Jazz Piano Chords - Rich Sounding Jazz Chords for the Piano

Explore triads, arpeggios, and two-note chords, learn that a triad uses the 1st, 3rd, and 5th scale notes, and see how a 7th chord adds an extra note.

Explore major triads by identifying the 1st, 3rd, and 5th notes across major scales such as C, F, G, D, B, Eb, and F#, and recognize their chord symbols.

Learn how to form minor triads by lowering the major third of a major triad, using examples like A minor, C minor, and D minor, and explore common chord symbols.

Explore how diminished triads stack two minor third intervals to form notes like C, Eb, and Gb, and how Eb yields Bbb as the diminished fifth.

Explore augmented triads, formed by two stacked major thirds, like C–E–G#. Note the augmented 5th and symbols such as plus, a, u, or g for augmented chords.

Explore how to play triads in root position and in 1st and 2nd inversions, including C major triad, Dm, and G diminished examples.

Learn slash notation and slash chords, using bass notes to create triad inversions such as C/E and C/G, and explore bass notes not necessarily chord tones in jazz piano chords.

Learn how major 7th chords build on major triads by adding the major seventh scale note, with examples in c, g, and ab keys and common notations.

Explore how dominant 7th chords form from major triads by adding a minor 7th, with examples in C, G, and Bb and the Eb7 symbol.

Discover how minor 7th chords form from a minor triad with a minor 7th. See examples like c minor 7th and e minor 7th, and note gm7b5 half diminished notation.

Explore diminished chords by stacking minor thirds to build the chord. Note that C, Eb, Gb, and Bbb share the same notes, yielding three distinct diminished chords.

Explore augmented seventh chords in jazz piano, building them from augmented triads plus a minor seventh, with quick voicing rules and practical chord symbols like C+7.

Master minor major 7th chords by adding a minor or a major seventh to a minor triad, and learn symbols like C minus triangle with or without 7.

Explore inversions of seventh chords, including root position and three inversions, with a C7 example (C, E, G, Bb), and note that diminished inversions yield the same diminished chord.

Explore slash chords related to seventh chords, including Em/C as a C major 7th and Dm7/G as a Gsus chord, with inversions of Dm7 in the right hand.

Demonstrate the ii–V–I progression in C and G, using only notes from the C major scale, inversions, and notes in the right hand to shape ii7, V7, and Imaj7 chords.

Learn sus chords by placing the root in the bass and a major triad a whole tone below, using slash notation and second inversion to bring out the suspended fourth.

Discover which notes to add to major 7th, minor 7th, and dominant 7th chords to sound more jazzy, while leaving out the root and sometimes the fifth to free space.

Explore adding notes to a C major 7th chord and hear which tones blend. Try the 9th, #4th, #5th, and the 6th (D, F#, G#, A).

Analyze adding notes to a C minor 7th chord, confirming the 9th, 11th, and the 6th as viable, while Db, Eb, E, and major 7th are avoided.

Explore adding notes to dominant 7th chords, like b9, 9, #9, #11, b13, and 13, while understanding alterations and why major and minor 3rds cannot both occur.

Explore how to enrich jazz chords by adding multiple notes to major, minor, and dominant seventh chords—discover 6/9 voicings, 9th and 13th additions, and altered scale concepts like C7alt.

Master the ii–v–i progression in all 12 keys, a jazz progression, with added notes, practicing voicings in A and B positions, using right and left hand strategies for jazz chords.

Play the ii–V–I progressions with added notes across 12 keys in circle of fifths order, using right-hand voicings and left-hand root notes, with rootless voicings in A and B positions.

Discover major 7th chord voicings, from 6/9 and rootless shapes to spread-out, open textures, across close and open positions, after practicing II-V-I progressions in the A and B positions.

Master rich minor 7th voicings with added 9th and 11th, using left-hand root and minor third and right-hand major triad a whole tone below the root, across all keys.

Explore dominant 7th chord voicings with added 9th and 13th for open and spread textures, and learn to voice altered chords like 7b9, 7#9, and 7#11 in all 12 keys.

Explore altered chord voicings within dominant 7th harmony and the altered scale, using C7alt and F#7, and uncover how tritone relationships link these chords via #9th and b13th interactions.

Explore diminished chord voicings in jazz piano, showing how to build diminished chords from minor thirds and relate them to 7b9 chords, with reusable voicing families for eight chords.

Learn how augmented seventh chords function as dominant chords, then voice them with added 9th or #11th, or use a simple 3rd, 7th, and augmented 5th voicing.

Explore so what chords, a modal jazz approach to Dm7 with diatonically shifted voicings, spanning long Dm7 sections and Ebm7 variations in the C major / dorian context.

Explore four chord voicings built from scale steps, including C6/9, D6/9, G7, Gsus, and F6/9, using diatonic up motion in C major to add rich jazz textures.

Transpose the so what and 4th-chord voicings from C major to Bb for Cm7, using the Bb major scale and diatonic ascent to derive all related voicings.

Explore upper structure chords: voice a major 3rd and minor 7th in the left hand with a right-hand triad to create C7#11, C7b9, and other US chords with inversions.

Learn to build jazz chord voicings from a C root, using major, minor, and dominant sevenths, balancing consonant and dissonant intervals with 3rds, 4ths, and tensions like 13#4 and #11.

Master tasteful comping that supports the soloist with rhythmic chords. Explore a mix of dominant, minor, and major seventh chords, alterations, and rootless voicings, while listening and varying rhythm.

Explore tritone substitution in jazz theory and jazz chords, applying it to the ii–V–I progression by substituting G7 with Db7 and noting the chromatic bass motion.