Voicings — spacing and what to leave out
Why the same four notes can sound muddy or open depending on where you put them.
Building chords · 10 min read
A voicing is the specific arrangement of the notes of a chord — which octave each one lives in, and which are doubled or dropped. Two players can hit the same chord symbol and sound completely different because of it.
The main rule is about the low end: intervals closer than a fourth sound muddy below middle C. Keep the bottom of your chord wide — root and fifth, or root and tenth — and put the tight, colourful intervals higher up where the ear can separate them.
You are also allowed to leave notes out. In a seventh chord, the fifth is usually the first note to drop; it adds almost no identity. The third and the seventh are the two that define the chord's quality, so those are the two to keep when your hand runs out of room.
- —Voicing is arrangement, not a different chord.
- —Keep the bottom wide, put close intervals up high.
- —Third and seventh define the chord; the fifth is expendable.
Play Cmaj7 in a cramped position around middle C, then re-voice it with C in the bass and E–B up high. Same chord, better record.
Open ChordCraft Lab1. What is the formula for a minor triad?
2. What does the chord symbol C/E tell you?
3. Which two notes define the quality of a seventh chord?
4. Why does a dominant seventh chord pull so strongly toward home?