I askin how do you voice your...extented chords like 9th 11th etc...you know
Ok..
There are a couple of ways, depending on what sound quality you want as well as the melody.Another important point I should bring to your attention is that sometimes (in fact, all the time
) you should look at the chord based on both your LH & RH, not just one hand. This is especially true in gospel music where you will find yourself playing a note or two in your LH that is/ are not included in your RH- in which case, if you look at both hands collectively, you might be holding a b13
th or 11
th, which might not seem to be the case if you assess 1 hand.
An example of the above is this:
In the key of C:
C-E
(10th)/A-G-B
If you look at the LH alone, it's just a Cmajor [I chord].
The RH appears to be a Gsus2 chord [Vsus2 chord].
So nothing seems to be big in that chord except maybe the way it sounds or that sus chord in the RH.
But now, if we put both hands together, we establish that you are holding a Cmaj13 chord.
Perhaps the fingering for that voicing might be too uncomfy for others because of width, in which case I'd probably hold C-E
(not 10th)/G-A-B , just making sure that it's not muddy.
Alternatively, C-A/E-G-B, or C-G/ A-E-B, or C-G/E-^A-B [^=trill/ play for split sec.].
So you see that you don't really have to try that hard to play the so-called bg chords--if you sound good (which you do!) it's probably because you are already playing these big chords without having realized it because you were looking at each hand in isolation.
I don't know why I adapted this approach to explain this to you--I thought I was going to do like I've always done...anyway, lemme move on.
9ths:These are the most basic, imo, to form with 1 hand without investing much thought after a few practices. How so?
Say you want to play a specific chord, say
in root position. You can revolutionize that chord "on the fly" by moving a half step or whole step (depending on the diatonic positioning of that chord in the key you are in..ie, depending on where the 7th is..remember, it will be a half step for the I, IV chords. That is because we want to form a major 7th. It will be a whole step for the ii, iii, IV & vi chords because they are minors & a dominant).
We know that we need a 3rd & a 7th in order to have extended chords. If we are already holding the 7th with out bottom RH finger (thumb) and the 3rd , then all we have to do is insert the 2 & we get a 9th
It's all easy fingering.
An example of the above, in C major:
I: CM9 : C/ C-E-G-B -invert to---> C/B-D-E-G (the C in RH is not necessary now bcos U have it on your LH)
ii: Dm9 : D/ D-F-A-C -invert to---> D/C-E-F-A (the D in RH is not necessary now bcos U have it on your LH)
iii: Em9 : E/ E-G-B-D -invert to---> E/D-F-G-B (the E in RH is not necessary now bcos U have it on your LH)
IV: FM9 : F/ F-A-C-E -invert to---> F/E-G-A-C (the F in RH is not necessary now bcos U have it on your LH)
V: G9 : G/ G-B-D-F -invert to---> G/F-A-B-D (the G in RH is not necessary now bcos U have it on your LH)
vi: Am9 : A/ A-C-E-G -invert to---> A/G-C-D-E (the A in RH is not necessary now bcos U have it on your LH)
vii: Bdim6 : B/B-D-F -invert to---> B/Ab-B-D-F
I just did everything for completeness' sake.
NOTE: for some 9ths (most) you will have to play them as trills to make it sound sweet.
Also, don't forget to practice your inversions..those might take some more effort getting used to.
For instance, if you can familiarize yuoreself with inversions, you will know that if you are holding a chord F-A-C-E in your RH, it will sound nice if you add a D note on the LH.
For instance, depending on what keys I'm on, I know that if I play a B or Cb note on my LH, I can add either Eb-Gb-Ab-Bb-Db (forming a CbM13 chord..easy cool voicing..keys of Gb or Cb & even Db & Eb near ending) or I could play A-C#-D-F# in my RH (forming a Bm9 chord..keys of A, Bmin/Dmaj, G etc ).
We can apply these "smart" voicings, using the same principle, in all the notes.
It is up to you to look at a specific chord quality (say a major9/11/13 or minor 9/11/13 or augmented etc) work with 1 chord 1st, in 1 key..once you have a comfortable voicing, play that chord chromatically up.
Then try it around the circle.
I won't lie, it is demanding work, but it's well worth it man.
Sorry for the long post, but I hope you can digest it.
I urge you to read this again & again, believe me, it will make sense. That includes the stuff I explained in the old post where I was explaining the patterns..
best wishes man.
