Herbie Hancock Voicing Tutorial
The Herbie Hancock voicing is a rich-sounding, two-handed minor 11th chord. The voicing contains a 5th interval in the left hand (Root & 5) and then four notes in the right hand (b3, 11, b7 & 9). The best way to learn the voicing is to memorise these scale degrees and then apply it to any minor key.
Free Downloadable Lesson Supplement
Download the Herbie Hancock voicing in all 12 keys. This is a great reference for practicing this voicing:
The voicing is named after Herbie Hancock who is one of the most famous modern jazz pianists and composers. Herbie was one of the first jazz pianists to embrace synthesizers and funk music.
This voicing definitely has a funky vibe to it!
As the top note in the voicing is the 9th – look out for minor chords with the 9th in the melody and then simply slot this voicing underneath.
Lesson Downloads
-
Herbie Hancock Voicing – 12 Keys File Type: pdf -
Herbie Hancock Voicing Worksheet File Type: pdf
Related Lessons
We use lots of extended & altered harmony & also some interesting applications of inner voice movement, drop 2 and pentatonic voicings.
We explore the voicing options for major chords under each note of the Lydian Mode which is a common scale to play over major chords.
We explore voicings for each note of the dorian mode. Watch this and never again get stuck on what to play for minor chords!
Practice Tips
-
Practice this voicing by taking it through all 12 keys. You can do this chromatically by moving up or down the keyboard.
-
The voicing is more difficult to play in some keys - don't fret about this! Just make a note of the keys that you can play it in and find alternate minor voicings to use for the other keys.
-
Also try using the voicing in different registers of the piano. It sounds great in the lower registers because of the 5th interval in the left hand.
- Remember that the 5th interval can be played low down in the bass without sounding too muddy.
When playing along a melody, would you use this voicing mostly when the melody note is the ninth of the chord?
Hi Matt, apologies for the late reply – this comment slipped past me. Yes that is exactly when you would use this voicing. This is because the highest note in the voicing is the 9th and so you can simply ‘slot’ the voicing underneath. When playing jazz standards, you should *always be consciously analysing the melody note in terms of the scale degree of the chord*. Then if you know that a particular voicing has that scale degree on top, it makes it much quicker and easier to find a suitable voicing – no matter what key you are in! Hope this helps. Cheers, Hayden.
Makes sense! Thank you.
Hayden, I have a question about fingering for these chords: I noticed that for most of them, you’re playing both the RH adjacent minor third and ninth notes with your thumb, and haven’t seen that technique before. I often have difficulty getting my fingers around these chords – Cm11 is especially awkward bc of the Eb and F, which is one where the 2-notes-at-once technique doesn’t work. I was just wondering how you’d come across that fingering technique and how common it is in jazz piano playing.
Hi Hayden, this is great, thanks. What is the difference between the HH minor 11 voicing, and the So What minor 11, and the Kenny Barron minor 11 ? I have been practising all of them, but am curious about how to apply them to melodies and improvisation. Cheers.
Hi Natasha,
The difference is the melody note, or the top note of the voicing.
It’s very important to try memorise the scale degree at the top of the voicings that you learn, for example…
The top note of the So What Voicing is the 5th and so on a jazz standard, whenever you come across a minor chord (in any key) with the 5th in the melody, the So What Voicing will sound great.
The Kenny Barron Voicing has the 11th on the top so this is a great minor voicing when the 11th is in the melody.
The Herbie Hancock Voicing has the 9th in the melody so this will be a good choice of voicing when you come across the 9th in the melody over a minor chord.
Hope this helps and if you would like me to elaborate on this let me know 🙂
Thanks,
Hayden
Thanks Hayden, much clearer now.
That’s great Natasha… I’m glad it’s making more sense! Cheers, Hayden
Hi Hayden, further to my previous question, on the Kenny Barron worksheet, there is a Major #11 variation, is that used when the melody note is a # 11 ? Thanks.
Hi Natasha, yes that is absolutely correct!
One distinction that you should be aware of is that the #11 is only ever played on major chords whereas the other 3 voicings mentioned below are minor chord voicings.
You would always play the natural 11th on a minor chord.
You can play the natural 11th on a major chord but it sounds very dissonant due to the half step interval between the major 3rd and the 4th (the 4th is the 11th) and so it’s usually raised by a half step to the #11 to avoid this dissonance. This then becomes the Lydian Mode which you can use to play over major chords.
Have you watched these two lessons?…
Major Chord Variations: pianogroove.com/jazz-piano-lessons/major-voicing-variations/
Minor Chord Variation: pianogroove.com/jazz-piano-lessons/minor-voicing-options/
They are slightly more advanced than this lesson but it should help with your understanding of voicings options and it goes into more detail on what I just explained above.
Hope this helps and any further questions just let me know 🙂
Hayden
Hi Hayden, thank you for your patient and detailed explanations. I will watch the 2 lessons you mentioned.
I live in Melbourne, Australia, and we have a yearly jazz festival, which is always really fantastic
melbournejazz.com/
Cheers
My pleasure Natasha, if I can help you with anything else just let me know.
The jazz festival in Melbourne looks great! I was just checking out the headline events… melbournejazz.com/information/ticketing
‘The Kenny Barron Trio’ would definitely be one to watch and if you like Bossa Nova…. ‘Jobim’s Masterpieces’ looks like an awesome show 🙂
Cheers,
Hayden