A chord voicing is the way chord tones are stacked on top of one another to create a chord.
How you stack the notes of a chord can change the vibe of the chord and it’s sound within a chord progression.
Start with understanding the basic music theory on how to make your chords, then explore different voicings and hear the difference a simple inversion or doubling of a note can make.
What’s the difference between Closed and Open chord voicings?
Closed chord voicings are when all of the chord tones are as close to each other as possible. This creates a dense sounding chord.
Open chord voicings are when all of the chord tones are spaced far apart, producing wide intervals between each chord tone. This typically involves experimenting with dropping different certain chord tones down an octave or raising certain chord tones up an octave. This creates a big and open sounding chord.
How many notes are in a chord voicing?
Three or more notes played at the same time form a chord.
3-note chord voicings are chords that are made up of only 3 notes.
4-note chord voicings are chords that are made up of only 4 notes.
You can have 3-note, 4-note, 5-note, as-many-notes-as your-fingers-can-play chord voicings!
The term “voicing” refers to the order of these chord tones. So, for 3-note and 4-note chord voicings, there’s a lot of options to choose from when you factor in closed and open chord voicings.
How to make any chord voicing? (Basic Chord Theory)
When you’re first learning how to make your own chord voicings, it helps to have a solid foundation with your closed chord voicings.
Start out with ro