Polychord Voicings

This is a preview of the educational program A Jazz Improvisation Almanac which is under development for the Outside Shore Music Online School. Feel free to browse this preview and learn what you can from it. For a more completed product, though, check out the original freely browsable jazz textbook, A Jazz Improvisation Primer.

Polychords, also known as slash chords, are generally voiced in a rather straightforward manner. The bottom chord or note is played at the bottom of the voicing, and the top chord is played on the top of the voicing. This preserves the individual sound of the two chords, which is usually an important part of the sound of the polychord. For example, the polychord E/Ctriad might be voiced as follows:

[EXAMPLE]

Intermixing the notes from the two chords does not yield the same sound:

[EXAMPLE]

There are three polychords worthy of special mention, since they are often used as substitutes for simpler chords. The first is the combination of a major triad over the major triad or bass note a whole step above, such as F/G. This is really just a G7sus chord in disguise:

[EXAMPLE]

The polychord voicing is an effective way of these sus chords:

[EXAMPLE]

The other two polychords we will mention are used as substitutes for a major chord, particularly a tonic chord. These polychords are composed by placing the major triad of the seventh or third degrees of the corresponding major scale over the tonic. For example, in the key of C, we have E/C and B/C:

[EXAMPLE]

While, technically, these chords could be described as Cmaj7#5 and Cmaj7#11#9 respectively, these chords are rarely called for, as they are extremely rich in color. You may use your own judgment in playing these polychord voicings as substitutes for Cmaj7 chords. The B/C voicing, or the even richer B7#9/Ctriad voicing, makes an effective final chord for many ballads:

[EXAMPLE]

Copyright 2000 Outside Shore Music
Authored by Marc Sabatella

Polychord Voicings