Chord voicings - Grade 1
A look at chord voicings for Grade 1 piano, including the wide "open voicings" used for augmented and diminished chords that are common in jazz.
What's in the course
29 lessons (1h 50m) · 1 free
01. Make You Feel My Love, Adele (Performance)
1:26
02. The Long and Winding Road, The Beatles (Performance)
Free lesson1:43
03. Read All About It, Part III, Emeli Sande (Performance)
1:58
04. ICAUFO, Joe Bennett (Performance)
1:23
05. Umbra Bella, Simon Troup (Performance)
1:07
06. Fab Stomp, Deirdre Cartwright (Performance)
1:15
Lesson transcript
Understanding Voicings in Music
Now, we come to voicings. Voicings are basically the same as the broken chords we've been practicing for the augmented and diminished chords.
Diminished and Augmented Voicings
-
Diminished chords are played as follows:
- Right hand
- Left hand
- Together
-
For the augmented chords, the last chords tend to have a fairly wide stretch.
Open Voicing
Especially with the augmented chords, you're doing what's called an open voicing, which means spreading something wider than an octave.
These sorts of voicings are very common when playing:
- Jazz
- Other types of music where there's more interesting harmony
Key Points
- Watch out for open voicings, as they:
- Require two hands
- Involve quite a large spread
Summary of Grade One
So, that's Grade One:
- Scales
- Broken chords
- Voicings
Good luck with it all! I hope you ace the exam.
If you practice all these scales, arpeggios, and voicings, remember to:
- Work them up slowly from the beginning.
- If they seem too fast at the recommended tempo, slow them down.
- Practice hands separately before putting them together.
Before you know it, you'll sound great in no time. Good luck!
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