Rootless Chord Voicings

                There are two main types of piano playing, solo piano (playing by yourself) and group playing (playing in a band).  When playing piano in a group, the bass player is already covering the roots of the chords in his/her part.  If you also play the roots in your chord voicings, you may clash with the bass part and hinder him/her from being free to play.  This is one of the main reasons why piano players use rootless chord voicings.  I even use rootless voicings in my solo piano playing as a way to provide variety to my arrangements.  If I have already played the melody (head) once accompanied by full voicings (including the root), and then played another pass on the chords while soloing, a section of rootless voicings will help to add a change of style and texture.  Another advantage to this technique is that it frees your fingers to add more upper extensions and color tones.  Plus, using rootless voicings can be a great tool for beginning players who want to learn how to implement added color tones.  The natural voicing leading of rootless voicings helps to reveal the best color tones to add in the pursuit of good voice leading.

                Rootless voicings can either be formed as left hand close voicings or two handed open voicings.  Left hand close rootless voicings are used to accompany yourself while either soloing or playing the melody in your right hand.  The two handed open voicings are used to comp background chords while accompanying a soloist (usually in full group playing that includes a bass player).  Coming back to the concepts of shell voicings and guide tones, we remember that the 3^rd and the 7^th are the most important intervals in major 7^th, minor 7^th and dominant 7^th chords (beside the root).  Since all of these chords contain a perfect 5^th, the 3^rd and 7^th help to define the quality and color of the chord. 

Rootless voicings are derived from using either the 3^rd or 7^th of the chord as a starting point.  We will start by discussing the left handed close voicings, and then expand to the two handed open voicings.  They can be played in either an A or B form.  The A form is created by starting with the 3^rd of the chord and stacking the other intervals above it in a close voicing.  The B form is created by starting with the 7^th of the chord and stacking the other intervals above it in a close voicing.  The reason for the two forms of voicing is to help maintain an appropriate register on the keyboard while performing.  Voicing the chord too low will cause it to sound muddy, and voicing it too high will encroach on the playing of the right hand.  Musicians use their ear and common sense to regulate this.  For those who have trouble distinguishing the proper range, a good general rule is to try to keep your left hand pinky between middle C and the C one octave below middle. 

When voicing major, minor and dominant seventh chords, the fourth pitch usually used (since the root is not present) is the ninth.  In addition, when voicing dominant seventh chords the 13^th is often used to replace the fifth.  This allows for better voice leading especially in II-V-I progressions. 

Two handed open rootless voicings can be formed by applying a simple modification to the left handed close voicings.   Number the four pitches being played from bottom to top with the lowest pitch being labeled as the first one.  Keep the 1^st and 3^rd pitch from the bottom in your left hand.  Play the 4^th pitch in your right hand.  Transpose the 2^nd pitch up one octave (so that it is now above the 4^th pitch) and play it also in your right hand.  This method easily converts any left handed close rootless voicing into a two handed open rootless voicing. 

All of these voicing should be practiced to a point where the player is comfortable performing them in any key signature.  One can practice A and B forms of the chords while cycling through the circle of fifths (forwards or backwards) or transposing chromatically (either up or down).  These key cycling practice techniques can also be applied to the II-V-I progressions.  In addition, one can practice by applying these voicings to the current songs in their practice repertoire.    

This Learning Music With Ray video discusses rootless piano chord voicings both in a close left hand voicing and a two hand open chord voicing.  In the video, I explain why piano players would want to voice their chords without a root.  I provide visual examples of major, minor and dominant seventh chords written on a musical staff in both close left hand and open two hand voicings.  I explain the strategies for obtaining these voicings, and how they can be applied to the II-V-I chord progression.  Finally, I demonstrate all of these examples on the piano keyboard.