the Bud Powell school
Shell Voicings
Two notes per chord — root plus 3rd or 7th. The bebop left hand.
All 12 keys
C major
Dm7 – G7 – Cmaj7
0 of 2 voices hold from ii to V · total resolve motion 7 semitones
D♭ major (C♯)
E♭m7 – A♭7 – D♭maj7
0 of 2 voices hold from ii to V · total resolve motion 7 semitones
D major
Em7 – A7 – Dmaj7
0 of 2 voices hold from ii to V · total resolve motion 7 semitones
E♭ major
Fm7 – B♭7 – E♭maj7
0 of 2 voices hold from ii to V · total resolve motion 7 semitones
E major
F♯m7 – B7 – Emaj7
0 of 2 voices hold from ii to V · total resolve motion 7 semitones
F major
Gm7 – C7 – Fmaj7
0 of 2 voices hold from ii to V · total resolve motion 7 semitones
G♭ major (F♯)
A♭m7 – D♭7 – G♭maj7
0 of 2 voices hold from ii to V · total resolve motion 7 semitones
G major
Am7 – D7 – Gmaj7
0 of 2 voices hold from ii to V · total resolve motion 7 semitones
A♭ major
B♭m7 – E♭7 – A♭maj7
0 of 2 voices hold from ii to V · total resolve motion 7 semitones
A major
Bm7 – E7 – Amaj7
0 of 2 voices hold from ii to V · total resolve motion 7 semitones
B♭ major
Cm7 – F7 – B♭maj7
0 of 2 voices hold from ii to V · total resolve motion 7 semitones
B major
C♯m7 – F♯7 – Bmaj7
0 of 2 voices hold from ii to V · total resolve motion 7 semitones
The story
Before rootless voicings took over, the bebop pianists — Bud Powell above all — comped with two-note "shells": the root plus either the 3rd or the 7th. Nothing else. The shell tells the band everything it needs (root motion plus the one note that defines chord quality) while leaving the right hand free to burn. Because there are only two notes, the voice leading is nakedly visible: here the 7th of the ii chord slides down a half step to become the 3rd of the V — the single most important melodic move in jazz harmony — and then the ceiling note simply holds as the harmony resolves under it. Learn this style first: every richer voicing on this site is a shell with extra color hung on it.
Listen: Bud Powell — "Celia"; Thelonious Monk's left hand on "Straight, No Chaser".