Voicings: close and open position

A voicing is the concrete way the notes of a chord are laid out on the keyboard: which notes, in what order, at what height, in which hand. The same Cmaj7 can sound crystalline, warm, thick or airy depending on its voicing.

Close and open position

• Close position: all the notes fit within an octave, with no room for another chord tone between adjacent voices. Compact, clear, easy to play in one hand.
• Open position: the notes are spread over more than an octave. Broader, more “orchestral”.

M:4/4
L:1/2
%%staves {RH LH}
V:RH clef=treble
V:LH clef=bass
K:C
[V:RH] "Cmaj7"[CEGB]2 | "Cmaj7"[EGBc]2 | "Cmaj7"[B,EGc]2 | "Cmaj7"[EB]2 |]
[V:LH] z2 | z2 | z2 | [C,G,]2 |]

Bar 1: close position, root position. Bar 2: close position, inverted. Bar 3: drop 2 — take the second voice from the top (B) and drop it an octave; a technique jazz players use constantly to open up a close voicing. Bar 4: open position split between the hands (root and fifth in the left, third and seventh in the right).

Golden rules of voicing

1. Low = wide, high = close. This mirrors the harmonic series: in the bass keep wide intervals (octaves, fifths); thirds and seconds belong in the middle and upper registers.
2. Low interval limits: avoid thirds below the C an octave under middle C (and seconds even higher): they turn into an indistinct rumble.
3. The top note sings: it's what we hear most. Choose it so it makes a good line from chord to chord.
4. Move as little as possible between chords: keep common tones, move the others by step.

Here is a very common pop progression played with close voicings that connect without jumps in the right hand, while the left hand holds the bass notes:

M:4/4
L:1/4
%%staves {RH LH}
V:RH clef=treble
V:LH clef=bass
K:C
[V:RH] "C"[EGc]2 "Am"[EAc]2 | "F"[FAc]2 "G"[DGB]2 | "C"[EGc]4 |]
[V:LH] C,2 A,,2 | F,,2 G,,2 | C,4 |]