What to Play With the Left Hand in Jazz Piano

Whether a chord is major seventh, minor seventh or dominant, you hear it in two notes: the third and the seventh. The fifth is the same in almost every chord and can go, and a bass player usually covers the root. That reduction is what makes jazz voicings compact and leaves room for the right hand.

Shell 1 – 3 – 7

Rootless A → B A: 3 – 5 – 7 – 9 · B: 7 – 9 – 3 – 5

Level 1, shells: while you play solo, the left hand keeps the root at the bottom. Three notes, instantly jazzy, and you learn where the third and seventh sit in every chord.

Level 2, rootless: once the root comes from somewhere else (bass, band or your right hand), drop it and add the ninth. The A and B forms alternate, so your hand stays in the middle of the keyboard.

All twelve keys, with notes and audio, are in the ii-V-I chart for all 12 keys.

The right notes on every beat still sound stiff. Start with the Charleston: a short chord on beat 1, the same chord on the "and" of 2, then rest until the next bar. It leaves space for the melody and makes the left hand swing.

1 + 2 + 3 + 4 +

Practise it with a metronome on 2 and 4, first on one ii-V-I, then through the keys. When the Charleston is easy, try anticipations: play the next chord on the "and" of 4 just before the bar line.

1. Ten minutes a day beats an hour once a week. Voicings are reflexes, not theory.
2. Shells in all keys first, then rootless. Don't start both at once.
3. Don't look: read the chord symbol, play the shape, next symbol.
4. Time yourself. The key you hesitate in is tomorrow's key.

The catch with practising alone: you can't tell whether you're getting faster. The trainer shows a chord symbol, listens through your MIDI keyboard and measures how long each shape takes you.