Pro Piano Chord Secrets
by Dave Longo
Dear Fellow Piano Enthusiast,
Although I may not you in person, I feel as though we are kindred souls... why do I say that? Because we have something
very much in common. You see, ever since I was a young child, I always took pleasure in seeking out new ways to enhance
my musical skills. And because you have reached this point with me, I know you enjoy doing the same. I hope you enjoy this
little collection of musical "nuggets" and hope you begin having with them right away. If you find just one that helps to make a
difference for you, then your owning this little manuscript will have been worth your while and my mission in presenting it will
have been fulfilled.
A small collection such as this is not meant by any stretch of the imagination to fill all the gaps of understanding when it
comes to your "piano chord education." Rather, it's purpose is to provide you will some "food for thought" and hopefully a
little inspiration for you to want to proceed on your journey with "spark and enthusiasm."
If you enjoy this, I just know that my piano chord program I call ProProach will be of interest to you. It consists of weekly
lessons, each supported with a video demonstration. Indeed, if you are interested in approaching piano chords like the pros
do, it will certainly be worth your consideration.
Why not go to your piano or keyboard and put one or two of the following little "gems" to work for you right now? Proceed at
your own pace. I encourage you to make the most of them by learning them in several keys. Keep it fun... maintain a high
level of curiosity, and remember...
Always...
ALWAYS...
PLAY WITH PASSION!
Pro Piano Chord Secrets
Module #1
The 1-5-7-3 Piano Voicing (rich sounding!)
Welcome to the first Pro Piano Chord Secrets module! Here we are going to focus on a chord voicing used by the piano pros
extensively - by the time you complete this module and follow the suggestions, you'll be acing it on your own! For this chord
sound, we need to know how to play a basic Cmaj7 chord on the piano... so, to make this simple, you'll see the C major scale
below.
The C major scale consists of 7 notes (eight is a repeat of 1)...
so we have: 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8(or 1 again)
In the C major scale, this is:
CDEFGABC
To form the Cmaj7 chord, we simply play the 1, 3, 5, and 7 of the C major scale, as shown below:
(the gray key represents "Middle C" on the piano)
On the staff, this looks like this:
Go ahead and play it...
We call this chord Cmaj7 (spoken "C major seventh") in closed position. We call it closed because all the members of the
chord are as close together as possible, unlike what we are now about to experience...
Let's take the same chord the way we just played it... but this time, we are going to make one slight modification. We are
going to take the "3" of the chord (3rd of the scale) which is "E" and, instead of playing it where we just did, we are going to
play it one octave higher instead.
On the piano keyboard, that looks like this:
(the gray key represents "Middle C")
On the staff, it looks like this:
Now play this and listen to the difference!
Pretty nice, yes? Chances are, you've heard the pros play this familiar sound before. Well, now you know how to play it, too!
To recap, we've simply "opened" the voicing by moving one member of the chord (the 3rd - in this case, "E") an octave
higher. From left to right on the keyboard (or top to bottom on the staff) we have "1" "5" "7" "3"... that's why we are referring to
it as the 1-5-7-3 voicing.
You've done very well!
Okay, so now that you've accomplished playing the 1-5-7-3 piano voicing with the Cmaj7, are you ready to apply the same
exact technique to other major seventh chords?
Of course you are! So, now it's your turn to do just that...
As a fun assignment,, how about playing the 1-5-7-3 voicing to at least three other major seventh chords for now...
Remember, you have to know the major scale for the chord you're playing. Then you simply follow the procedure above...
How about doing this with these chords for starters:
Fmaj7
Gmaj7
Amaj7
That's a great beginning. There are twelve altogether, so have fun with more or all of them if you like! The more keys you can
play a chord voicing in, the more confidence you will have in yourself... you'll see!
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Pro Piano Chord Secrets
Module #2
The 1-5-7-3 Piano Voicing Taken To Another Level (nice!)
Welcome to the first Pro Piano Chord Secrets module! In this module, we're going to take what we learned in Module #1 and
have some
extra fun with it, so are you ready? Great! Let's go...
Okay, remember this from the last module?
Cmaj7 piano voicing in 1-5-7-3 position
Sure you do! This is the Cmaj7 chord played in the 1-5-7-3 position, which we already learned sounds terrific on its own. Now
let's take this a bit further...
If we play this voicing above - remember, we're using the pinky and thumb of our left hand to play the lower two notes, and
the thumb and the fourth finger (ring finger) of our right hand to play the upper two notes. Okay, play it again and keep all
your fingers in the exact position as you move both hands to the right one white note to the right... this is illustrated for you
here with the new chord position shown in blue:
This new chord (in blue) is known as the Dmin7 chord (played in open position as well)...
Now an interesting point here is this...
If we played the Dmin7 in closed position, it would have looked like this:
But we skipped this process and went immediately to playing this chord in the 1-5-7-3 fashion right along with the Cmaj7...
and the result sounded pretty nice!
Opening up a chord does wonders to the sound of a chord. We don't really change the chord, because we kept all of its
members (notes), but we simply changed the order of how we play them - super!
By the way, there's a name for this switch from one chord to another - what we've just played is a chord progression. We've
progressed from one chord to another...in this particular case, we started with the Cmaj7 chord, which starts, of course, on
the "1" (C) of the scale... we progressed to a chord that starts on the "2" (D) of the same scale... in music we use Roman
numerals to designate numbers of the scale, so another way of putting it is like this:
We played from the I chord to the II chord; thus, we've played a I - II chord progression in the key of C major. Pretty nice! And
if we move back to the Cmaj7 chord, we call this the I - II- I chord progression, a VERY POPULAR chord progression in
popular and jazz music!
If you know your other major scales, guess what? You've got some great practicing you can do! How about playing the I - II- I
chord progression in a few keys? Maybe F major to start, then Gmajor, etc...
You can do it!
You've done great
By the way, if you feel you want to learn this I - II - I chord progression in another interesting way, along with learning how to
approach so many kinds of musical situations from a Pro's viewpoint, then consider getting involved with ProProach. It also
includes a video demonstration in each lesson.
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Pro Piano Chord Secrets
Module #3
The 1-7-3-5 Piano Voicing (eye and ear opening!)
Welcome to yet another Pro Piano Chord Secrets module! This particular module will "open" (pun intended) your eyes and
ears AND you're thinking like perhaps you never believed! We're going to use the scale of C major for our example, but,
again, the exercise is meant to be played in as many keys as you can - take your time, really learn it and then go onto other
keys when you're ready... but DO it! When you get the hang of this one....WOW!....
Okay, let's get going with this...
We know that the Cmaj7 chord in closed position looks like this... I'll use a previous illustration to review:
On the staff, this looks like this:
And you've probably already played this and know what it sounds like...
As you know, we call this chord Cmaj7 (spoken "C major seventh") in closed position. (Again, we call it closed because all
the members of the chord are as close together as possible). Well, let's "open" it up again...
We're now going to play the same chord... but this time, we are going to do it with a bit of a "twist"... we are going to take the
two middle notes (the 3rd and 5th - in this case, the "E" and "G") and place them one octave higher. So, in other words, we
have four notes in our original chord, we "take out the middle"and move it on top... by the way, when you do this, what is left
is often referred to as a "shell" voicing, namely the "C" and "B"...
Okay, so what we've done looks like this on the keyboard:
On the staff, it looks like this:
Play this and hear the difference between the closed Cmaj7 chord and this voicing! Nice!
If you want help with fingerings, the left hand pinky and thumb can easily play the 1 and 7 ("C" and "B") and the right hand
can easily use the thumb and second finger for the 3rd and 5th ("E" and "G") ... now you can, of course, play the "G" with the
3rd or middle finger, but playing
it with the second frees up the rest of your fingers in the right hand more more good stuff later!
Got it? Great! Okay, we've got more here...
While playing the 1-7-3-5- voicing of Cmaj7, keep your fingers in this position (while relaxed) and move your two hands at the
same time to the right just one white key...now what you're playing will look like this on the piano keyboard:
What you are playing is a Dmin7 (spoken "D minor seventh") in the the 1-7-3-5- open position...
Now, I have a question for you:
Without actually using an illustration, are you able to do this again? Of course you are!
With your fingers in the same position, move your hands to the right again... wow! What do you think? That would be
Emin7...
Do it again! Ahhhh, this is Fmaj7...
Up again! hmmmmm, that G7 (spoken "G7th") and know as a dominant seventh chord...
Up one more time! Amin7!
And once more! B-7 b5.... (or half diminished)
(If we go up one more time, we're back to the Cmaj7 an octave higher, so the cycle repeats, as you can see)
Don't worry about all the names of the chords right now...more importantly, LISTEN! LISTEN! LISTEN! You want to improve
your musical ears,right? Well you are certainly doing it!
By the way, when you move play chords through a scale like this (notice everything has used the C major scale), we call
this "diatonic" playing - or playing "within the same scale"...
Hmmm, I'm wondering what you're feeling right now as you hear these different sounds... keep playing with this up and
down... move from one chord to the next and back again.... listen as you play. You see, when you do this type of exercise
and really listen, your "musical ear" makes distinctions - you hear some sounds that are familiar to you, and some that are
not... and, pretty soon, those sounds that were not familiar start to become familiar.
Are you willing to explore this exercise in other keys? I hope so, but don't rush with this at all - just play, listen, play and listen
some more - progress at your own pace! When you transpose it, you will see that this is a powerful one!
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Pro Piano Chord Secrets
Module #4
The 1-5-7-9-3 Piano Voicing (hmmmm, quite good!)
Hello again! Ready for another Pro Piano Chord Secrets module? Great!
We are going to build on what we've previously learned. Taking what you know and building upon that is always a good
thing! It not only increases our skill level, but puts what we've already learning in greater perspective.
In this module, we are going to revisit Module #1...
Here is the first open voicing we learned, which is a 1-5-3-7 voicing:
As just a quick review, we are playing the "1" and the "5" ( "C" and "G" ) with our left hand, and the "7" and "3" ( "B" and "E" )
with our right.
Okay, as you can see in Module #1, for the "B" and "E" we are using our thumb and fourth fingers. This is a common way to
approach this particular voicing when playing it "as is." However, this fingering is subject to change, depending on our needs.
Just follow along here: this is a simple modification - instead of using the 4th finger on "E," let's use the 3rd (or middle) finger
on it. While doing this, you notice that the 2nd (index) finger is free. Let's put it to use! See the "D" just to the left of "E" ? Play
it with the 2nd finger. Now, here's what you have:
Play this chord voicing now...
Wow! Would you say that sounds a whole lot richer?
Absolutely!
What we did was add a "tension" note to our Cmaj7 chord that we were playing earlier. This particular tension is referred to
as the "9th" ... you can easily see why if you start at the first note of the scale we're playing and count up. We're playing a
note that is nine scale notes up if we count the "C" as well... see it? (Yes, the 9 is also the 2!)
So that's what a ninth chord sounds like - pretty nice, yes?
Here's what this voicing looks like on the staff:
Which voicing do you like better? The original 1-5-7-3 above, or this one (1-5-7-9-3)?
I asked you this because I want to make a point here. And this will give you a little insight as to how the pros think when it
comes to using these different voicings... (when it comes to how to "think like the pros," you absolutely will benefit from
ProProach)
Both voicings have their place and purpose.
Yes, it's true that our new "ninth voicing" sounds richer - or fuller. However, which chord voicing would you use if your desire
was for a sound of a "thinner" quality? Or shall we say a sound with a more "spacious" sound? Chances are, you would opt
for the first, right?
You see, a professional pianist will not necessarily place one sound over another - instead, he or she will think of all the
different sounds that can be produced as choices, in much the same way an artist will view his or her pallet of colors. They
are all there to be used as needed, depending on what type of scene is being created.
Learn to think of the different chords or voicings you are learning as textures, or colors (or both). Learn to appreciate each
and every one of them for what they are. As you learn and play each one, really LISTEN. Pay close attention to the sound
created by it. This is fantastic ear training! You'll notice that the more experienced you become with these various sounds,
the more you will recognize them when you hear other pianists play them. And, when you do, things start to really "click!" You
find yourself listening differently now - with more appreciation! It's like, "Oh, yes, THAT'S what he's playing!" And you become
inspired to go to the piano and play what you heard. Then when you want to reproduce that sound, you know how to do it!
You see? It's a continuous journey of listening, playing, listening some more, gaining more confidence, etc. There's nothing
like it!
Learn to LOVE learning!
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Pro Piano Chord Secrets
Module #5
Our 1-5-7-3 Piano Voicings Revisited (a little improvisation is called for today!)
Welcome to Pro Piano Chord Secrets Module #5! In this module, we not only get to play voicings but we get to apply them in
the context of improvising a little. We're going to take what we learned in Module #2 and have some extra fun with it...let's get
started...
Okay, in Module #2 we applied our 1-5-7-3 piano voicing to both the "I chord" and the "II chord," Cmaj7 and
Dmin7 respectively (in the key of C major) - we see it here once again:
Let's play these again as a review, shall we?
Now let's play take each of these chords one at a time. First, the Cmaj7:
Cmaj7 piano voicing in 1-5-7-3 position
When we play it again, let's add a little melody this time. Interestingly enough, the top note of our voicing, the "E" in this
case, does stand out most prominently to the listener's ear. And we can in fact allow this note to serve as both a member of
the voicing and a melody note as well. Let's try this:
1) Play the voicing* "as is" while using the sustain pedal on your piano or keyboard if you have one
2) While holding the pedal down, allowing the chord to continue "ring on," play the "G" above in place of the "E" in the voicing
and listen (use the "5" finger of pinky for the "G"). You notice that, even though you are not physically playing the "E" while
moving to the "G" it is still heard because of the use of the sustain pedal. So, in essence, we have the entire chord still being
played as we play our melody:
* For this voicing and the one to follow, it is advised to use the following fingerings: left hand plays "1" and "5"
(pinky and thumb), right hand plays "1" and "3" (thumb and middle finger) - you'll easily see why using the "3"
in the right is helpful here.
For our purposes in this module, were going to refer to the following illustration as "Melody 1"
Please See Online Version For This Illustration
Go ahead and play this... now, feel free to play the "E" and "G" back and forth as you listen... we're not finished here, but first
be comfortable with this before proceeding...
Let's now take a look at the 1-5-7-3 voicing of Dmin7:
The top note in this voicing is "F" - let's play it as a melody note as we did in the previous voicing. This time, we alternate
between this note and the "A" above it...
So, again:
1) Play the voicing as is while using the sustain pedal on your piano or keyboard if you have one
2) While holding the pedal down, allowing the chord to continue "ringin on," play the "A" above in place of the "F" in the
voicing and listen (use the "5" finger of pinky for the "A"). Again, even though you are not physically playing the "F" while
moving to the "A" it is still heard because of the use of the sustain pedal. So, in essence, we have the entire chord still being
played as we play our melody:
We will refer to the following illustration as "Melody 2"
Please see Online Version for this illustration
How's that working for you? Got it?
Great! Now, let's have more fun with this. What we're going to do now is play "Melody 1" then move to "Melody 2" ... ready?
Let's go for it!
(Take it slow, there's no rush!)
We illustrate this here (and yes, we can alternate between the two of them, back and forth):
Please see Online Version for this illustration
When you change to the II chord (or Dmin7), lift the sustain pedal and depress it again so as to connect the Cmaj7 chord to it
without "overlapping" the two of them.
As you get more and more comfortable with this, by all means play around with the two top notes by reversing the order you
play them - think musically.... "E" "G" "E" "G" "G" "E" "E" "G"... "F" "A" "A" "F"... etc... listen to your results as you experiment
and have fun with this...
Basically, what you are doing is improvising a melody over the I - II chord progression in the key of C major. No matter how
many times you alternate back and forth between the I chord and the II chord, you get a nice resolved sound if you end on
the I chord or Cmaj7.
Chances are great that as you do this more and more, you're going to come up with some ideas of your own for that melody!
And that's a good thing!
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Pro Piano Chord Secrets
Module #6
Gettin' a little "Bluesy" (let's improvise!)
Welcome to Pro Piano Chord Secrets Module #6! In this module, we're going to do something a little different... we're going
to go
after that "Bluesy sound" you've heard so often... so let's go for it...
Here's a voicing I'd like to introduce you to... it's called "C ninth" and this chord is notated like this in popular and jazz music:
C9
Rootless C9 Blues Voicing
This doesn't look like a "C" chord of any kind, really, does it? That's because it is what is known as a rootless voicing. As you
can easily see, there isn't even a "C" (the Root) anywhere in this voicing... interesting, eh? Well, go ahead and play this
voicing.... playing with your left hand, left to right on the keyboard, use these fingers:
"5" (pinky) on "E", "2" (index) on "Bb", "1" (thumb) on "D".
On the staff this voicing looks like this:
You can have lots of fun with this sound when you play notes from the Blues scale above it. Let's take a look at the very
popular Blues scale:
The notes in the C Blues scale are:
C, Eb, F, Gb G Bb, C
Let's take a good look at this on the keyboard, shall we?
Here it is, beginning on Middle "C"- we're showing it one note at a time:
Please see Online Version for this illustration
For our purposes her, we are going to utilize only the highest three notes of this scale, which are
"G" Bb" and "C" as shown here:
Please see Online Version for this illustration
For this, with your right hand, use your "1" (thumb) "2" (index) and "3" (middle) fingers.
Let's also take this a step further... let's play the C9 voicing with the left hand while we play these three members of the C
blues scale, which we will have some fun with, okay?
Simply play the C9 voicing with your left hand and hold it down... while you do this, have fun with playing the three notes "G"
"Bb" and "C" ... also, feel totally free to change the order in which you play them...
Please see Online Version for this illustration
Examples:
"G" "Bb" "C"
"C" "Bb" "G"
"C" "G" "Bb"
"G" "C" "Bb" etc...
In addition, experiment with playing some of them more than once - examples:
"G" G" "Bb" "C"
"C" "C" "Bb" "G"
"Bb" "Bb" "C" "G" etc...
But don't stop there! Play with this for a while, while changing the order, how many times you attack each note, go forwards,
backwards, and come up with as many different combinations as you can. Just remember, we want to play this with a
"Bluesy" feel... so, that means slowly! slowly! slooowwwwly...
Hold some of these notes for longer durations than others....
An example:
"C" "C" "Bb" "G" played as "long" "short" "long" "short"...
Before long, you won't have to think about it this way - just think "Bluesy" and come up with your own sounds in your right
hand as you hold the left hand voicing down... let the voicing be held, then release, play it again... use different durations.
Improvise! Yes, that is what you are doing! Do it some more! You know, the more you play the blues, the more you want to...
Play your right hand improvisation with the voicing held down some of the time... other times play it without the voicing - then
play the voicing again and hold.... play, release, play... etc... think about it like this: your left hand is supporting your right
hand improvisation. At times, your left hand and right hand question and answer each other....
Just have fun with it and listen! listen! listen! Make music...be creative...then make more music...then be more creative! And
keep it fun!
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Pro Piano Chord Secrets
Module #7
Quite the popular one! (And "jazzy" too!)
Welcome to Pro Piano Chord Secrets Module #7! In this module, we're going to visit a "jazzy" piano sound we've all heard at
one time or another - and, more probably, way more than just once! Let's take a look at it:
Remember this C9 voicing from our last module? Of course you do!
Rootless C9 Blues Voicing
Well, we get to play it again while having some fun with a very nifty right hand line. We're going to start this "cliche" playing
the "C" above "middle C"... and we'll use our thumb (1) to play it...
This popular jazz "lick" consists of basically three "two-note sets" as follows:
"E" and "G" played together
"F" and "A" played together
"G" and "Bb" played together - when this particular set is played, the "G" is preceded by the "Gb" ever so briefly. In other
words, we're really playing "Gb" and "Bb" first and the "Gb" slides into the G... (a note that is played as the Gb here is
commonly called a grace note)
These "two-note sets" mentioned above will alternate with the "C" that we are starting on - like a "see-saw" effect. Our
illustration clearly shows this:
Please see Online Version for this illustration
As far as the fingering goes for this jazz lick, the "C" will be played with the thumb (1) as we already mentioned... the "twonote sets" can be played with just your index (2) and ring (4) fingers. There are other ways to play it, as well, but this certainly
works. Playing it this way, keep in mind that when you play the "Gb" and "Bb," the "2" finger will slide into the "G" from this
black key.
This slide from the "Gb" to the "G" is meant to simulate a pitch bend, as you might hear hear a guitarist or horn player play.
The piano is not capable of "bending" as are these other instruments, so this type of slide is the closest we can really come
to simulate this pitch bend effect.
This is a great sound to master. Remember, mastering new things causes you to gain more and more confidence when you
are faced with newer challenges!
Have fun with this!
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Pro Piano Chord Secrets
Module #8
A popular one with the pros! (Now it's yours!)
Welcome to Pro Piano Chord Secrets Module #8!
Step Up...Step Down!
This is a technique you can have tons of fun with...
What we do here, quite simply, is use chromaticism... more simply put, we play what we are already playing one half step
higher - and then back to our starting point. This is actually very effective, and a technique that is used many, many times by
the pros. As an example, let's say we're playing a particular chord for a duration of 4 beats or more. Well rather than just hold
that same chord for the entire duration, we can "interrupt" actually holding the chord by playing a chord exactly one half step
higher... and then returning to the original chord.
This technique can be applied to virtually any chord situation you can think of. For our example, let's use an Fmaj7 chord. In
addition, let's say we're playing the Fmaj7 in the 1-5-7-3 open position we've already learned. In Module #1, we used Cmaj7
in our example. Using the same open position transposed to F, we see Fmaj7 illustrated here:
Well, if you are playing this chord and holding it for any length of time, you can embellish it by temporarily "visiting" the chord
that exists exactly one half step above it (F#maj7) and then returning to it:
Please see Online Version for this illustration
Moving a chord or chord voicing up and down like this does more than break monotony - it enhances your overall sound.
Once you open your mind to the idea of the "step up - step down" idea, you're going to take it a whole lot farther than we
have discussed here...
Have lots of fun with this very popular embellishing technique of the pros!
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Pro Piano Chord Secrets
Module #9
So What??? (What's the big deal?)
Welcome to Pro Piano Chord Secrets Module #9!
So What's the big deal!
You bet it is....
... so what are we talking about????
Okay, perhaps the most monumental jazz album ever created was Miles Davis' Kind of Blue album, which was released in
1959. This album features 6 gems that among the most talked about jazz pieces in history.
Well, the first tune on the album is Miles Davis' So What - and if you'll give a quick listen, you'll hear pianist Bill Evans
playing very "hip" sounding chord voicings, both during the introduction and throughout. Why not give a listen right now?
You'll hear these voicings right at the very beginning! This tune is a must have for your collection!
You can hear the beginning of So What by referring to the Online Version
Okay, first let's discuss the scale these voicings come from...
We are already familiar with our C major scale - well, this isn't much different. What we're actually going to do is use the
notes from our C major scale, but instead of starting on "C" we start on "D" - easy enough, right?
When we play this scale, from "D" to "D" we are actually playing a minor scale, commonly referred to as a mode. This
particular mode is known as Dorian minor. So, it's D Dorian - or D Dorian minor.
Here's what it looks like (it's shown here over two octaves instead of just one):
There are actually two chord voicings you hear at the beginning of this recording, and they both come from this D Dorian
minor scale. Here is the first voicing, which starts on "E" below middle C, and ends with "B" above middle C:
Notice the spacing of the notes in this voicing! From the left, you'll see that each subsequent note is a fourth away from the
previous, except from the "G" to the "B"...
Go ahead and play this with the suggested fingering shown in the illustration above.
Sound familiar? If you have the recording, it should!
Now, if you're listening to the piano on the recording, you'll notice the Bill Evans plays two voicings here, not one... the one
above is the first, and it is then followed by the one shown below. This voicing is very easy to move to from our previous,
because all we need to do is move our both hands to the left by one white key - that's it! You see, the formation is exactly the
same, except that this time our bottom note is "D" below middle "C"...
Here it is:
Since we simply moved everything down just one white note, you notice that the spacing is the same as our first voicing
above. Simple enough once you get the hang of it!
So, we are playing one voicing followed by the next...that's it! If you listen to the recording, this is what you are hearing...
....but now you can appreciate it more, because you know how!
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Pro Piano Chord Secrets
Module #10
A minor task you might enjoy (nice open sound!)
Welcome to Pro Piano Chord Secrets Module #10! In this module, we'll take a simple minor seventh chord and turn it into
something much more interesting. The result will be a richer, more open sound than the traditional way of playing it.
As you can see by the following illustration, the traditional closed position for Cmin7 has its own sound, which is sufficient for
certain musical situations:
We can really do something special with this Cmin7 that will make for a very tasteful texture:
Two of the members of the chord, the "1" (C) and the "b7" (Bb) will remain exactly where they are in the above voicing. The
"b3" (Eb) and the "5" (G) will be played one octave higher. Now, we will add one more member to the voicing, an "F" or "11"
just above the root. (The "11" is also the "4" but is referred to as the "11" when in the context of minor chords) The resulting
voicing is shown in the following illustration:
Play this voicing and see what you think! Note the suggested fingerings, as we share the voicing with both hands. This is a
very popular way to voice a minor seventh chord among jazz pianists.
How about applying this same voicing to some other keys? For starters, try it on Fmin7, Gmin7, and Amin7... then take it
from there!
Have fun with this terrific minor texture!
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