the Bill Evans school
Rootless Voicings — B Form
The same rootless grammar inverted: 7th on the bottom, for the keys where A form sits too low.
All 12 keys
C major
Dm9 – G13 – Cmaj9
3 of 4 voices hold from ii to V · total resolve motion 5 semitones
D♭ major (C♯)
E♭m9 – A♭13 – D♭maj9
3 of 4 voices hold from ii to V · total resolve motion 5 semitones
D major
Em9 – A13 – Dmaj9
3 of 4 voices hold from ii to V · total resolve motion 5 semitones
E♭ major
Fm9 – B♭13 – E♭maj9
3 of 4 voices hold from ii to V · total resolve motion 5 semitones
E major
F♯m9 – B13 – Emaj9
3 of 4 voices hold from ii to V · total resolve motion 5 semitones
F major
Gm9 – C13 – Fmaj9
3 of 4 voices hold from ii to V · total resolve motion 5 semitones
G♭ major (F♯)
A♭m9 – D♭13 – G♭maj9
3 of 4 voices hold from ii to V · total resolve motion 5 semitones
G major
Am9 – D13 – Gmaj9
3 of 4 voices hold from ii to V · total resolve motion 5 semitones
A♭ major
B♭m9 – E♭13 – A♭maj9
3 of 4 voices hold from ii to V · total resolve motion 5 semitones
A major
Bm9 – E13 – Amaj9
3 of 4 voices hold from ii to V · total resolve motion 5 semitones
B♭ major
Cm9 – F13 – B♭maj9
3 of 4 voices hold from ii to V · total resolve motion 5 semitones
B major
C♯m9 – F♯13 – Bmaj9
3 of 4 voices hold from ii to V · total resolve motion 5 semitones
The story
Every rootless voicing comes in two grips: A form (3rd on the bottom) and B form (7th on the bottom) — the same four colors, shuffled. You need both, because the ideal register for these voicings is narrow: roughly the octave and a half around middle C. Play them much lower and they turn to mud; much higher and they crowd the soloist. B form exists so that in any key, one of the two grips lands in that sweet spot. The voice leading is the same miracle as A form seen from the other side: from ii to V only one voice moves — the bottom note falls a half step, 7th becoming 3rd — and into the I chord the top three voices all sink by step while that bottom note holds, already the 7th of the new chord. Practice A and B forms as a pair around the circle of fourths and the hand starts finding them without you.
Listen: Bill Evans comping on "Autumn Leaves" (Portrait in Jazz); Kenny Barron's left hand on ballads.