Shell Voicings Lesson – Super Simple Yet Powerful Jazz Chords

Posted on by freejazzlessons

Ever wonder what guys like Bud Powell, Barry Harris, and Al Haig play in their left hand when they’re soloing in their right hand?

Well, most of the time they are using a particular type of chord voicing known as shell voicings.

These voicings are super simple to play but really powerful when used correctly.  You can use them in jazz, blues, funk, and even certain rock styles.

I’m going to teach you how to play them in just a second but before that you must check this video out of Bud Powell soloing while using shell voicings.

He’s playing on the tune There Will Never Be Another You. He pretty much uses them exclusively when he’s soloing.

Bud’s solo starts at 57 seconds in. 

Now you know how they sound. Pretty cool right? Let’s talk about how to build them.

How To Play Shell Voicings

The theory behind them is super simple.  For the most part they are 2 note voicings.  For each chord you play the root of the chord as your lowest note. 

The second note will be either the 3rd or 7th of the chord.  And that’s it. Simple right?

They are purposely left sparse so you can do more interesting things in the right hand while you’re soloing.

Here’s are 2 examples of them in a II – V- I  chord progression.

Example 1:  The root is on the bottom and the  7th on top on the Dmin7.  It then voice leads to the G7 (root on the bottom 3rd on top) and then moves to Cmaj7 (root on the bottom and seventh again on top).

Example 2:  The root is on the bottom and the  3rd on top on the Fmin7.  It then voice leads to the Bb7 (root on the bottom 7th on top) and then moves to Ebmaj7 (root on the bottom and 3rd  again on top).

They tend to work best when there is a particularly active and rhythmically interesting right hand.

They essentially outline the bare essentials of the harmony and leave plenty of space for an expressive right hand solo.

That’s why they were super popular in the bebop era and even still today.

How Do You Practice Shell Voicings?

Here are 3 recommendations

1. Take a couple jazz standards and build a simple arrangement just using shell voicings in your left hand. 

2. Practice soloing through a couple tunes you know really well so you don’t have to think about the chord changes. Force yourself to only use the shell voicings while you improvise simple ideas in the R.H. 

3. Transcribe a couple choruses of a Bud Powell or Barry Harris solo and take a listen to how they use shell voicings.  If you need a starting point here’s a Barry Harris solo for your to check out.

4. Once you master shell voicings make sure you check out this lesson on rootless voicings for the left hand.  You can also check out this voicing lesson on two handed chord voicings.

******

If you are new here be sure to subscribe to the free jazz lessons email. You’ll receive all the latest free lessons as soon as they’re released.  

You can sign up right on the top left of the website or right below this article.

Steve Nixon is the proud owner of Freejazzlessons.com. He is a world touring jazz and blues keyboard player and educator.

Steve is also the author of the new Jazz Masters Method (a study of 9 legendary jazz piano players) and the Learn Blues Piano DVD Course.

His brand new course, Premium Jazz Lessons Elite Membership, was just released. Premium Jazz Membership