4ths and the "So What" Vocing

4ths voicings are pretty self explanatory. They are voicings built up entirely of 4th intervals. 4ths work particularly well in "Modal" Jazz. For examples of that, check out artists like McCoy Tyner and early Herbie Hancock. 

4ths take a little bit of ingenuity to come up with. For example, a C major chord can be voiced bottom to top Left Hand: C (1), B (7) Right Hand: E (3), A (6), and D (9) in order to play it in a 4ths voicing. The distance between the root and the next interval doesn’t necessarily need to be a fourth apart; it doesn’t always work that way, but what makes a fourth voicing is that there are at least 3 to 4 voicings, usually on piano shared between left and right hand, that consist only of fourth intervals. You have to do a little math to make sure it all lines up right and that you are using the proper chord tones. Another example would be a F7sus. I would voice that bottom to top as Left Hand: F (1), C (5) Right Hand: F (1), Bb (4), Eb (b7). 

The So What Voicing: 

Below is a chart for the famous Miles Davis tune, So What. Recorded in 1959. Bill Evans was on piano and gave new life to these fourth voicings by adding a third above a stack of fourths. This third interval up top also doubled the melody of the tune.  Ore specifically the “response” to the “call” of the bass line starting the melody. 

I’ve also done my own analysis of the voicings used in this tune below. As you’ll see, there is a similarity to what I discussed last week about Triadic Upper Structures. There is a major triad that is sort of hidden in this voicing. Identified by a small letter just below the main chord in my analysis below. 

So What basically consists of two identical voicings, a whole step apart. This is a key feature of modal music. Identical voicings in different key centers. Then, for the B section, the entire thing is transposed up a half step, only to return to the original key for the final A section. 

Let me know your thoughts!