Learn These Great Jazz Piano Voicings (Free Sheet Music And Video)
In today’s tutorial we’re going to explore some great sounding dominant jazz piano voicings.
Many beginner jazz piano players will play the same chord voicing every time they see a dominant chord in a lead sheet or a fake book.
This isn’t horrible per say but if you keep playing the same voicing over and over your playing can get boring very quick.
You don’t want to bore your audience right?
So, having a variety of chord voicing choices is critical if you want to keep your music sounding fresh and interesting.
To get you learning these chords quickly first watch the video below and then scroll down for the jazz piano sheet music (notation) and important extra tips.
Jazz Piano Voicings Video Tutorial
Remember, listening is a HUGE part of learning jazz piano the right way. So, I highly encourage you to watch the video!
You can’t play this style well just from reading easy jazz piano sheet music alone. You’ve got to use your ears too! 🙂
3 Additional Tips That Will Help You Master This Jazz Piano Tutorial Tutorial
1. Adding 1 or 2 color notes or an extensions on your dominant chords are a great way of making your voicings sound more professional.
(We’ve talked about this before in some of my other jazz piano theory lessons and in my lesson on the altered scale.
Of course we throw it all together and into real music inside the Premium Membership Course.)
2. Usually the root, the 3rd, the 5th, and the 7th of a chord are considered your basic chord tones. Extensions of a chord are your 9’s, 11’s, 13’s etc.
3. Did you notice how cool it sounded when I changed just a few of the notes inside the chords by a half step? That’s the power of great harmony!
For example, check out the subtle difference between voicing #1 and voicing #2 and voicing #3.
Jazz Piano Sheet Music
Here is the jazz piano sheet music (notation) for the voicings in today’s lesson. I encourage you to try out these chords on your keyboard at home.
Listen to the different textures and how just changing a few notes completely changes the emotional ‘color’ of each chord.
How To Practice These Voicings
I encourage to sit down for a few minutes and try out the different voicings in the video above. Here are some practice suggestions that will help you.
1. Study In 1 Key First
First, try them in the key of C and listen to the different textures.
2. Jazz Piano Theory Helps Multiple Keys
I always break down the jazz piano theory in all my videos so once you play these voicings in the key of C you should try them out in a few different keys.
3. The Goal Of All 12
If you are a diligent practicer (like I am and I hope you are too!) I encourage you to eventually work them out in all 12 keys.
As jazz musicians we usually like to set a goal of learning a new concept in all 12 keys.
This can sometimes feel intimidating for jazz newbies though so feel free to take your time and slowly work through the process.
One key learned well is better than 12 keys learned inefficiently. Regardless of what you decide to do try to challenge yourself.
Being able to create these little sound variations in multiple keys is an integral part of being able to express yourself through the art form of jazz!
4. Ultimate Goal: Tunes!
As my Premium Members can attest to, I always have my students apply new voicings they learn to tunes. That’s the ultimate goal for any new jazz piano voicing you learn. Apply it to real music!
By throwing your new voicings into real pieces of music you’re taking it from the land of music theory to the land of real music!
You are here because you want to make real music right? 🙂
Important Final Step
Ok, so now’s the part where you get participate in today’s tutorial.
- Do you have a favorite voicing from the 4 voicings in the video?
- Do you have a tune that you’d like to throw these voicings in?
- Do you have questions on any of these chords?
- Do you think I should wear a fedora in my next video?
- Do you think I should do a dance routine in my next video (I’m praying you say no. I’m a horrible dancer)?
Do you think I should have my cat Apple make a cameo appearance in my next video?
Speak your mind! Please leave a comment below and let me know.
Leaving a comment not only helps you learn but it also helps other people learn too. Plus, I love hearing from you!
