Quartal Voicings on Piano: Jazz Theory and Application Tutorial

The So What voicing is a five-note minor 11th chord built from stacked fourths (quartal harmony) that creates an open, spacious sound, featuring the chord tones in the order of root, 11th, flat 7th, flat 3rd, and fifth; it was pioneered by Bill Evans in Miles Davis's 'So What' and is particularly effective when the fifth of the chord appears as the highest note in the melody, allowing pianists to reharmonize tunes by placing these voicings underneath melodic lines.

The So What voicing is a D minor pentatonic chord voicing used by jazz pianists. It can be learned in every key and applied over different musical shapes. The voicing has five inversions: So What One (root in first position), So What Two (root in second position), So What Three (root in third position), So What Four (root in fourth position), and So What Five (root in top fifth position). Each inversion produces a different color and sound. The voicing works over major chords, creating major 9ths with 13ths when starting on the third, major 13ths with sharp 11 when starting on the major 7th, and sus 9 sounds when starting on the fifth.

Quartal harmony uses intervals of perfect fourths (and sometimes fifths) to create harmonic ambiguity, pioneered by Bill Evans and McCoy Tyner. The So-What chord (F#-B-E-A-C#-E) is a famous quartal voicing that can function as multiple chords: F# minor 11th, A major 6/9, B9 sus4, D major 13th, or G major 13th sharp 11. This chord captures main degrees of the A major scale (1, 4, 6, 2) and is worth memorizing in all 12 keys. Quartal voicings can be practiced by transposing to all keys, moving in minor thirds, or applying them within 251 progressions (ii-V-I) to develop musical context.

The So What chord voicing, derived from Bill Evans' piano work on Miles Davis' song 'So What,' is a two-handed jazz piano chord built from three perfect fourths and a major third (e.g., D-G-C-F-A for D So What), creating an ambiguous, modern-sounding chord that can function as Dm11, BbMaj13, EbMaj13#11, or G9sus depending on context; it is particularly effective over 2-5-1 progressions when the fifth of the chord is in the melody, and can be moved diatonically or in parallel motion to create interesting harmonic textures.

Quartal harmony involves building chords by stacking notes in fourths instead of thirds, creating a more open and neutral sound that works exceptionally well in modal contexts; unlike traditional functional harmony which implies resolution, quartal chords produce a static, nebulous quality ideal for modal improvisation, as demonstrated by Miles Davis's 'So What' where pianist Bill Evans used quartal voicings over D Dorian mode, and these same shapes can be applied over minor chords by harmonizing the pentatonic scale with quartal intervals to add a modern, less traditional sound to conventional chord progressions.

Chromatic techniques enhance quartal comping through semitone side slips, where voicings shift temporarily up a minor third before resolving back. This creates tension-release effects within the quartal framework. More advanced methods involve partial voicing movement—shifting all notes up a semitone except the top note—to temporarily place harmony in different tonal centers (e.g., C minor to A flat minor). These outside-sounding effects provide sophisticated harmonic coloration while maintaining fundamental quartal structure, demonstrating how chromaticism can be integrated into quartal vocabulary for expressive comping.

Parallelism involves using chromatic approach chords (passing chords one semitone away from the target chord) and side slipping (slipping one semitone down or up on a chord and then returning). For example, going from G7 to C major 7, you can insert a C# major 7 as a chromatic approach chord. Side slipping involves staying on a chord and slipping up or down one semitone before returning.

Side slipping involves moving all notes down a half step from the chord being played. For a C minor 7 chord, this creates a B minor 7 sound. The technique uses the same chord positions and material while creating tension. The transition back to the original chord is achieved through parallel motion of arpeggios, treating the outside section as a chord change with motivic development. This creates tension that resolves when returning to the original chord.

Parallel Quartal Voicings are a modern jazz piano technique that harmonizes the C Dorian scale using primarily fourth intervals, creating a distinctive contemporary sound. The method involves building voicings by starting with the 5th of the chord on top, then adding the 3rd, 7th, 4th (11th), and root on the bottom. For example, harmonizing the C Dorian scale produces minor 11 chords: C minor 11 (C-F-Bb-Eb-G), A minor 11 (A-D-G-C-F), Eb minor 11 (Eb-Ab-Db-Gb-Bb), F minor 11 (F-Bb-Eb-Ab-C), G minor 11 (G-C-F-Bb-D), and Bb minor 11 (Bb-Eb-Ab-Db-G). This technique allows pianists to create rich, modern jazz harmonies by applying the same fourth-interval structure across all notes of the scale.

Inside-outside playing alternates between chord-scale notes (inside) and tension notes (outside). The instructor demonstrates chromatic movement by moving up a half step and down a whole step with pentatonic scales, creating tension and release. For an F chord, apply the same concepts using Eb pentatonic or Bb pentatonic scales. The instructor shows moving fourth voicings through these scales, demonstrating how to create interesting lines in a pentatonic style or quartal harmony. This technique is characteristic of modern jazz piano influenced by McCoy Tyner and Herbie Hancock.

Left hand pentatonic chord voicings, popularized by McCoy Tyner, are built using fourth intervals (such as F to Bb to Eb) that create a dominant sus4 sound, and can be moved diatonically up the F Mixolydian scale by shifting each note to the next available note in the scale, allowing for seamless integration with right hand pentatonic improvisation.

For left-hand accompaniment with the pentatonic scale, use bass notes: 5 (pinky) for Do, 3 (middle) for Re, 2 (index) for Mi, and 1 (thumb) for Sol. A common bass line progression involves holding each bass note for four beats: Do for four beats, then Mi for four beats, followed by Sol for four beats, and finally La for four beats. To combine hands for improvisation, use the right hand to count beats (1, 2, 3, 4) while playing the pentatonic melody, while the left hand maintains each bass note for eight beats total. This coordination helps maintain steady tempo while developing improvisational skills. Advanced techniques include playing across two octaves and using double notes for added texture.

Harmonizing pentatonic scales with stacked fourths creates the core sound of McCoy Tyner's style. By taking C minor pentatonic and harmonizing it with fourths on the D, G, and B strings, you establish the foundational voicings. Changing one note (B flat to A) transforms the scale from minor to a brighter variant with a six instead of a flat seven. Side-stepping—shifting stacked fourths a half step while keeping the bass note constant—creates dramatic tension. These techniques work together to produce the distinctive African-influenced jazz sound associated with Miles Davis and Coltrane's music.

A five-chord comping technique for modal jazz in minor keys, using C Dorian as the example: start with C-F-Bb-Eb-G, then move up a whole step to D-G-C-F-A, followed by Eb-A-D-G-C, then G-C-F-Eb-Eb (fourths), and finally A-D-G-C-F (fourths), which can be transposed to all keys and used for chromatic planing to create harmonic movement within the modal framework.

This lesson teaches how to create tension and resolution in modal jazz improvisation by using three descending pentatonic scales (C major, Bb, and Ab/F minor) over a D minor vamp, with the technique of suspending the tonality by moving up a minor third while maintaining the root pedal, as demonstrated in McCoy Tyner's playing on John Coltrane's 'Impressions'.

The angular and outside quality of inverted quartal voicings makes them particularly well-suited for fusion music. These chord shapes, when played over appropriate backing tracks, create the characteristic extended, outside sounds associated with jazz fusion. The combination of minor second intervals and the modal approach creates a distinctive sonic palette that defines the fusion genre.

Quartal harmony voicings are created by redistributing traditional chord notes into intervals of fourths (e.g., C-F-Bb-Eb) instead of thirds, allowing for more open and modern-sounding accompaniments in gospel music; the technique involves removing the fifth, adding the ninth as a 'tempero,' and following the cycle of fourths (C-F-Bb-Eb-Ab-Db-Gb-Bb-Eb-Ab-Db-Gb-C) to master all 12 tonalities, with the key principle that while the fifth can be omitted, the third and seventh must be preserved to maintain the chord's character.

Quartal harmony is a modern chord-building technique where notes are stacked in fourth intervals (1-2-3-4) instead of traditional thirds, creating sophisticated, modern sounds commonly used in jazz, neo-soul, and gospel music; to construct quartal chords within any key, start from each note of the scale and stack intervals of fourths, using either perfect fourths (two and a half tones) or augmented fourths (tritone, three whole tones), and musicians can mix quartal chords with traditional triadic chords to create richer harmonic textures.

Quartal voicings are built from fourth intervals rather than thirds, creating distinctive neo-soul sounds. The instructor explains that fourths are calculated by counting four scale degrees (C to F in C major). Quartal chords like the C# Phrygian voicing contain stacked fourths that create dark tension. Modal voicings derive from modes of the major scale, with Phrygian being the third mode. Understanding these concepts helps musicians understand the theoretical basis for neo-soul's sophisticated chord voicings and enables them to create similar sounds in their own playing.

Quartal harmony voicing is an advanced piano technique that stacks perfect fourths and augmented fourths (tritone) to create modern, spacious chord voicings, commonly used in gospel and jazz piano for rootless voicings, tritone substitutions, and extended chords like 13th chords, allowing pianists to achieve a more open and contemporary sound by replacing traditional triadic voicings with stacked fourth intervals.