LH rootless Maj7#11 voicing?
- for an fmaj7 or f6 in root position, one possibility is to voice the ebmaj7#11 as eb g a d (this assumes that the bassist is thumping roots and 5ths).
the other obvious possibility is to voice the ebmaj7#11 as f a bb d.
- for a rootless fmaj9 (a c e g) or rootless f69 (a c d g), your options for the ebmaj7#11 voicing are bb d f a (which includes the 9th) or a d eb g.
- for an f major quality chord with c in the bottom, the options are (rooted) c d f a, c e f a, and (rootless) c d g a or c e g a. these lead nicely to either of the two ebmaj7#11 voicings listed immediately above (bb d f a or a d eb g).
- a rooted fmaj7 voiced e f a c (or rootless fmaj9 voiced e g a c), moves best to either eb g a d or f a bb d.
you should also take into account the register of the voicings. voiced too low, these chords risk sounding muddy and "grumbly", and if voiced too high, they begin to encroach upon the rh's territory.
in the version of "beatrice" that i have, the second chord is listed as gbmaj7b5 (with the b5 in the melody), but if you prefer to voice it as a gbmaj7#11, you may use the voicings i described above for the ebmaj7#11 but transposed up a m3.
pretty little tune, thanks for turning me on to it!
There are 8 comments, leave a comment.
i would use 7 3 #4 6 or 3 #4 6 9 or #4 7 3 or 6 7 9 #4 (no 3rd) if major context is quite clear. how about #4 6 7 9 too?! and 9 3 #4 6/7?!!!!
i would also prefer using fragmental voicings such 3 #4 6 or just #4 5 7
selem
those are my thoughts...
for fmaj7(#11) the numbers are: 1 3 #11 7 or #11 7 1 3 (in relation to a major scale).
these are the same pitches as a g13 chord, with the bass player playing a different root.
i touched on this in my latest online lesson which you can read here: https://earlmacdonald.com/jazz-piano-lessons/rootless-left-hand-piano-voicings.html
there is also an accompanying youtube video, where you can hear this demonstrated.
i hope this helps.
~ earl macdonald
i find that simple 369 voicings often work well for both ordinary major 7 and #11 chords, even though 6/9 may not be specified in the original chord symbol. they are quartal voicings (perfect 4ths stacked up) so have a nice contemporary sound. if you want to beef them up with major triads in the rh (a tone up from the root, as 7 says) you'll get a classic two-handed comping voicing.
for gbmaj7#11 this is:
lh: 369 of gb - bb eb ab
rh: ab triad - eb ab c
this gives the #11 (c) on top, but you could invert the rh ab triad to give either eb or ab on top.
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