Stylistic II/V7/I Voicings for Keyboardists: Keyboard/Piano Book

Frank Mantooth, David Liebman, and David Baker don't endorse lightly. What makes this book special is its systematic progression from simple to complex, so your students actually understand why each voicing works before they're asked to improvise with it. The spiral binding, the street-ready approach, and 112 pages of pure utility mean this becomes a reference your pianists return to for years.

Starting with clear, grounded fundamentals and gradually uncovering the harmonic sophistication jazz audiences recognize instantly. Each new voicing section builds confidence, moving from "I understand this" to "I can choose this deliberately" to "I can make this voice-lead beautifully."

Intermediate and advanced jazz pianists who know their basic shells but feel limited by their voicing vocabulary. Working players in small groups, organ trio contexts, and traditional jazz settings will find this essential; students preparing for jazz studies programs benefit equally from the systematic organization.

• Isolate one voicing from each section and spend a full week on it before adding the next. Muscle memory needs time to lock in, especially when moving between inversions.
• Play the II/V7/I progressions in multiple keys using the same voicing. This reveals which inversions and voice-leading moves work best for your hand position and touch.
• Practice the passing tones and chromatic approaches separately before combining them with the root movements. The sophistication comes from precision, not from rushing the layering.
• Record yourself comping over a blues or a standard using two different voicings from the book. Listen back and decide which one serves the melody and the overall sound you're building.

Assign this as the core text for a semester-long jazz piano theory course, moving through one stylistic approach per week. Alternatively, hand it to your jazz combo pianists as a self-directed resource they reference during rehearsals whenever comping feels predictable.

• II/V7/I voicing construction across diatonic, chromatic, and contemporary approaches
• Voice leading and smooth inversions in ii-V progressions
• Passing tone and chromatic approach integration into chord comping
• Style-specific harmonic language for traditional, modal, and contemporary jazz
• Chord substitution and reharmonization within functional harmony
• Left-hand independence and comping rhythmic flexibility