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Quartal Chord Voicings

Quartal Harmony

We have already brie y discussed Quartal Harmony in the lesson on the So What Chord
(http://www.thejazzpianosite.com/jazz-piano-lessons/jazz-chord-voicings/so-what-chord/). We
established that, while chords are traditionally constructed in intervals of 3rds, it is also possible to
build chord up in intervals of 4ths. These are called Quartal Chord Voicings.

A few points on Quartal chords:

Building chords in 3rd is now considered old-fashioned and simplistic, while building in
4ths is considered much more sophisticated and ‘modern’.
Quartal Chords are very ambiguous (there is no clear tonal centre [root note] and each
voicing can be many di erent chords).
Because Quartal Chords are built in 4ths, they have a slightly Suspended Chord
(http://www.thejazzpianosite.com/jazz-piano-lessons/jazz-chords/suspended-chords/)
sound.
Because Quartal Chords are ambiguous and sound suspended, they do not have the
same need to resolve to any particular chord – they just oat there as stand alone
entities.
Chords built in 4ths are analysed in the same way as regular chords built in 3rds. We look
at all the notes that comprise them and gure out an appropriate chord name. (This is
arguably unsuitable, because chords built in 4ths sound and function very di erently to
chords built in 3rds. But unfortunately, standard music theory is what everyone knows
and uses).
Standard Quartal Voicing use 5 notes – but this can be dropped to 4 or 3 or increased to
6 – and are generally played in the middle register of the piano.

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Chord Ambiguity

Because of the way the Quartal Chords are constructed (4ths rather than 3rds), they are
rather ambiguous and can be numerous chords at once, depending on the context. Some of these
chords are listed below.

Chord E A D G C

C69 3 6 9 5 1

FMaj13 7 3 13 9 5

Am11 5 1 11 ♭7 ♭3

D9sus 9 5 1 4 7

B♭Maj13#11 #11 7 3 13 9

Quartal Chord Inversions

It’s interesting to note that a 1st inversion Quartal Chord is a So What Chord.

Quartal So What Sheet Music

E-A D-G-C A-D G-C-E

Generic Quartal Chord Voicings

While a Quartal Chord can be a number of di erent chords, as outlined above, there are,
nevertheless, Generic Quartal Chord Voicings which are widely used for particular chord types.
These are shown below.

 
 Notes Chord 
E-A D-G-C C69

B-E A-D-G CMaj9

A-D G-C-F Dm11

B-F A-D-G G9

F-B E-A-D G13

Using the above Generic Voicings, it is possible to play a Quartal II-V-I

II-V-I in C

Basic Chord Progression Dm7 G7 CMaj7

Variation #1 Dm11 G9 CMaj9

A-D G-C-F B-F A-D-G B-E A-D-G

Variation #2 Dm11 G13 C69

A-D G-C-F F-B E-A-D E-A D-G-C

Note: The interval B to F is an augmented 4th (tritone) and the interval F to A is a diminished 4th (Major

3rd).

In the same way that we can build regular tertian diatonic chords by walking up a scale (Cmaj7, Dm7,
Em7, etc.) we can also do this with quartal diatonic chords.

If you’re using only the notes from a particular key, a Quartal Voicing can be any diatonic chord from
that key, as long as it does NOT contain that chord’s Avoid Note
(http://www.thejazzpianosite.com/jazz-piano-lessons/jazz-improvisation/avoid-notes/). And you get a
harmonically stronger chord if the voicing includes the Guide Tones
(http://www.thejazzpianosite.com/jazz-piano-lessons/jazz-improvisation/guide-tones/) (3rd & 7th) of
that chord. Below is a graph demonstrating this.

Notes Missing Notes Allowable Chords Avoid Notes

EADGC F&B C69 Cmaj7 – F

Dm11 Dm7 – None
Am11 Em7 – F and C
FMaj13 Fmaj7 – None
G7 – C
FBEAD G&C G13
G7sus - None
Bø7
Am7 – F
Dm69
Bø7 – C
FMaj7#11

GCFBE A&D G7sus

FMaj7#11

ADGCF B&E Dm11

F69

BEADG C&F CMaj13

Em11
Bø7
FMaj13#11

CFBEA D&G G7sus

FMaj7#11
 Notes Missing Notes Allowable Chords Avoid Notes 
DGCFB E&A G7sus
FMaj#11

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A similar exercise can be performed for 4 & 6 note Quartal chords.

One widely used 6 note Quartal Chord is the below Dominant Chord. This is a particularly good
chord to use over a Blues.

G13 = F-B-E A-D-G

Notice the Avoid Note (C) is missing

Have a Listen to

Impressions ~ John Coltrane

My Favorite Things ~ John Coltrane
Maiden Voyage ~ Herbie Hancock
Now He Sings, Now He Sobs ~ Chick Corea
 Any and Every McCoy Tyner song
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Jazz Piano Chord Voicings - Quartal Chords

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