5 Easy Jazz Piano Chords That Sound Great
Want to play great sounding jazz piano chords?
Great news! You DON’T have to first learn jazz theory to play fantastic sounding jazz chords. In fact, it can confuse and frustrate you if you dive first into the treacherous world of jazz theory.
Root, Shell, Pretty: The Secret to Effective Jazz Piano Chords
There’s lots of videos, blog posts, and teaching online that will show you the basic root position ‘jazz’ piano chords, but these generally sound corny.
So how about we learn to play some great sounding, easy jazz chords, and we’ll catch the theory along the way as needed.
Ready?
Skip the corny root-position chords, and go straight to the slick sounding stuff. All the elements you need are right in the title: Root/Shell/Pretty.
What is Root/Shell/Pretty? Before we break it down, play this C-major 7 chord and hear it for yourself.
We’ll build up all 5 of our chords the same way, with 3 notes in the left hand, and 2 notes in the right hand. We’ll learn them first in the key of C, then you can go on to all 12 keys in the same, simple way.
Chord 1: Major 7ths “Cma7”
Let’s build up from the bottom of our 2 handed chord voicings for Cma7.
This is the bottom note in your left hand, and it’s always the root of the chord, the note the chord (Cma7) is named (in this case C)
Shell: Now we add the major 3rd (E) and the major 7th (B) to the left hand, that will give us the root + shell.
Pretty notes: Now we have some choices, let’s get ‘pretty’ and add the 9th (D) and the 5th (G).
That’s it – you’re playing jazz piano chords now, and you should be enjoying what you’re hearing. If you’d like to compare this to the corny root position version of this chord, play this (at your own risk).
Chord 2: Minor 7th “Cm7”
These are similar to Major 7ths, but with a minor 3rd and minor (or dominant) 7th. Again, we’ll build up from the bottom of our 2 handed chord voicings for C minor 7, usually written as Cm7.
Root: The bottom note in your left hand, the root of the chord (in this case still C).
Shell: Add the minor 3rd (Eb) and the dominant 7th (Bb) to the left hand, also known as the shell.
Pretty notes: Still gettin’ ‘pretty’, adding the 9th (D) and the 11th (F).
Chord 3: Dominant 7th “C7”
This one is similar the major 7th, just make 7th minor (or dominant). Let’s build up! Root: Still C!
Shell: Add the major 3rd (E) and the dominant 7th (Bb) to the left hand to make the root+shell.
Pretty notes: Pretty Time! Add the 9th (D) and the 5th (G).
Chord 4: C7#11 (dominant 7th with sharp 11)
This one is similar the dominant 7th, but with a new ‘pretty’ note. Root: C (you’ve got this!)
Shell: Add the major 3rd (E) and the dominant 7th (Bb) to the left hand to make the root+shell.
Pretty notes: New pretty note time, adding some color and tension with just 1 alteration, the sharp 11 (#11). Add the 9th (D) and the #11 (F#).
Chord 5: C7#9 (dominant 7th with sharp 9)
Our final jazz piano chord that sounds GREAT! This one has another new ‘pretty’ note on top.
Root: C (you’ve got this!).
Shell: Add the major 3rd (E) and the dominant 7th (Bb) to the left hand to make the root+shell.
Pretty notes: New pretty note time, adding some color and tension with just 1 alteration, the sharp 9 (#9).
Add the #9th (D#) and the 5th (G).
How to practice
Download the free practice worksheet and take all 5 chords thru all 12 keys. I prefer to do this by moving chromatically, but it’s also effective moving thru the circle of 5ths. Take your time, make sure you get the feel for each of the shapes in each key. You’ll note that many feel different, even though the intervals stay the same.
You can also practice chord 4 and 5 together as the beginning of a jazz chord progression, like so:
Meet Your Instructor
Peter Martin is an acclaimed jazz pianist, educator, and founder of Open Studio. Peter has performed and recorded on six continents with Wynton Marsalis, Dianne Reeves, Betty Carter, Christian McBride, Joshua Redman as well as his own ensembles. He has recorded over 400 lessons, pioneering the field of online jazz education and was recently featured in the New York Times for his ground breaking work.
Peter co-hosts the acclaimed music podcast “You’ll Hear It” with Adam Maness.
