The Jazz Guitar Chord Dictionary
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  1. #1

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    Thought I'd start explaining how chords are built, but explain the concepts rather than show all examples. There were some great insights from BDLH. John400 and ChuckC on thread "What Voicings should I use".
    Most concepts tend to be mechanical... you start with a single pitch or note and fill in the rest of notes of desired chord. Chords can be built from top to bottom, bottom to top or from inside out, it doesn't matter. I'm going to explain dropped style voicings. Dropped style chords work from Top Down. Lets take a Cmaj7 built on top 4 strings, built;
    X X 10 9 8 7. From top down, B, G, E, C. Again when we are talking about dropped voicings, were talking from the top note down, and since the top note is what were voicing, there would be no Drop 1. Anyway... You would simple take the 2nd note, starting from top, and "drop" down 1 octave. In our example; the 2nd note is "G", drop it down 1 octave and you would have;
    Original... X X 10 9 8 7
    Drop 2 ... X 10 10 9 X 7
    If we want drop 3, we drop the 3rd note down 8vb
    Original... X X 10 9 8 7
    Drop 3 ... X 7 10 X 8 7
    If we want drop 4, we drop the 4th note down 8vb
    Original... X X 10 9 8 7
    Drop 4 ... 8 X X 9 8 7
    The same "concept" of dropping a note down an octave, in the existing chord can be used on any voicing as long as it's possible to finger.
    Here's another example;
    Original... X X 7 7 8 7 I'll call it a Cmaj13, I know, no root etc...
    Drop 2... X 10 7 7 X 7.. I dropped 2nd note, G down 8vb.
    So we now understand the concept of creating a series of the same guitar chord... built by re-arranging the notes below the "lead" note, in this example we used Dropped style voicings to create the chords. So in theory you could start from bottom... keep the lowest note the same and rather than "drop"... "raise" the 2nd note of chord an octave etc... and create a series of voicings. You usually run into fingering problems...
    Original... 8 X 9 9 8 X ... C, B, E, G, Cmaj7
    Lets raise the 2nd note, from bottom...
    Original... 8 X 9 9 8 X
    Raised 2.. 8 X X 9 8 7 a little hard to finger...
    I only brought up the idea of "raise chords" to stress the point that the process or creating chord or voicings is based on a concept or technique, as are most chords....What happens in the real world of playing guitar is you go through a process of learning a concept or method, as in our example, dropped style voicings make changes, add or double notes to make playable or simple make more musical rather than mechanical and build from there ...I added a PDF showing 1st examples... To be continues. Reg

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    The Jazz Guitar Chord Dictionary
     
  3. #2

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    Thank you Reg! I found this to be very helpful!

  4. #3

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    Great. Thanks!

  5. #4

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    If anyone want to get more into Drop-2 check out the book.... Drop-2 Concept for Guitar by Charles Chapman. Covers the chords and application of them.

  6. #5

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    Reg, do ou ever use Bill Evans/Lenny Breau's method of rootless voicings, using the sixth often instead of the fifth? The two categories: A and B.

    One starts with third in the bass, the other seventh?

  7. #6

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    Quote Originally Posted by Jazzyteach65
    Reg, do ou ever use Bill Evans/Lenny Breau's method of rootless voicings, using the sixth often instead of the fifth? The two categories: A and B.

    One starts with third in the bass, the other seventh?
    That sounds interesting. Could you explain it?

  8. #7

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    Quote Originally Posted by BigDaddyLoveHandles
    That sounds interesting. Could you explain it?
    Sure, it's something you probably already know. Bill Evans and Oscar Peterson used a system that voiced chords from the 7th or 3rd in the bass, followed by three other tones. These vocings use 9ths and 13ths, so they sound close and impressionistic.

    The system works like this: There are two categories, "A" and "B."

    "A" has the third in the bass and "B" has the seventh in the bass. these chords allow for great voice-leading.

    Category "A" is voiced:
    3,7,9
    3,6,9
    3,6,7,9
    3,5,6,7
    ect.

    Category B goes:
    7,3,6
    7,9,3,5 or 6
    ect.

    with a ii-V-I, always alternate the category for each change.

    ex: let's say you have a-7,D7, G.
    I would take a voicing from Cat A for the a-7 and connect it to category B of D7, connect that to Category A for G.

    A-7=(low to high) c, g, b (3,7,9) D7=c,f#.b (7,3, 6) to G-b, f#, a (3,7,9)

    Now, this can be applied to every kind of progression. If you think about it, there are only three intervals one can harmonically progress-a 5th/4th,
    a 7th/9th (major or minor) and a third/6th.
    progression of a fifth/4th. change category-a to b, b to a

    progressions of a 7th/2nd-always keep same cat

    progression of a third-change or keep.

  9. #8

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    Interesting. Are you assuming the bass is taking care of the root and fifth, or are you letting it float without them? When I think of comping solo, I tend to be boring and stick with roots on the bottom. I need to work on that.

  10. #9

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    Quote Originally Posted by BigDaddyLoveHandles
    Interesting. Are you assuming the bass is taking care of the root and fifth, or are you letting it float without them? When I think of comping solo, I tend to be boring and stick with roots on the bottom. I need to work on that.
    Both. If I am with a bassist, I only need three-four notes, never the root. . If I'm playing a chord solo or comping for a soloist in a duo, I play the root, but thin the chord out to four notes.

    certain rootless voicings are good for comping solo, some are not.

  11. #10

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    Quote Originally Posted by Jazzyteach65
    Reg, do ou ever use Bill Evans/Lenny Breau's method of rootless voicings, using the sixth often instead of the fifth? The two categories: A and B.

    One starts with third in the bass, the other seventh?
    Hey Jazzyteach65... more so for arranging and composing... not much for most of my gigs. It's kind of that 60's modal sound, I know...it's not just fourths... I dig much more when playing piano. I also dig sound on guitar.
    As you said does work great for voicing melodies, I like the spacing, Now days, most guitarist are more interested in much more dissonant intervallic voicings. I tend to simply voice under lead lines according to context.
    If you use... would be great example for all of us to learn from... Best Reg

  12. #11

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    Quote Originally Posted by Reg
    Hey Jazzyteach65... more so for arranging and composing... not much for most of my gigs. It's kind of that 60's modal sound, I know...it's not just fourths... I dig much more when playing piano. I also dig sound on guitar.
    As you said does work great for voicing melodies, I like the spacing, Now days, most guitarist are more interested in much more dissonant intervallic voicings. I tend to simply voice under lead lines according to context.
    If you use... would be great example for all of us to learn from... Best Reg
    No, actually I don't think I could ever use them for an arrangement, unless it would be the best option. You are right, the sound really "60's," but if you approach them like john Stowell or Jimmy Bruno, or even just experiment with "group a" and "group b" an start altereing extensions, use close intervals (nothing greater than a whole step) on adjacent strings, some really hip things start happenning.

  13. #12

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    Try this for a ii-V-I:


    D- (low to high): C, E,F,B to V7-B,Eb,F,Bb to the I-B,C,E,A

  14. #13

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    Quote Originally Posted by Jazzyteach65
    Try this for a ii-V-I:


    D- (low to high): C, E,F,B to V7-B,Eb,F,Bb to the I-B,C,E,A
    Very cool , I use that lead line a lot, I hear V chord as subV( Db13#11) and usually follow with E-7 A7b9, D-7 G7b9 C6/9, The lead line would be B,Bb,A,Ab,G. Play a lead line with tension and resolve next time through kind of thing. I like the voicings, use the 2nd and 3rd a lot, don't usually voice tri-tones on top of min chords, unless it's a moving line, or a rock/funk groove. I'll try and get on top of the feel and play through some tunes... Thanks man, Best Reg

  15. #14

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    Quote Originally Posted by Reg
    Thought I'd start explaining how chords are built, but explain the concepts rather than show all examples. There were some great insights from BDLH. John400 and ChuckC on thread "What Voicings should I use".
    Ted Greene had formulated similar concept for four-part harmony before his passing, that he called voicing groups and their systematic inversions. There are 14 voicing groups and I recently did these on paper for first 10 groups. The rest are unplayable on guitar for the most part at least for me.

    This is what I gathered from Ted Greene forums (I did not figure these out):

    Ted Greene Voicing Groups (name, root position, description):

    V-1 1,3,5,7 Closed voicing
    V-2 1,5,7,3 Drop the 2nd voice of V1
    V-3 1,3,7,5 Drop the 2nd voice of V2
    V-4 1,7,3,5 Raise the 3rd voice of V3
    V-5 1,5,3,7 Raise the 2nd voice of V2
    V-8 1,7,5,3 Raise the 2nd voice from V4

    In the following voicings the bottom note is an octave down

    V-6 1,3,5,7 Raise the 3rd voice of V4
    V-7 1,5,7,3 Raise the 3rd voice of V6

    In the following voicings the top note is an octave up:
    V-9 1,5,7,3 Raise the 1st(highest) voice from V2


    In the following voicings there is an octave between the second and third voices:

    V-10 1,5,7,3 Raise the 2nd voice from V5


    As you can see, V-2 (drop 2) and V-4 are standard guitar voicings for guitar.
    There is a lot of cool and amazing stuff in www.Tedgreene.com and Ted Greene forums --check it out if haven't already!!

    Thanks,
    Sampo

  16. #15

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    Great post Sampo... you went through the process, that's what every guitarist needs to do... all these techniques of voicing have been around for along time. There all mechanical organizational methodologies for deriving voicings. Reg

  17. #16

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    I use the 5 family method ofv "dropped" chords-
    each family is a string group-4321, 5321, 5432, 6543, 6432.

    Reg, don't you find playing those widely-spaced voicings in which you play two notes on the 6th and 5th strings, then skip and have two notes on the 3rd and 2nd or 2nd and 1st too spaced for comping? It feels like playing a quintally-voiced chord

  18. #17

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    Hey Jazzteach... yes totally, the louder the gig the less options I have...I do like the process of learning methods of chord construction and voicings, and believe the concept of understanding these things is as important as the actual voicings one chooses to use. Reg

  19. #18

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    Quote Originally Posted by Jazzyteach65
    I use the 5 family method ofv "dropped" chords-
    each family is a string group-4321, 5321, 5432, 6543, 6432.

    Reg, don't you find playing those widely-spaced voicings in which you play two notes on the 6th and 5th strings, then skip and have two notes on the 3rd and 2nd or 2nd and 1st too spaced for comping? It feels like playing a quintally-voiced chord
    This is a "piano voicing" It has the root and 5 in the left hand and the 3 /7 in the right. We do it with one hand.

    Now an example of why one should learn the voicings located on 6-5- 2-1


    [CHORD] F ma7

    ||---|---|---|---|-4-|---|---|---|---|---|---|
    ||---|---|---|---|-4-|---|---|---|---|---|---|
    ||---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|x
    ||---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|x
    ||---|---|-3-|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
    ||-1-|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|

    [/CHORD]



    [CHORD] Fma7 (double the 3rd)

    ||---|---|---|---|-4-|---|---|---|---|---|---|
    ||---|---|---|---|-4-|---|---|---|---|---|---|
    ||---|-2-|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
    ||---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
    ||---|---|-3-|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
    ||-1-|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|

    [/CHORD]


    [CHORD]Fma9

    ||---|---|---|---|-4-|---|---|---|---|---|---|
    ||---|---|---|---|-4-|---|---|---|---|---|---|
    ||---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
    ||---|---|---|---|-3-|---|---|---|---|---|---|
    ||---|---|-2-|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
    ||-1-|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|

    [/CHORD]


    [CHORD] Fma7#11

    ||---|---|---|---|-4-|---|---|---|---|---|---|
    ||---|---|---|---|-4-|---|---|---|---|---|---|
    ||---|---|---|-3-|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
    ||---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
    ||---|---|-2-|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
    ||-1-|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|

    [/CHORD]

    I added 1 note and look what happened. If I hadn't studied the voicings on strings 6521 how would I have found these other voicings?


    Note: Try them higher up the fingerboard if the stretch is too much.

  20. #19

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    Quote Originally Posted by JohnW400
    This is a "piano voicing" It has the root and 5 in the left hand and the 3 /7 in the right. We do it with one hand.

    Now an example of why one should learn the voicings located on 6-5- 2-1


    [chord] F ma7

    ||---|---|---|---|-4-|---|---|---|---|---|---|
    ||---|---|---|---|-4-|---|---|---|---|---|---|
    ||---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|x
    ||---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|x
    ||---|---|-3-|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
    ||-1-|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|

    [/chord]



    [chord] Fma7 (double the 3rd)

    ||---|---|---|---|-4-|---|---|---|---|---|---|
    ||---|---|---|---|-4-|---|---|---|---|---|---|
    ||---|-2-|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
    ||---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
    ||---|---|-3-|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
    ||-1-|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|

    [/chord]


    [chord]Fma9

    ||---|---|---|---|-4-|---|---|---|---|---|---|
    ||---|---|---|---|-4-|---|---|---|---|---|---|
    ||---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
    ||---|---|---|---|-3-|---|---|---|---|---|---|
    ||---|---|-2-|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
    ||-1-|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|

    [/chord]


    [chord] Fma7#11

    ||---|---|---|---|-4-|---|---|---|---|---|---|
    ||---|---|---|---|-4-|---|---|---|---|---|---|
    ||---|---|---|-3-|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
    ||---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
    ||---|---|-2-|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
    ||-1-|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|

    [/chord]

    I added 1 note and look what happened. If I hadn't studied the voicings on strings 6521 how would I have found these other voicings?


    Note: Try them higher up the fingerboard if the stretch is too much.
    Wow! Thanks John. The look a lot like Joe Diorio's voicings

  21. #20

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    Cool John... I never used the first one ... but I use that spread, with inner voices for intro's , interludes or quite sections. Usually the 5th on bottom as pedal and move upper voices around... again very quite gigs, or tunes with lots of space. On the lower register, on jazz boxes that spread will beat up the left hand after too much time... Thanks man... Reg