Left hand jazz piano voicings

These left-hand voicings were largely pioneered in the 1950s by jazz pianists such as Bill Evans. Jazz pianists in the decades prior to the 1950s generally played more block chords and/or shell voicings (like roots and 7ths) and put the root in their voicings most of the time.

1. What do you do with your left hand in jazz piano?
2. What are piano voicings?
3. What are spread voicings?

What do you do with your left hand in jazz piano?

Here are the most common left hand techniques for jazz piano:

1. Stride (Fats Waller)
2. Shell voicings (Bud Powell)
3. Root plus 3rd and 7th (Bill Evans when playing solo)
4. Rootless voicings (Bill Evans in trio setting)
5. Low 5th up to a chord built in 4ths (McCoy Tyner)
6. Adding inner-voice movement (Keith Jarrett)

What are piano voicings?

Piano voicing is the process of adjusting the density of the felts covering the hammers striking the string to produce a warmer or brighter tone. In this video, we will see how a piano is voiced and hear what a difference it can make to the piano's overall sound.

What are spread voicings?

A style of musical arranging or orchestration in which the notes of chords are assigned across a range wider than one octave. The lowest note of an open voicing is almost always the root of the chord; occasionally it may be the fifth.