Orchestration
Voicing a String Quartet: Registers, Doublings, Weight
The quartet is four registers, not four violins. What each instrument can sustain, where the texture muddies, and which double stops lie under the hand.
Voicing
The order and spacing of a chord's notes, which sets its register and colour. The same chord can be voiced in many different ways.
Also called: Chord voicing, Close and open voicing
A voicing is the choice of which chord tones go where: which note is lowest, how the others are spaced, and which octave each occupies. The notes of C major, C, E and G, can be voiced in many ways. Close voicing keeps the notes within one octave, as C4 E4 G4 does. Open voicing spreads them wider, as C3 G3 E4 does, which gives a more spacious sound. The voicing also affects how smoothly the chord connects to the next one. In jazz, pianists and guitarists often voice seventh chords by keeping the third and seventh, which define the chord's quality, and leaving out the root. In four-part writing, voicing also decides which voice carries the melody and where each part sits.
Related terms
- ChordTwo or more pitches sounded together and heard as one unit, usually built in thirds and named by their root and quality.
- Chord extensionA chord tone added above the seventh, such as a ninth, eleventh or thirteenth, which colours a chord without changing its basic function.
- Voice leadingHow individual parts move from one chord to the next, favouring stepwise motion and common tones so that each line stays smooth and clear.
- Seventh chordA four-note chord made by adding a seventh above the root of a triad. The main types are major, dominant, minor and half-diminished sevenths.
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Jazz & Popular Harmony
Jazz Chord Voicings: Shell and Rootless Voicings Explained
Shell and rootless voicings keep the third and seventh of each chord and leave room for a bass player. Worked examples use Dm7, G7 and Cmaj7.