Quartal Voicings Part 1

Quartal piano voicings lesson. Part 1 of a two-part video that focuses on left-hand voicings and techniques to memorise them as well as include them in general jazz performance. Designed to augment the material covered in the book "Quartals and Pentatonics" available from Lulu.com http://www.lulu.com/content/paperback-book/quartals-and-pentatonics/8025549

Category:

Education

Tags:

• jazz piano
• piano voicings
• quartals
• pentatonics
• jazz lessons
• Alan Brown

[iCrooner89]

yo fella...i already know this stuff, but what i dont know, is what chord symbol should i use for quartal chords if i make a sheet? i mean if i have to write up "C, F, Bb, Eb". so i mean, is there any new standard for that as chord symbol?..i cant write Cm11 nor C7sus4(#9) ...so is there anything "easier" like "C4" or "Cfourth" or any symbol like for dim or halfdim..? please answer if you know.

[ABjazzlessons]

@iCrooner89 Unfortunately there is no standard symbol notation for quartal chords, I guess because of their inherent ambiguity in terms of harmony. I have seen various attempts such as C7sus4(omit5) for a C, F, Bb, and C7sus4(4ths). For a 4-note quartal such as your example, again Cm11(4ths) or F7sus4/C or probably more accurately Bbsus/C which will at least ensure the correct notes.

[ABjazzlessons]

@iCrooner89 In some respects C4 SHOULD make sense, as guitarists use C5 for power chords, but the problem there is that there's no indication of HOW MANY 4ths to stack!! Probably the best idea to to fully notate the first chord in a chart, and label it Cm11 (or whatever) and indicate this is a 'suggested chord voicing'.

[DajaWaja]

@GregTyson noobest question ever. You shouldn't check out quartal stuff if you don't even know what a minor pentatonic is...oh my

[britrpt57]

thank you so much for the great tutorial--I am a trumpet player who writes and teaches jazz improv. You have inspired me--thanks again

[dekzan]

My brother is learning jazz and he will love this. Thanks, a lot !

[crohnsappleadams]

@iCrooner89 The annotation I use for a quartal voicing is (4x__), with the blank being the number of 4ths stacked. For instance, G-C-F would be G(4x3). The only real limitation to this method is that it only accommodates perfect 4ths. Still, I find this to be a relatively good system because using triadic chord symbols to express the same notes doesn't give any clear indication as to what the shape of the voicing should be.

I use the same for stacked 5th voicings (5x__).

[GregTyson]

Allan, you are a terrific educator. Thanks for the conceptual approach to music education. I did not know the maj/relative minor relationship exists for pentatonics. Thanks again.

By the way, do you know Jann Rutherford (an NZ expat jazz pianist who was a friend of mine some years back).

[ABjazzlessons]

@GregTyson Yes there is - the minor pentatonic formula is 1,b3,4,5,b7 which is the same as Eb major pentatonic starting on C! Cminor pent=Ebmaj pent from the relative minor/major concept.

[drebubbles]

thank you sir, very much