Hello everyone . Discovering the extended voicing lessons ; really precise and well made . Bravo Hayden .
With the Herbie Hancock voicing Cm11 , the hand position is very incomfortable, and avoiding not ringing the F# is really hard . Any tips ?
thanks
Hey Pierre⌠great question!
The Herbie Hancock Voicing is difficult (and even uncomfortable!) to play in C and G.
A simple recommendation would be to modify the voicing slightlyâŚ
For C-11 Herbie Hancock Voicing, in your right hand swap the F(11) with G(5). Basically, move your right-hand index finger up a whole step.
This will give you a C-9 chord, which doesnât have the same richness of the 11th, but it still sounds great.
try this voicing:
Left Hand: G - C - Eb
Right Hand: F - Bb - D
Here we are playing the exact same notes, but now we have the G in the bass, which gives the chord a very interesting sound. Itâs still C-11, but with G in the bass.
This gives you a lovely âbi-tonalâ sound ⌠the left hand is playing a 2nd inversion C- Triad, and the right hand is playing a 2nd inversion Bbmaj Triad.
Your ears should hear both of the triads separately, which creates the âbi-tonalâ effect.
You can also do this in every key⌠a wonderful sound to experiment with.
Check out the lesson on âAutumn in New Yorkâ where we play that exact voicing in the 4th bar for A-11 : https://www.pianogroove.com/jazz-piano-lessons/autumn-in-new-york-tutorial/
You will see that it voice leads very nicely to the D7. Again you can do this in all 12 keys.
Iâd recommend that you take that progression around all 12!
You will always find that chords, progressions, scales, licks, lines, etc⌠are harder to play in some keys than others.
This is also different for everyone because we all have different size and shapes of hands.
Always experiment with the inversions and you can discover some really cool sounds 
Hope this helps and if I can be of further assistance just let me know.
Maybe it is possible to arpegiate (in a quick tempo) the large chord⌠taking care of posing the pinky, as a kind of voiceâŚ
Yes arpeggiating large chords is another option⌠great suggestion @marc421812
I just tried this by arpeggiating the right hand b3-11-b7-9 and it works well. I still find it a little tricky to finger but itâs less awkward than holding the notes down simultaneously.
I recommend a similar approach in the lesson on the âKenny Barron Voicingâ - the index finger of each hand can be used as a âpivot pointâ whilst applying the sustain pedal liberally.
Many students mentioned to me that their hands donât stretch that far, so this is always a good option.
With most voicings, you can rearrange the notes within a smaller range of the piano as outlined in the inversion example aboveâŚ
Left Hand: G - C - Eb
Right Hand: F - Bb - D
All that changes is the C moves up an octave to the middle of the left-hand, and the right-hand plays 3 notes instead of 4 which is certainly more comfortable on the wrist joint 
Cheers!
I have small hands, so arpeggiating certainly works for me 
Thanks for all suggestion ⌠arpegiating quickly could make it sound yes, and this inversion really cool and wise and lovely sounding
Yes I love that inversion of the Herbie Hancock Voicing, it has such as rich âtextureâ and âcolourâ.
When I think of the Herbie Hancock voicing, the most characteristic thing for me, is the b3 and the 11 voiced close to each other, with the b7 on the top.
You can get some nice rootless sounds, by playing b3-11-b7 in your left hand.
For example, here is a rootless F-11 chord with a similar sound to the Herbie Hancock voicing:
Interesting to play around with.
That screenshot is from Tuomoâs lesson on âEvery time We Say Goodbyeâ:
Watch how Tuomo plays the 1-6-2-5 Progression at 9:05 in the video.
He plays lots of rootless voicingsâŚ
Ebmaj / C7b9 / F-11 / Bb9 â> back to Eb.
That would be a nice progression to take around all 12 keys, with the exact voicings he plays. This might be difficult to work out, but it would be worth the effort! 
Cheers!
Wow, impressive progression, if i understand i can play this rootless 1-6-2-5 chords on every same progression i meet, no matter the jazz standard (of course it depends of the context) ?
Yes that is correct.
The above is a great example of how rootless harmony can be used in a solo piano context.
By dropping the root, we can create completely different textures for any chord or progression that we play.
