| LearnJazzPiano.com archives: Cluster Voicings | |
| jbl81 -- 04/04/2004, 14:02:25 -- #3258 | |
| One of my assignments for my lesson this week was to work on what my teacher called "cluster voicings" (I'm not sure if that's a standard name for these or not). The idea is to use 3 notes voicings where the intervals are some type of third between one pair of notes and a minor second between the other pair. For instance: On minor chords, you could use [9, 3 5] On major chords, you could use [#11, 5, 7] On dominant chords, you could use [3, 11, 6], [1, b9, 3], [#9, 3, 5], [#4, 5, 7] ... and potentially others, depending how far out you want to get. I just started giving these a closer look today, and I'm having trouble finding ways to use them where they seem fluid, rather than sticking out. I've been using A and B voicings, occasional shell voicings, and some 3 note voicings (leave a middle note, like 9 or 13, out of the A and B voicings). One problem might be lack of voice leading. Where might one go AFTER using one of these "cluster voicings", in say, a ii-V-I context? Any suggestions? | |
| savage -- 04/05/2004, 10:34:08 -- #3283 | |
| The great thing about these voicings (often used by Herbie Hancock in the 60's) is that they're so open. If you play A-Bb-D over a G in the bass it could be Gm9, Gm6/9 or GmMaj9. If you put C in the bass it could be C13sus, C13 or C13#11. That means you can use the same voicing over both the II and the V chord. Move it up a whole-step and you get a maj7#11 for the I chord. So these are propably the most flexible voicings around! | |
| smg -- 04/08/2004, 08:46:17 -- #3383 | |
| It's a matter of personal style/taste whether you use a voicing like this for ii then a more complex one for V or vice versa....why not try what I suggested re-writing out the voicings on paper,you can see how notes move to other ones close by from chord to chord and decide how many of them you want to use in each voicing.......like 7 said above,these type of voicings allow for the same ii voicing to be used for the whole 2-5,just changing the bass note...... | |
| albetan -- 04/08/2004, 09:14:29 -- #3387 | |
| Hi jbl: Good tips done by smg. Golden rule for voicing is to do a continuous harmonic background. So you may combine cluster with open voicing maintaining same voice in same note as posible. Cluster sound with more tension. | |
| Copyright © 2005 by Scot Ranney. All rights reserved. | |
| Click Here for more information about performances and clinics. Click Here to sign up for Scot's music announcements. | |