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you need one interval in the voicing to be quite close - so the fingering has to go back towards the nut. doesn't matter what chord type - even perfectly ordinary chords sound engaging if there's a wee 'crunch' in them somewhere
(keen to cut through the absolutely endless technicalising of chords and chord voicings here)
example
the dom 13 chord which goes back towards the nut sounds better than the dom 13 chord that goes up towards the bridge
spelling of nice one: 1/7/9/3/6
spelling of less nice one: 1/7/3/6/9
the 1 and 7 stay the same here - but the top one goes back towards the nut and has closer intervals - the bottom one goes up towards the bridge and the intervals are wider
you don't need complex subs / extentions / alterations so much as voicings which include a bit of a crunch.....
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04-17-2026 07:51 AM
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My approach is just playing the madd9 triad (2 b3 5) on everything. Which is less sophisticated?
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maj add 9 -
ok: 1/3/5/9
better: 9/3/5/1
crunch between 9 and 3 sounds good
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i use that all the time too - it just makes everything sound better
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ii: 9/3/5
V: (1)/7/9/3/6
I: 1/7/1
nice I voicing here - illustrates the general point - the spelling looks boring - but the sound isn't
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For the sake of good order, the II chord is minor, i.e. 9/b3/5?
Originally Posted by Groyniad
I know the minor one with the 9 on the d- string.
As a major version, i.e. 9/3/5 its a bit weird in my ears. For a maj9 I prefer the 5/9/3 voicing.
And what is your fingering for the 9/3/5/1 voicing from the previous post? It looks like that my fingers are a little bit too small for the required stretching...
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if you've specified ii rather than II (which would normally be IIV - but can just be II) it's understood that ii is minor Originally Posted by bluenote61
nine in the bottom voice instead of the tonic - whether you're playing a major or a minor triad - sounds very good. you can put a root note in yourself an octave lower if you want - or let someone else put it in there. It's great for all ii chords - and it works nicely with one chords too (spelling: 7/1/3)
the fingering for 9/3/5/1 - pinky for the 9 and you bar the other three notes. not too difficult (i hate difficult chords)
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My first jazz guitar teacher played chords like that, like Bb9 would be 6X653, and all his chords were voiced toward the nut. But.. you gotta have a certain posture to play like that, the guitar strapped extremly high, sitting down, thumb behind the neck the classical way. He never ever played standing up. I mean it does sound good, but not something I would change my playing habits for.
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here's a nice simple example of this rule of thumb
two minor 6th chords:
1/6/3/5 (you might know this as a dom 9 with root in 5th)
and in what you might call first inversion
3/1/5/6 (you might know this as a maj 6 sharp 11 chord root in bass)
the second of these sound even nicer than the first of them - and that's because of the slight crunch between the humble fifth and sixth degrees of the minor sixth sound)
the interesting point is that if you find ways to get tight intervals into your chords they sound engaging - this is a different business than finding clever subs or heavily altered and extended sounds
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:::gobsmacked::: Originally Posted by Hep To The Jive
Am I reading that correctly? ...that you're letting your physical comfort & ease dictate how you will voice chords?!?!
If so, I have honestly never encountered that approach from an experienced musician in my life!
Usually it's the opposite: The music dictates how the chords should be voiced, and then the musician figures out -- or at least, aspires towards -- how to play them on their instrument.
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Yep, I learned to play the conventional jazz chords grips and stuck with it, they sound good to me. Joe Pass on his tutorial video said the same thing. Do the upward grips sound better? Maybe, they do sound different and add a pleasant tension/color, but I'm a creature of habit. Someone who just starting out their journey on jazz guitar might benefit more from it. Originally Posted by Bob_Ross
Btw the teacher I mentioned never pushed his chords preference on us, always emphasizing the rhythm/timing/swing. His concept was 'I don't care what buttons you press, as long as the timing is right'. He's a brilliant jazz player, his name Andrei Ryabov.
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Surely the Bacharach chord, as above, is the height of sophistication and all the more so since Christian uses it Originally Posted by Christian Miller
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I love the shape of that chord, and -depending on where you shift the bass- it can be used for many different colours: altered, m7b5 etc Originally Posted by Groyniad
I believe it's the one Barry Greene calls "the magic chord", unless I'm mistaken.
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Dunno, there are all sorts of voicings that can sound different ways. But "nice"?
I mean, if a chord(or secuence) doesn't act up and demand attention to itself(even if something beautiful), that kinda is nice? Maybe.
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I know you explained below, but I still don't get the fingering!
Suppose its Gadd9. So the notes are A B D G.
Are you playing it like this: xx7433? If so, ouch.
Originally Posted by Groyniad
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interesting point about how you sit with the guitar - that's right
the need to play chords with tight intervals has pushed me towards holding the guitar differently
the most common 11th voicing for minor chords has a second interval between the third and the fourth (11th) and that's why it sounds so good
many dom flat five voicings feature a second between 3 and flat five
minor second intervals sound even cooler perhaps - 1x713x (pinky plays the 7) is a nice minor second interval in a major seven chord - and if you drop the bass note a minor third it becomes a min second interval in a min add9 chord (1x935x)
another example is the dom 13 type sound - you can go 'back-the-way' : 1x7936 (second interval between 9 and 3)
or 'up-the-way' 1x7369
which sounds better to you?
taken in abstraction from actual use in actual musical situations its all a bit empty - but i'm finding that the more I manage to include these intervals in arrangements the better they sound
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Yea... context generally controls type of voicings.
Most playing contexts involve the basic 3 aspects of finding and using (nice) voicings...
1) the root and/or implied harmonic reference.
Simple example, a 12 bar Blues in Bb.
Bb is the root of the I chord. The harmonic reference is Bb7.
2) The top note or note that becomes part of a Lead Line or melody when comping.
3) The middle notes... that imply the Harmonic reference(s) and help control the functional roll.
It becomes more complicated... when actually playing.
Generally jazz players use or imply Chord patterns... or common sequences of chords that naturally imply and set up Melodic and Harmonic Targets, creating movement and rest... or tension and release and the space between.
Harmonic and Melodic functions
Different contexts... require different voicings. Part of developing... your style of using chord patterns and voicings.
Not trying to complicated finding nice voicings... just help to be aware of where those voicing can go.
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Good rule of thumb.
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Thanks... maybe, rules etc.
here's simple example of possible 1st 4 bars of blues in Bb
6 X 6 7 8 X Dotted quarter Bb13
6 X 6 5 5 X and of 2 Bb7#11
X 5 6 5 6 X and of 3 D-7b5
X 7 5 7 8 X and of 4 E-7 opt. use Dim. X 7 8 6 8 X
X 8 6 8 9 X half F-9
X X 7 8 9 7 half B13
X X 6 7 8 7 same rhys Bb13
X 8 6 8 9 X F-9
6 X 6 7 8 X Bb13
X 5 6 5 6 X D-7b5
6 X 6 7 8 X Bb13
X 7 6 7 7 9 E13
IV chord
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