Jazz Piano Voicings: Keyboard/Piano Book

These transcriptions capture what Miles Davis's recorded pianists actually played, not what a composer wrote on a lead sheet. Your students will study real comping decisions over real changes in real tempos, learning how professionals voice chords, voice-lead between changes, and respond to the soloist's phrasing. That's education no fakebook can provide.

Opening this book feels like having a master class from the original pianist. The transcriptions preserve not just the notes but the texture, the space between voicings, and the rhythmic intent of the original performance. You're reading from the source, not a transcription of a transcription.

Pianists at the intermediate and advanced levels who want to understand how working jazz pianists approach comping. Hornists, vocalists, and arrangers will find this invaluable as a reference for authentic voicings and reharmonizations heard on classic recordings. Combo directors can assign specific tunes to pianists preparing to play these Miles Davis standards in live settings.

• Listen to the recorded pianist on the corresponding Aebersold play-along first (sold separately). Notice how the voicings sit in the register, where the rootless chords live, and which alterations appear most often.
• Use the stereo separation feature on Aebersold CDs to isolate the rhythm section. Once you can play the comping accurately with the pianist, mute the piano track and comp against just bass and drums to develop independence.
• Start slowly. Even at intermediate level, some of these voicings pack chromatic movement and quick hand shifts. Work through a single tune's head and first chorus at half tempo before attempting full speed.
• Study how the arranger handles the turnarounds and hit chords. These moments reveal the most individual comping choices and will sharpen your sense of harmonic timing.

Use this as a resource for jazz piano students developing comping skills on standards that appear regularly on student recitals and combo sets. Assign specific tunes alongside the corresponding play-along recordings as part of a semester's work on jazz accompaniment. Arrangers and section leaders can reference these voicings when preparing ensemble arrangements of Miles Davis compositions.

• Rootless voicings and upper structure triads over jazz changes
• Voice-leading between chords in multiple registers
• Comping timing and rhythmic flexibility within fixed grooves
• Left-hand bass note placement and reharmonization choices
• Right-hand shell voicing and extension voicing options
• Reacting as a pianist to soloist phrasing and energy