

In this course, the "So What" voicings are derived from a transcription of Bill Evans' comping the changes to their namesake tune and their use is applied to traditional tonal progressions. "So What" voicings confer a modern sound and are a versatile two-handed voicing technique that can be used equally as well for comping or solo playing. It's influence extends literally down to the piano voicings that Bill Evans played on one of the most popular tunes on the recording and in all of the jazz repertoire, "So What." Known as "So What" voicings, the notes of these two-handed chords are arranged with a major third above a stack of perfect fourth intervals. Arrangers and non-pianists can also benefit from knowing these chords.The music on Miles Davis' "Kind of Blue" was influential on many levels: it ushered in the style of modality, it introduced a new voice to jazz piano, Bill Evans, it established several new standard tunes to the repertoire and went on to become the best selling jazz album of all time. Band directors could also give these handouts as a reference to their jazz pianists to help them learn to voice chords. For instance, a jazz pianist in a jazz band or jazz combo could keep these two handouts with the rest of their music for when they need to figure out how to voice a chord. In reality, you should know more than 1-2 voicings for each chord, but this handout is a solid reference for jazz pianists in need of some good voicings. Those left-hand voicings are useful when the pianist is 1) soloing with their right hand, 2) playing the melody, or when they are 3) playing bass lines in their left hand (like a jazz organist). The first handout is the Encyclopedia of Two-Hand Voicing.

This handout is the second in a two-part series of reference voicings for the jazz pianist. This is an short “encyclopedia” with 1-2 voicings for most of the chords jazz pianists are likely to encounter. Two-Hand piano voicings are essential for jazz pianists when comping behind melodists and soloists.
