Suggested Books on Voice Leading

[JNGuitar]

Anyone have a book or guide they find comprehensive and produces actual results when it comes to voice leading? Usually the jazz guitar books I find just throw you a bunch of chords and expect you to learn them without any kind of guide or practice to applying them to melodies and the concept of voice leading. Help a guy out if you can.

[tbeltrans]

Rather than a specific book, I would suggest figuring it out for yourself. I am not trying to come across as argumentative or anything like that, but instead suggesting an alternative that would really help you in the long run. You will really learn to get around the fretboard doing this.

Pick a chord "grip" that you know and grab it. Know what the chord is. Then determine what the next chord is that you want to go to. Spell it (i.e. 1 3 5 7 ...) and find the shortest movement that each of the voices in the current chord can make (some fingers may not need to move at all) to get to that next chord. Realize that you can end up with an inversion, replace a basic chord tone with a "color tone" (i.e. 9, b9, 13, etc) to make it mroe interesting and flow smoother. At first, this exercise may seem awkward, but soon you will be thinking like this and it will get easier.

I have relied on books for a long time, but have been more and more relying on the fretboard itself for the "answers". It really is a better approach.

If you really do want a book, check out the George Van Eps Harmonic Mechanisms series of three books, the Mr. Goodchord series by Mick Goodrick (though I think they may be out of print since the website seems to be down), or John Thomas' Voice Leading for Guitar (I think it is a Berklee series book).

Regards,

Tony

[whatswisdom]

Originally Posted by JNGuitar

Anyone have a book or guide they find comprehensive and produces actual results when it comes to voice leading?

Yes. John Thomas, "Voice Leading For Guitar" published by Berklee Press. If you want a really solid book that is comprehensive on this subject, this is it. Used at Berklee, so you know you're getting a legit quality publication. Also has a CD.

[brwnhornet59]

Try Bert Ligon's, "Connecting Chords With Linear Harmony".

Amazon.com: Connecting Chords with Linear Harmony (Jazz Book) (0073999729023): Bert Ligon: Books

I am digging it to no end!!

[gersdal]

Originally Posted by brwnhornet59

Try Bert Ligon's, "Connecting Chords With Linear Harmony".

Amazon.com: Connecting Chords with Linear Harmony (Jazz Book) (0073999729023): Bert Ligon: Books

I am digging it to no end!!

But there is not too much on chords here..., only single lines and how to connect that to the cords. And since the OP asked about chords...

[monk]

Originally Posted by brwnhornet59

Try Bert Ligon's, "Connecting Chords With Linear Harmony".

It's a good book but it isn't about voice leading in the strictest sense.

Voice leading usually refers to moving one or more voices in a chord to the closest voices in the following chord in order to get the smoothest possible chord changes.

While voice leading can be applied to melodic material, the term usually refers to a harmonic concept.

[Pip]

I think one of the best books is by Jody Fisher :
Vol 3:Complete Jazz Guitar Method: Chord/Melody
ISBN: 0739009575

[pierre richard]

Try your local library..in the music section...good textbooks on harmony and voice leading..........

time on the instrument...pierre

[timscarey]

This simple rule has helped me tremendously.

If you assume...

9th replaces root
11th replaces 3rd or 5th
13th replaces 5th

Then....

Chord movement by 4th....

Root moves to 5th
3rd to 7th
5th to root
7th to 3rd


Chord moves up a third, all voices move down a function...

1-7
3-1
5-3
7-5

Chord move down a third all voices move up a function.

Chord moves by second, either keep voices at the same function, or follow the rule for 3rd movement.

This will give you the closest possible voice leading.

[TruthHertz]

Bach chorales or you might consider this approach:

http://www.jazzguitar.be/forum/theor...ing-books.html

David

[ybjazz]

When it comes to voice leading, just like anything else, there's many valid approaches. For me, I decide what I'm trying to accomplish first....am I playing in a quartet with a really finger heavy keyboard player, am I playing in a duo with a bass player, am I accompanying just a horn player, am I playing solo? From there, there's already quite a bit of information on how you can approach voice leading.

If I'm playing with a keyboard player that plays pretty heavy, I might dilute what I'm doing to the point to where I'm playing only one or two notes. Thirds and sevenths work great as they flow together nicely in many common jazz chord progressions. You can try to play just thirds and sevenths over the following chords and you'll see why it would flow nicely:

Dm7 (F & C) - G7 (B & F) - Cmaj7 (E & B). From one chord to the next, you only have to adjust one note.

Same concept applies when you're trying to stretch your chords out a little, see if you can close down the gap and flow from one chord to the next with as little adjustment as possible.

[vittigo]

As nobody mention it yet:

Ted Greene - Modern Chord Progressions
Ted Greene - Chord Chemistry

A lot of Premium material on chords and Voice Leading

[ybjazz]

Originally Posted by vittigo

As nobody mention it yet:

Ted Greene - Modern Chord Progressions
Ted Greene - Chord Chemistry

A lot of Premium material on chords and Voice Leading

Ted Green's stuff is excellent, but very tedious and very challenging for many players. It's a great book to take in small doses.

[matt.guitarteacher]

The rhythm studies in William Leavitt's Modern Guitar Method have good voice leading. They begin really basic and progress to more sophisticated through the three books, but all of the chords are arranged according to voice leading. Lots of CESH and inner movement of chord tones. IMO basic stuff you should know as it applies to guitar, although I'm sure there's more modern material that will take you farther after this.

It's a really good progressive method if you're looking to just play someone else's chord progressions. It's not really a "figure out how to do voice-leading yourself" type method.

Also, since this is posted in the chord-melody section, I'll mention that the chord etudes in these books are excellent for just teaching you some practical fingering issues related chord melody. It's kind of a standard book to have in your library anyway. My $.02.

[brwnhornet59]

I just got the book Matt, it was on sale for $20 for an all in 1! I look forward to getting into it.

[matt.guitarteacher]

I got about halfway through book 2 before I started glazing over. Someday, I'll get back into it suppose. It's got some good stuff though.