Quartal and Quintal Chords

Quartal Chords

Quintal Chords

I feel like I am saying good bye summer, hello September! 

I sincerely hope this month is off to a good start for you.

And I want to thank you for your response to my newsletter.
By your questions, I could tell you were reading my article.
And it makes one feel good! Now, some answers to the questions.

1. What are they?

Quartal and Quintal chords have a suspended un-anchored sound to them that differs form regular chords. This quality makes Quartal and Quintal chords very useful in a composer's chord vocabulary. Simply put, whatever notes in the grouping, harmonically tied together, and diatonically correct.

2. What's the history?

Quartal and Quintal chords are now common in jazz, rock music and TV and film music. Quartal chords are also easy to play on the guitar due to the fact that the standard guitar tuning is mostly fourths. But they first showed up in Classical music with Claude Debussy.

3. Where are they used?

Quartal chords are used in "modal" jazz. Think two or three general chords, diatonically...maj7, m7, dom7. In C just think Cmaj7, Dm7, and G7. You hear the Quartal chord moving in a functioning way. This makes sense than just grabbing chords at random, especially when you are staying in ONE Key. 

Now, try this progression: Ebmaj7 | Dm7b5 G7 | Cmaj7 | Cmaj7 ||

Quartals are freely substituted over pretty much any chord, except a dominant. 

4. Application

There are all kinds of quartal chords and each pitch set has it's own color and uses.
A perfect fourth stack ( regardless of number ) moves in parallel  clusters. Other shapes include:

Mixtures of tritones and perfect fourths

Perfect fourths with a major third on top

Perf. 4th stacks moving in parallel over a pedal point (very common in modal jazz) 

Let's take a C Major 7th chord by adding some quartals.  First, remove unnecessary notes from the block chord. In the left hand, play C, E and B. In the right-hand, add a quartal starting on the 9th and play D, G and C. 

I read that all the alteration symbols are not a great "visual" for the fact that Quartal chord should be applied, mainly because the voicing really seems to be the important part of "Quartal". So naming something like F7#5#9(om.3) or just F7#5#9 doesn't really TELL you to stack them in orders of 4ths. For F7#5#9, when reading a chart, find a F7 voicing first, then alter for #5#9. But, this won't always give me a linear Quartal chord, but more of an altered/extended voicing. Spell the basic chord  like "(Quartal) next to it, like "F (Quartal)" or "Fmaj7#11(Quartal)". 

5. Approach

Generally, it's entirely possible to substitute quartal harmony over any non-dominant chord in a tune. It's a very easy way to turn static I chords into something more dynamic and interesting; and the results over minor chords is nice. Herbie Hancock is a good example of someone who often uses this approach. He routinely plans diationic quartals over chords when he's comping.

Approach 1: Diatonically played quartals. 

On a sheet of manuscript paper, write out the following chord (key of C Major): A D G C. Underneath this, write a C root. The chord: C 6/9 no 3. Next, play the entire chord up one diatonic note to obtain B E A D. Leave the C root intact. The chord: CMaj13.
Play up one note to obtain: C F B E. Not quite so useful. The fourth, F, in the chord is "avoid-ish", when playing over I chords. Continue the process to obtain all 7 diatonic quartals in the key of C Major. Now rewrite the entire set with a D root, instead of a C root, and consider this set as a set of useful quartal voicings/subs for a Dm (ii of C major). Repeat the procedure for each possible root in the key of C Major. The general idea: all quartal stacks over an appropriate root are good substitutions, with the exception of subs for Imaj7, that contain the fourth degree of the scale (F, in the C major example). Many of these chords are a bit stark by themselves. Many of them don't have 3rds. But they tend to consistently work well as alternating pairs of voicings in the same bar, or as ascending or descending planed stacks. One quartal voice doesn't necessarily contain a 3rd or a 7th; but a pair (or an ascending or descending group) always includes both in one or the other of the pair.

Approach 2: Pentatonics with displaced roots. 

Consider all voicings of all chords constructed from a pentatonic scale. These are functionally equavialent to quartals, because collapsing the notes of a quartal stack of five notes into a single octave produces a pentatonic scale. Any pentatonic chord is also a voicing of a quartal stack. In the key of C major, there are three possible pentatonic scales: C D E G A; C D F G A; D E G A B. For each, construct ascending stacked voices within the scale. Start with the shape G C E A; and play that shape through the pentatonic scale C D E G A. Repeat for the other two scales. For each of these played stacks, add a root note from the parent MAJOR scale (same idea as what we did with the extra root in quartal stacks). The root note doesn't have to come from the pentatonic scale of the moment. Each of these forms is refered to as a "pentatonic voicing with a displaced root". Each of these forms is a good voicing or sub, with the following exception: voicings that contain the fourth degree of the scale (the "avoid" note), over a I root doesn't work. Just like for quartal stacks. This approach generates all the same voicings. The primary difference is that when you walk the voicings up or down the keyboard, the pentatonic voicings have a more distinctly open sound to them than the corresponding quartal stack. (open in the sense that a 6/9 chord is open). A very distinctive sound, that I'm particularly fond of.

With quartal chords, on the keyboard, the span is a bit wide--you've got a major seventh on the outside. Often pianists will move the bottom voice up an octave or drop the top voice down an octave. This sound is related to stacked fourths, but the interval from bottom to top is only a fifth-easier to reach. A lot of sounds that you assume are fourth chords are actually these kinds of voicings." 

6. Wrap Up - Conclusion

Fourth voicings, also known as quartal voicings, are more of a "modern" sound in jazz and were really explored thoroughly by McCoy Tyner as well as Chick Corea in the 60's. They sound great and can be played in a number of ways. They really are just a pentatonic scale played every other note. Here are the 5 inversions of the C pentatonic scale in fourth voicings: 

 You can use C pentatonic fourth voicings over Cmaj7, C7, D-7, Fmaj7, F#7alt, Gsus7, A-7, Bbmaj7#11, or even maybe B-7b5. So there are many possibilities.
You can also make fourth voicings with notes that aren't in a strict major pentatonic scale. Here is every melody note in the key of C with fourths underneath: 

 You can also take a fourth voicing and move it around in parallel motion. Play this type of movement over a D-7 modal song: 

 These are all examples of two-handed fourth voicings. You can also just play 3-note fourth voicings in your left hand while you play a melody in your right hand. Going in and out of the key will sound very modern and cool if you do it right. Listen to McCoy to get a real lesson on how to do this.

I have the Mark Levine Jazz Book. A lot of this stuff is way over my head. You should get the book. Another Jazz artist whom I respect is Willie Myette.

 Jazz 101 and Jazz 201 will help you:  

Learn how to quickly and easily form tons of jazz chord patterns and runs that are guaranteed to have you standing out from the crowd, how to ensure that no matter what voicings and blues licks you play, they'll turn heads each and every time and the 7 secrets to playing signature solos like a pro from a pro!

Order these music resources from Hear and Play:

Jazz101 and Jazz201

 

"The beautiful thing about learning is that no one can take it away from you." B.B.King

Piano Voicing- What Does It Mean?

What does voicing mean exactly? Simply put, voicing is the way chords are played which gives them their timbre or richness. In other words it’s how many notes are played, the distance between each of the notes and the quantity and quality of extensions.

There are literally thousands of ways to play a single chord. There are also millions of ways to play a chord progression if you consider that each chord can be played a thousand different ways. However, it’s likely a good idea to start off with a few solid possibilities instead of a thousand.

For example, let’s take a Cmaj7 chord. The chord itself is simple enough and is made up of C E G and B. However, depending on how rich you want the chord to sound you can also add D and A to the chord as extensions. Why? Because D and A come from the C major scale and do not clash with the basic chord.

These are what we call extensions. In other words a good pianist will already consider D and A in their chord voicing when they see the chord symbol Cmaj7. It doesn’t have to be written Cmaj7 (9 13) for them to understand this.

So, how would a pianist then voice this chord? Well, for starters, that depends on the melody. Whatever the melody note is will become the highest note of the chord. For example, let’s say D is the melody note of prominence while the chord is being played. That means that for a pianist our 9th is already understood as part of the chord and is the top note.

Next, it’s generally a good idea to play the bass note in the left hand which is C of course. Then the next 2 most important notes are the 3rd and the 7th because these notes give the chord its flavor. Consider playing the 7th in the left hand above the bass note. That would mean playing the C with finger 5 (baby finger) and B with finger 1 (thumb).

Then, play the 3rd, 5th and melody (9th) in the right hand with the 1st, 2nd and 5th fingers respectively. What’s left? The 13th or A which, you can cover with the 3rd finger of the right hand. So, from bottom to top you would have the notes in this order; C B E G A and D. That right there is a very rich sounding chord and you’d have to go a long way to find one richer.

However, this is only one way of voicing the chord. There are literally thousands of ways. My suggestion is this; learn one way at a time until it becomes second nature. Voicing the root and 7th in the left hand and covering the 3rd and the melody in the right hand is a very good system to start with. Then with your left over fingers in the right hand cover the 5th and any other extension that’s available. This works for all chords including major, minor, dominant and diminished chords.

Once you’ve learned this way of voicing chords it becomes much easier to tackle a new formula because this one is already clear and concrete and will help you hear very clearly the difference between the chords.

Have you heard of Quartal Voicings? A new field in harmony is to build chord structures in fourths (quartals). It produces a more open harmony and is a very practical resort for pianists. Left hand plays chord voicing in fourths. Do Quartal Voicings departing from 3. from 13, from 9, from 7
In the upper staff: Take notes of C scale in fourth intervals departing from B.
All are notes of extended C chord: 7, 3, 13, 9, 5, 1. Play in r.h.arpeggiated:
B-E-A-D-G-High C
B-E-A-D-G-High C
B-E-A-D-G-High C
B-E-A-D-G-High C

Practice these four voicings:

C/ D-G-C
C/ E-A-D
C/ A-D-G
C/ B-E-A

Have a great week ahead!
LadyD
Low C-E-A-D, Low C-A-D-G, Low C-D-G-C, Low C-B-E-A

Learn Big, Rich Jazz Piano Chords

Understanding Jazz Chords

Jazz piano chords can sometimes be confusing at first glance. In this article, I am going to explain how jazz players usually interpret chords and pick tensions to create lush chords. Bear in mind, every musician has their own "tricks" that they use to form their chords. However, there are some basic harmonic concepts that you need to understand and I'll cover some of them in this article.

If you are looking for an instructional course on creating full chords at the piano, I'd suggest the JazzPianoLessons.com Piano Chords bundle. This three-DVD set covers both basic seventh chords along with advanced quartal voicings, tensions, alterations, upper-structure triads, rootless voicings and more.

Learn more about Jazz Piano Chords

Let's begin with a basic seventh chord for D-7. Example A is what a typical voicing of a D-7 chord might look like.

Example A



O.K., that's pretty simple, right? Now take a look at example B. Does this still look like a D-7 to you?

Example B

Labeling Chords

You might look at this chord and think F Maj7 or D-9. We can rule out F Maj7 because the root is a D. However, why didn't I label this chord D-9?

I did not label the chord as D-9 because it is common for jazz players to automatically add tensions to the chords that they are playing. Jazz players know which available tensions each chord can utilize. Personally, I'd rather see a chord written as D-7 than D-9 or D-9 (add 11). I think that many (not all) pianists would agree with me because as jazz players, we are accustomed to working from a "shell".

Basically, when I see D-7, I already know that the 9th and 11th are probably available to me. When looking at a lead sheet, especially in a low-light gig situation, I want the lead sheet to be as un-cluttered as possible.

The "Right" Tensions

You might be wondering, which tensions are the "right" tensions for a particular chord? Well, let's go through the three basic chords: Major, minor and Dominant 7th chords.

Major 7th available tensions are: 9, #11 or 6 (usually replaces the 7th)
Minor 7th available tensions: 9 and 11. 6 would replace the 7th.
Dominant 7th available tensions: b9, 9, #9, #11, b13 and 13.


Chord Type Available Tensions
Major: 9, # 11 or 6 (usually replaces the 7th)
Minor: 9 and 11. 6 would replace the 7th
Dominant: b9, 9, # 9, #11, b13 and 13

So, looking back at the D-7 chord in example B, you'll notice that I am adding the 9th to the chord. This is just one of many different voicings that I cover in the Piano Chords bundle.

Dominant 7th Tensions

I want to draw your attention to the Dominant 7th available tensions. Once again, they are b9, 9, #9, #11, b13 and 13. Let's go through the notes for a C7 chord.

C7 chord tones are: C-E-G-Bb

Available tensions are: Db-D-D#-F#-Ab-A

You'll notice that the only two notes left that are not represented are F and B. F would be a sus4 and B would change the C7 to a C Maj7 chord.

I like to bring this up because remember, when you improvise, you can use any chord tones or available tensions in your solo. So, on a Dominant 7th chord, there are really only two notes that you would try to avoid. This also means that when you play a Dominant 7th chord, you can add almost any note as a tension. Well, let me put it this way, you have a 10 out of 12 chance of hitting the "right" note!

The Million Dollar Question, "Why 13 and not 6?"

I have been asked this question for years! It is a difficult question to answer because it is like asking why does 2+2=4? However, I do have my explanation. Let's take the C7 chord as an example again.

The chord tones (notes that are found in the chord and not tensions) are C-E-G-Bb for a C7 chord. The C is the root, E is the third, G is the fifth and Bb is the flatted 7th.

It is perfectly reasonable to think of D, F# and A as two, sharp four and six. However, we would call D the ninth, F# sharp eleven and A the thirteenth. You might be asking, "Why?"
Since chords are predominantly formed by "stacking" thirds, we would consider the D-F# and A as being "upper structures" of the chord.

Learn more about Jazz Piano Chords

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