Chords in Motion: Keyboard/Piano Spiral-bound Book

This book does what most voicing guides avoid: it shows comping in real time, with five fully realized chorus examples that demonstrate how moving voicings actually function over standards rather than existing in isolation. LaVerne's decision to ground everything in all twelve keys removes the excuse of 'but I haven't practiced it in that key yet' and forces genuine fluency. The spiral binding is a small detail with outsized impact for pianists working through material during rehearsal or gigs.

Opening this book feels like having a conversation with someone who has played in the room with the masters. The voicings breathe and move rather than sit; they suggest melody even when they're functioning harmonically. There's an elegance to how these chords connect, whether you're moving them chromatically or through whole tone scales.

Pianists and keyboardists at the intermediate and advanced levels who are ready to move beyond static voicings and want practical, immediately applicable material rooted in the language of contemporary jazz. Arrangers working with jazz ensembles will find the voicing palette invaluable for scoring horn sections. Any instrumentalist who comps chords, guitar, vibraphone, organ, benefits from seeing how these voicings translate across the keyboard.

• Start with one voicing type across all twelve keys before layering in the others. Mastering drop 2 voicings everywhere you need them creates a foundation that makes the more advanced techniques feel less foreign.
• Use the comping choruses as transcription models. Play them exactly as written first, then transpose them to different keys and standards to internalize the movement patterns.
• Experiment with harmonic rhythm variation on the same tune. The book addresses this explicitly; moving the same voicing at different rates relative to the underlying chord change produces dramatic shifts in the feel of your comp.

Use the comping examples as a model for coaching your rhythm section before ensemble rehearsals. Pianists studying jazz styles or improvisation should work through this systematically over several months, dedicating time each week to a new voicing type. The book also serves as a reference during sectional work when a horn player needs to hear how a particular chord concept actually sits in the texture.

• Voicing construction using quartal, quintal, and drop 2 techniques
• Chromatic voice leading and whole tone voicing approaches
• Dominant 7b9 and diminished voicing applications in jazz contexts
• Harmonic rhythm control and chord movement over changing tempos
• Transposition fluency across all twelve keys
• Comping texture and melodic independence between hands