5 Simple Chord Voicing Concepts | For Pro Sounding Chords

If there's one thing that can make a difference in the way your piano playing sounds, it is the voicings of you chords. Chord voicing is just the arrangement and/or inclusion or exclusion of notes in your chords.

It may not seem like a big deal, but how you voice your chords can be the difference between stimulating and dull. So let's take a look 5 simple chord voicing concepts to make your chords sound professional.

1 Don't play chords in root position (all or most of the time)

It's tempting to play chords the same old way because that's the way you're most familiar with them. This is especially true when you play most or all of your chords in root position. There's times when it's appropriate but this is known as a closed voicing. So don't play them this way out of sheer habit.

Take C Major in root position as an example.

You can simply open up your chords by playing them in different inversions no matter how many notes are in the chord. As you may know, these open chord voicings are played in both hands it absolutely makes the difference in the way any chord sounds.

2 Add color tones to your chords

What the heck are color tones? Color tones are extended tones that add color to a basic Major or minor triad. They're actually the tones that form extended chords. Specifically they're 7th 9th and 13th tones. They definitely add color to basic triads so take a look at them.

Here's your basic C Major triad.Now lets add the Major 7th
Now lets add the 9th

Now lets add the 13th

Don't forget to use the first concept we learned earlier about spreading out our chord voicing in both hands.

3 Leave notes out of your chord
Another way to open up your chords is to omit tones that are a part of the chord by definition. For example, the 5th is often omitted simply because it doesn't add any color to your chord. It just helps to fill in the chord, especially when the notes are rather sparse.

Here's an example of an F9 with no 5th in it.

You can also omit other tones such as a 9th tone when you're playing a 13th chord.

4 Play some of your chord tones melodically
The notes within chords are by definition played harmonically. In other words, at the same time. But there's no rule that chords must be played this way all of the time. You can play the notes of the chord as an arpeggio. (playing the notes of the chord one at a time)

Playing the root of the arpeggiated chord first, and then the rest of the chord in your right hand is a common way to play melodic sounding chords.