Rootless chords: 3-note shapes

Understanding II V I Chord Pairs

So we've done a lot on II V I so far. I just want to now talk a little bit about a II V chord pair by itself, because it's quite common for them not to resolve to I.

Unresolved II Vs

There's a string of tunes I can think of. For instance, Satin Doll has a load of 25 pairs in different keys, none of which resolve. You might call them unresolved II Vs.

• So you only get the very last one resolving to the tonic.
• It goes like this: II V. II V II V.

We're going to practice these a string of unresolved II Vs in the next tune.

Using Dorian Scales

II V cycle with Dorian scales:

• When you have a minor to dominant chord, a fourth apart, you can just use the Dorian scale on the first chord.

Introducing Rootless Voicings

We're also going to take the opportunity to explore a new type of chord voicing: rootless voicings.

• So far we've been playing mainly chords with roots in that type of shape (for example, G minor 7, C7).

Now let's leave the fifth out of the G minor. That gives us these three notes.

Then instead of playing C like that, I'll leave the C out. So that's now a rootless shape.

Notice how you only need to move one note:

• If I put the roots in, which aren't always there, it's much clearer.

Important Movement in Chords

From now on, you should remember that when you're going from a II chord to a V chord, you actually only need to move one note.

Which note is it that moves?

• It's always the seventh of the minor chord that falls down a semitone and becomes the third of the dominant chord.

If you can remember that, it makes life a lot easier because you hardly have to move your fingers at all.

Practical Application

We're going to start this on F sharp with the roots, but actually, the root is going to be on the backing track and you're going to play those chords.

• Chords in the left hand: These shapes are ideal for playing with a bass player.

If the bass is playing the root, you don't need to.

That's what I'd say jazz pianists do: like 70% of the time, they don't worry about playing roots in the left hand unless they're by themselves.

So in a band situation, whether it's a trio or a duo, anything with a bass player, rootless voicings account for a lot of what goes on in the left hand.