By: Matt Warnock
Click to Buy Three Note Voicings from Amazon
When people hear the words “jazz guitar chords,” pictures of giant, five or six-note chords come to mind, often with big stretches and funny names like augmented b9 and 7b9,#5 and such. But, it is more often than not that professional jazz guitarists, such as Lenny Breau, Kurt Rosenwinkel and Ed Bickert for example, prefer to use smaller, more manageable chords, which are often only three or four notes and based on material that many of us already know such as triads and fourth voicings. In his new book, Three-Note Voicings and Beyond, author, guitarist and master pedagogue Randy Vincent sheds light on this ultra-important, but often overlooked, voicings and demonstrates how guitarists of any background or skill level can learn and apply these chords to their playing right away.
Released by Sher Music in their Jazz Guitar Voicings Series, Three-Note Voicings does an outstanding job of covering just about every possible fingering for a three-note chord on the guitar, as well as providing exercises for further practicing and examples of how to easily and quickly apply these chords to a real life gigging situation. Readers who have studied jazz guitar and jazz chords may already be familiar with what are commonly known as three-note shell voicings, basically the Root, 3rd and 7th of any given chord, with variations when necessary, but what many people don’t realize is that they can play tons of different three-note chords that go beyond the standard shell voicings. This is what Vincent presents in his book with a depth that is admirable, and for good measure there is a section devoted to common and uncommon shell voicings for students who want to further their knowledge of these chords.
Taking simple ideas like triads for example, Vincent craftily shows the reader how to manipulate an easy to play three-note voicing so that they are able to apply it to many different musical situations. As well, for every concept and approach there are multiple fingerings presented for the chords and progressions, preventing the reader from only knowing one way to do things, and freeing them up to apply these ideas across the entire range of the fingerboard. As well as showing the reader how to practice each chord and voicing in a progression, both major and minor, Vincent also tackles chord scales, which are a favorite practice technique of players such as Ben Monder and Ted Greene, but that many of us are not aware of, or haven’t inserted into our daily routine. By doing so, Vincent not only gives people an in depth approach to practicing each concept, he is also proving further learning material for those of us who have already spent time practicing inversions and chord progressions, but are looking for a new direction in our chordal practicing.
Three-Note Voicings and Beyond is a must-have book for any serious student of jazz guitar. Not only are the fingerings in this book essential for anyone looking to expand their harmonic knowledge, but the information is presented in a practical, easy to understand and fun to practice manner, something that few books are able to do. If you’re looking to break out of a chord rut, were scared to learn jazz chords because they sounded impossible to learn, or are just looking to expand your knowledge of the fretboard, then check out Randy Vincent’s book, you won’t be disappointed.
