Module 4: Voicings I: shell voicingsLesson 4intermediate⏱ 75 min + 15 min daily for a week

Adding colour: 9ths and 13ths on shells

Turn each three-note shell into a four-note voicing by adding a 9th or a 13th on the next string, learn which tensions fit which chord, and meet rootless voicings as the same idea with the root left to the bass.

Why add a fourth note

Shells define the harmony; they do not colour it. Listen to any record from the 1950s onwards and the guitar or piano behind the soloist is playing something richer than root, 3rd and 7th: a 9th singing on top of a minor chord, a 13th on the dominant, a 6/9 sound on the I chord. These tensions (also called extensions or colour tones) are what make a ii–V–I sound like jazz rather than like a hymn.

The good news is that you do not need new shapes. Every shell from lessons 4.1 and 4.2 has an unused string right next to it, and a single finger on that string adds the colour. This lesson shows you where the 9 and the 13 live relative to each shell, and then takes the root away to introduce the rootless voicings that every later voicing module builds on.

What a 9th and a 13th are

Stack a chord in 3rds past the 7th and you get the 9th, the 11th and the 13th. They are the 2nd, 4th and 6th of the scale an octave higher; the number tells you the note is thought of as above the 7th, part of the chord's colour rather than its structure.

Which tensions fit which quality? For now you need three rules; the full account is in the chord-scale lessons later in the course.

• Major 7th chords take the 9 freely, and the 13 (which is the 6). The 6/9 chord (6th and 9th, no 7th) is the classic swing-era I-chord colour.
• Minor 7th chords take the 9 freely. (The 11 also works; the 13 depends on the context.)
• Dominant 7th chords take the 9 and the 13 when the chord resolves to a major chord. When it resolves to a minor chord, players lower them: the b9 and the b13. You will meet the altered dominant properly later; this lesson shows you the 7b9 shape so you can hear the difference.

On the fretboard the 9 is two frets above the root's octave and the 13 is two frets above the 5th (or equally the 6th, the same note). Those two facts let you find any tension from any shell without a chart.

Root-6 shells plus one note

Start from the G shells. For the 6-4-3 shell (root, 7th, 3rd) the free string is the 2nd string (and the 1st). For the 6-5-4 shell (root, 3rd, 7th) the free string is the 3rd string. Here are the four shapes you will use most, each verified by the build against the chord symbol, with the degrees under the frets:

Look at the first shape: it is the G7 shell from lesson 4.1 with one finger added on the 2nd string. That is the sound of every big-band guitar part marked "G13". The second adds the 9 on the 1st string; it rings brighter, with a wider spread. The third and fourth start from the 6-5-4 shell instead and put the tension on the 3rd or 2nd string, which keeps the voicing tight and low.

Fingering: the 6-4-3-plus-2nd-string shapes need all four fingers, so switch from the shell's 2-3-4 fingering to 1 on the root, 2 on string 4, 3 on string 3 and 4 on string 2 (the 1st finger still mutes the 5th string from above). For the 6-5-4 shapes with the 9 on string 3 (G9, Gmaj9, Gm9 above), the 1st finger can cover both the 5th-string note and the 3rd-string note when they are on the same fret, as a small partial barre.

Practise the pairs: shell, then shell plus tension, two beats each, on one root, until you hear the tension as an addition to a sound you already know rather than a new chord.

\tempo 72
.
\ts 4 4
(3.6 3.4 4.3).2{ch "G7"} (3.6 3.4 4.3 5.2).2{ch "G13"} | (3.6 2.5 3.4).2{ch "G7"} (3.6 2.5 3.4 2.3).2{ch "G9"} | (3.6 2.5 4.4).2{ch "Gmaj7"} (3.6 2.5 4.4 2.3).2{ch "Gmaj9"} | (3.6 1.5 3.4).2{ch "Gm7"} (3.6 1.5 3.4 2.3).2{ch "Gm9"} |

Root-5 shells plus one note

For the 5-4-3 shell (root, 3rd, 7th) the free string is the 2nd. For the 5-3-2 shell (root, 7th, 3rd) the free string is the 1st. The C shapes:

These root-5 shapes are the most used four-note voicings on the guitar. The Cmaj9, C9 and Cm9 shapes are the same three fingers on strings 5-4-3 as the shells plus the 2nd string at the 3rd fret, so the quality is still decided by strings 4 and 3 and the colour is on top. Note the C7b9: the b9 sits one fret below where the 9 was. That one-fret move is the whole difference between a dominant that resolves to major and one that resolves to minor.

\tempo 72
.
\ts 4 4
(3.5 2.4 4.3).2{ch "Cmaj7"} (3.5 2.4 4.3 3.2).2{ch "Cmaj9"} | (3.5 1.4 3.3).2{ch "Cm7"} (3.5 1.4 3.3 3.2).2{ch "Cm9"} | (3.5 3.3 5.2).2{ch "C7"} (3.5 3.3 5.2 5.1).2{ch "C13"} | (3.5 2.4 3.3 3.2).2{ch "C9"} (3.5 2.4 3.3 2.2).2{ch "C7b9"} |

The ii–V–I with tensions

Now combine the two families exactly as in lesson 4.2: ii on string 5, V on string 6, I on string 5, all between frets 2 and 5. The ii gets a 9, the V gets a 13, the I gets a 9 and then a 6/9. The rhythm is the Charleston, the most common comping figure in jazz: a dotted quarter on beat 1 and an eighth on the "and" of 2, then rest. You will study comping rhythms in detail in a later module; for now the figure is a vehicle for the voicings.

\tempo 110
.
\ts 4 4
(5.5 3.4 5.3 5.2).4{ch "Dm9" d} (5.5 3.4 5.3 5.2).8 r.2 | (3.6 3.4 4.3 5.2).4{ch "G13" d} (3.6 3.4 4.3 5.2).8 r.2 | (3.5 2.4 4.3 3.2).4{ch "Cmaj9" d} (3.5 2.4 4.3 3.2).8 r.2 | (3.5 2.4 2.3 3.2).4{ch "C6/9" d} (3.5 2.4 2.3 3.2).8 r.2 |

Listen to the top voice: it holds on the same pitch from Dm9 to G13, then drops a whole step into the I chord. Shells gave you guide-tone voice leading on the inside; tensions give you a melody on top. Comping is the art of choosing that top line.

The same thing in F uses the root-6 Gm9 shape, a C13 from the 5-3-2 shell and an Fmaj9 from the 6-4-3 shell with the 9 on the 1st string; it is notated below in the 13-versus-b9 example. First, in Bb, higher on the neck, to show that the same recipe works anywhere: Cm9 from the 6-5-4 shell at fret 8, F13 from the 5-4-3 shell at fret 8 with the 13 on the 1st string, Bbmaj9 from the 6-5-4 shell at fret 6.

\tempo 100
.
\ts 4 4
(8.6 6.5 8.4 7.3).1{ch "Cm9"} | (8.5 7.4 8.3 10.1).1{ch "F13"} | (6.6 5.5 7.4 5.3).1{ch "Bbmaj9"} | (8.6 6.5 8.4 7.3).2{ch "Cm9"} (8.5 7.4 8.3 10.1).2{ch "F13"} |
(6.6 5.5 7.4 5.3).1{ch "Bbmaj9"} |

Finally the ii–V–I in F, twice: first with the bright C13, then with the darker C7b9 shape from above, the colour a dominant takes on its way to a minor chord. Play the two versions back to back and hear what one fret does.

\tempo 100
.
\ts 4 4
(3.6 1.5 3.4 2.3).2{ch "Gm9"} (3.5 3.3 5.2 5.1).2{ch "C13"} | (1.6 2.4 2.3 3.1).1{ch "Fmaj9"} | (3.6 1.5 3.4 2.3).2{ch "Gm9"} (3.5 2.4 3.3 2.2).2{ch "C7b9"} | (1.6 2.4 2.3 3.1).1{ch "Fmaj9"} |

Rootless thinking

In a band, the bass player has the root. If you play it too, you are doubling the lowest and least interesting note in the chord. Pianists worked this out in the 1950s (Bill Evans and Wynton Kelly are the usual names) and built their left-hand voicings from 3rd, 7th and tensions only. Guitarists followed, and the four-note shapes above become rootless voicings the moment you lift the root finger.

Take the Cmaj9 shape (strings 5-4-3-2). Lift the root on string 5 and you have 3-7-9 on strings 4-3-2: still unmistakably Cmaj9 against a bass note. Better still, move the whole idea onto the top four strings, where the engine's rootless library has a shape for every chord. Here is a ii–V–I on strings 4-3-2-1; notice that two notes stay put at every change.

\tempo 110
.
\ts 4 4
(3.4 5.3 5.2 5.1).4{ch "Dm9" d} (3.4 5.3 5.2 5.1).8 r.2 | (3.4 4.3 5.2 5.1).4{ch "G13" d} (3.4 4.3 5.2 5.1).8 r.2 | (2.4 4.3 3.2 3.1).1{ch "Cmaj9"} | (2.4 4.3 3.2 3.1).1 |

From Dm9 to G13 only one finger moves (on string 3, down one fret). From G13 to Cmaj9 the top two notes fall and the inner two stay. This is the same half-step guide-tone motion you have been playing since lesson 4.1, now with colour on top. Rootless voicings are the main subject of the second voicings module; for now, treat them as a preview and keep your roots when you play alone.

Exercises

1. Shell, then colour: every shell you know, on G and on C, followed by its 9 or 13 version, two beats each at 72 bpm. Say the tension name as you add it.
2. Tensions on the cycle: the dominant shapes G13 and C13 alternating around the cycle of 4ths (G13 on string 6, C13 on string 5, F13 on string 6, Bb13 on string 5 and so on). Use the chord dictionary to check any shape you are unsure of; it labels every degree.
3. ii–V–I with tensions in C, F, Bb, Eb, G and D, both the low route (ii on string 5) and the high route (ii on string 6), Charleston rhythm, 100 bpm.
4. The F blues from lesson 4.2 with every 7 chord played as a 13 or 9, the ii as a m9, and the I in the last bar as a 6/9. Keep the Freddie Green four-to-the-bar from lesson 4.3 for the first chorus and switch to the Charleston for the second.
5. Rootless preview: the top-four-string ii–V–I in C, then two frets higher (D), five frets higher (F). Hear that the sound is complete without the root.

Quiz