Left-hand rootless piano voicings were an innovation introduced by numerous piano players inĀ the 1950s. Ā Rootless left-hand voicingsĀ are considered to be essential, must-know voicings by most modern jazz piano players, but you won’t hear them in recordings from the 1910s-1940s.
The PDF and the JPEG images below show the ii-V7-I progression in all 12 keys. Ā These voicings are important for every modern jazz piano player. Ā I provided two sets of left-hand voicings for each key on the sheet music.
Both sets of voicings work for each key, but generally I prefer to go with the voicings in which the left hand pinky is placed closer to the middle of the C3-C4 octave (the octave from the C below middle C through middle C). Ā In “The Jazz Piano Book,” Mark Levine, a former jazz piano teacher of mine, notes that left hand voicings work best when your left hand pinky is somewhere between C3 and C4. Ā
While the C3-C4 rule works generally pretty well for the most part on most pianos, I thinkĀ it can be taken a step further. Ā There isĀ a sweet spot in the MIDDLE of the C3-C4 octave when you place your left hand pinky somewhere between the D3 and the A3. Ā The Db3 and Bb3 also work well for the left hand pinky, but putting your pinky on a C3 can produce some muddy voicings on some instruments. Ā Similarly, placing your left hand pinkyĀ on a B3, and C4 can produce voicings that are cumbersome, and can get in the way of your right hand solos.
I teach that if you try to keep your left hand pinky somewhere between the D3-A3 or Db3-Bb3, you’ll get the best results on most pianos.Ā This is just a guideline for left-hand rootless voicings. Ā Left hand voicings in a lower tessitura tend to sound better on a grand piano, particularly a 7 or 9 foot piano, than they do a smaller instrument or keyboard. Ā If you have a concert grand piano then you can get away with playing left hand voicings a little bit lower, and might even be able to push left hand voicings down to a B2 or even a Bb2.
With some of these keys, both of the sets of voicings fall in between the Db3 and the Bb3. Ā If that is the case, then both sets of voicings will work fine. Ā Other keys haveĀ one set of voicings that is closer to the middle of the C3-C4 octave, and thus works better than the other set of voicings.
It is also worth noting that I use 7935 for a left hand “B” voicing for a major 7 chord. Ā This contrasts with my old teacher Mark Levine, who prefers a rooted 7135 voicings for major 7th chords “B” voicings.
Pianists and non-pianists alike will benefit from learning these voicings and practicing to improvise over the ii-V7-I progression. Ā Enjoy!
For more voicing ideas, visit 5 Important Shapes for Left-Hand Piano Voicings and Two Beginning Jazz Piano Voicings.