Left Hand: F Eb Right Hand: A D F

I highly recommend you learn these chords.

Play them in Stella By Starlight and also try throwing these voicings into other tunes. This will do incredible things for your playing.

3. Any Easy Rhythm Technique I Use To Make The Tune Groove

Now, that we’ve explored some melody and some harmonic concepts lets jump into 1 of the rhythmic techniques i use in this arrangement.

Playing great jazz piano is just as much about playing with great rhythm as it is about playing with great jazz harmony.

And as Duke Ellington famously said, “It don’t mean a thing if it ain’t go that swing!”

And one of the rhythmic techniques I use to swing and make these chords groove is a something called, “outer-inner”.

1 Cool Rhythmic Technique Explained

Essentially, I play the outer notes of the voicing first (i.e. the bass and the melody). Then, on the upbeats I’ll play the inner voices. 

Usually I’ll attack the inner voices on the &’s of the beat and use syncopation.

So, when you do this technique not only are you bringing the melody out but you’re also playing cool voicings, and making them groove too by adding syncopation.

This is something every jazz pianist should always keep in mind when playing and learning anything.

Take a look at how I use this concept on the first chord in this Stella By Starlight chords tutorial.

Em7(11,9) – Left Hand: E B G Right Hand: A D F# A

Now, I first play just the outer voices of the chord:

Left Hand: E Right Hand: A

Then I play the inner voices of the chord while still holding the outer voices:

Left Hand: E B G Right Hand: A D F# A

What this technique is doing is allowing you to break the stock and boring rhythms that are written on most lead sheets. 

Rather than playing on straight downbeats you are attacking on the &s and other off beats. 

This breathes style and sophistication as well as musicality into to your jazz piano playing.

This is rhythm technique #17 of over 125 we explore in Premium Jazz Elite Membership.

For example, we cover techniques like delayed attacks, outer -inner anticipation, bossa rhythms charleston rhythms, strolling, stride, walking bass, and much more…

Rhythm is the lifeblood of jazz piano and the more you can improve this in your playing the better player you’ll be.

Everything changed for me when I started working on my rhythm. It will for you too.

Here’s Your Next Step!

Alright so, I really hope that you enjoyed learning these Stella By Starlight chords. 

Also, I hope you were able to pick up some of the voicing nuggets I share and some of the rhythm techniques I use in this arrangement.

If you want to learn more immediately, you can get instant access to:

• The complete set of Stella By Starlight video tutorials (3 different arrangements for players of all skill levels).

• Full Notation of all 3 arrangements and others.

• Downloadable MIDI Files of lessons.

• Plus immediate access to over 16 hours of the most in depth jazz piano video tutorials online today (Must know tunes, essential chords, killer licks, improv drills, pro jam tracks and much more).

It’s all waiting for you right here inside The Premium Jazz Membership Course.

Until next time, enjoy your practice my friend!

If you have any comments or questions about this Stella By Starlight chords tutorial or the video above please leave your comments in the comments section below.

Thank you!