Ever wondered why your C7 didn't sound as cool as those played by Bill Evans or McCoy Tyner?   The answer is mainly in the chord voicing and the additional tones.   This article helps in moving from 'stacks of thirds' to more modern voicings and is intended as a summary to facilitate practice of different voicings of most chords met by jazz pianists.

When asked ‘what is jazz?’, Louis Armstrong is reported to have replied ‘if you’ve got to ask, you’ll never know’.   Nobody is going to argue with Louis, but Mark Levine (the pianist and educator) suggests that the ‘voodoo’, if there is any, is in the 1% inspiration that makes a great performer as opposed to the 99% component, which can be learnt.   We think that you will find these notes valuable in developing your improvising skills.   They give some background in the use of scales and modes, amongst other things, but some knowledge of musical theory is required in understanding all the terms.