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Instructor Lesson Type Skill Level Duration

Jonny  Quick Tip  Level 3 12:53
Advanced Arranging Tips
on Misty
May

Lesson Level 3

Learning Focus Music Style Learn how to apply block

chords, drop 2 voicings, and
Accompanying Jazz Ballads upper structures on Misty.

Chords

Lead Sheets

Reharmonization
How to Improvise Film
Music on Piano
Are you looking for a way to harmonize jazz ballads to get that classic cocktail piano sound? In
today’s Quick Tip, you will learn how sound like Bill Evans, Hank Jones, George Shearing, and many
Lesson Level 2 Level 3
other great solo pianists by using block chord and drop 2 voicings to harmonize melodies. First, we
Discover the techniques used by
will learn how to harmonize with block chords, then use our new knowledge to learn all about drop composer Joshua Foy to
2 voicings. Let’s dig in! improvise various moods used
in lm music on the piano.

Step 1: Block Chords

What is a block chord?  A block chord is a type of voicing where each of the notes are close
together, within an octave. The great George Shearing popularized the sound of block chords on 10 Best Ways to Harmonize
piano by doubling the highest note of his voicings an octave below, reinforcing the the chord to a Chord Progression

emphasize his melodies. A great example of how this sounds is this performance of Lullaby of
Birdland by Shearing himself. What a great sound! Lesson Level 2 Level 3
This Quick Tip is the ultimate
Let’s take a look at what block chord voicings look like using the chord changes for “Misty”: cure for the common chord
progression with 10 unique
techniques to harmonize your
favorite jazz tunes on piano.
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0:21
Here, we can see each note in the left hand is doubling the top note of the right hand. This is key for
the block chord sound! You’ve probably also noticed that there are no Maj7 chords in this
example. They’ve been replaced with 6 chords. That is okay; the pianist is free to use either Maj7 or
6 chords in this style of jazz piano playing. It’s up to you to decide which sound or “ avor” of Major
chords you like, and switch between them if you want! There is one caveat to this however: avoid
half steps at the top of the voicing because it will obscure the melody. Whole steps are ne, and
you can see there are many voicings here with a whole step at the top.

Once you can play through the block chord voicings above, experiment with moving the top note
around to create little melodies. As long as the chord stays the same, you can move the top and
bottom notes while keeping everything else the same to be more melodic, like this:

0:13
To master this technique, practice playing up and down scales using block chords. The top and
bottom note of each chord will be an octave apart while you ll in the rest of the chord using chord
tones:

C Major scale with block chords

0:10
Great job! Next, let’s take a look at drop 2 chords.

Step 2: Drop 2 Chords

A drop 2 chord is a chord where the second from highest note is dropped down an octave. It’s
easiest to think of these as block chords with the second from highest note dropped down:
 Drop 2 voicings for “Misty”

0:20
These are a little trickier to get down than block chords! Your left hand is going to play the
“dropped” note, and the important thing to remember about drop 2 chords is the bottom and top
note form an interval of a 10th. This interval is what gives drop 2 chords their wonderfully melodic
and harmonic quality.

Pay attention to how the left hand moves while playing drop 2 chords. Often, and especially while
playing ii-Vs, the left hand is the only voice that moves. Play through the voicings above slowly and
look at how the structure of the voicings changes as you go through the progression.

BLOCK CHORD AND DROP 2 VOICINGS: THE IMPORTANCE

OF INTERVALS

If you decide to use Maj7 chords instead of 6 chords, make sure the interval between your bottom
and top notes is not a minor 9th (a half step separated by an octave). This is a hugely dissonant
sound and is almost impossible to sound good. However, if you use Maj7 chords and your top and
bottom notes are separated by a 10th or a Major 9th (whole step separated by an octave), it will
sound great!

You have probably also noticed that each drop 2 chord uses four notes, while our block chords use
ve notes. The reason for this change is simple: clarity! The purpose in using each of these chord
types is to make the melody (your top note) clear while still providing harmony and musical color.
Block chords achieve this by doubling the melody on the bottom. This doubling creates a strong,
reinforced sound. This strengthening can hold up to lots of other notes and colors between them.
On the other hand, drop 2 chords do not double the melody on the bottom, instead creating a
harmonic interval of a 9th or 10th. By removing the doubled note, the melody is still clear while the
voicing provides plenty of color and harmonic interest.

If you want to dig in to even more detail about harmonizing a melody, check out our 6 Jazz Ballad
Harmonic Approaches 1 and 6 Jazz Ballad Harmonic Approaches 2 courses. Check out our Chord
Shell & Guide Tone Exercises and Diatonic 7th Chord Exercises courses for more practice
techniques to master what you’ve learned here.

Thanks for learning, and see you in the next Quick Tip.

Blog written by Austin Byrd / Quick Tip by Jonny May

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