Why Voicings Are Overrated

When we think of arranging the first topic which comes to mind is usually voicings. Which makes sense. They make up a significant chunk of what we do as writers and impact a lot of big band/jazz music. So why might they be overrated? 

Well like most writers, at the beginning of my arranging journey I fell into the hypnotic spell of voicings. I couldn’t get enough of them and wanted all of my charts to have as many notes crammed into each voicing as possible. During this period it wasn’t uncommon to see chord symbols like Maj7(#5#9) and Dom13(#11b9#9) saturating my arrangements, with every horn being utilized to the maximum extent. The result was a beefy wall of sound and dissonance, something I didn’t really understand at the time but I liked nonetheless. 

The horns would often take on new and different voicing shapes, really anything I could do to cram as many notes as possible into a given moment. Don’t get me wrong, this is a lot of fun but when you don’t entirely know what you’re doing it can create problems when you bring a chart into a rehearsal. Regardless, what happened quite quickly is the realization that too much of any particular technique gets bland really quickly. By pushing thick, overloaded voicings into every moment I could, my charts ended up having a similar effect each time. They felt heavy. Not to mention I was prioritizing voicings over every other aspect of music.

Like many other revelations I’ve shared, it wasn’t really until 2020 until I realized that there was more to arranging than voicings. The global shutdown gave me time to move slowly and unpack the knowledge I had acquired and applied over the years. With restrictions calling for small band sizes, I was forced to write for various horn combinations I wasn’t used to. I no longer could write 5+ note voicings, leading to the realization that the interest in my charts was only coming from the chords I was using and nothing else. Quite an eye opening moment.

Over the years, many have mentioned the power of melody but it wasn’t until I actually started to invest serious time in developing strong countermelodies that I realized just how impactful horizontal motion is. Without the ability to use my typical vertical tricks, I had to imply color through the notes I used in my melodies and countermelodies. As a result I found that melodies can imply harmony very effectively even when you have no voicings being used at all. I’m guessing many of you reading this probably already know this, but it was a light bulb moment for me at the time. 

When restrictions eased and I could start expanding my horn section again, I decided to edit the book for my band. Looking over the older charts I decided to scrap a lot of what I had originally written for simplified voicings, often opting for unison, and more use of countermelody. Even though I left most of the complicated voicings on the cutting room floor, the charts felt more creative and colorful. Not to mention, when I did use one of those heavier 5+ note voicings, it really packed a punch. Far more than it ever had when everything was voiced in the same manner.

Here’s an example of how a countermelody can highlight the color tones that would’ve otherwise been voiced out.

So where does that leave us? Well the main point I want to convey is that voicings aren’t as important to arranging as we may think. There are so many other wonderful avenues to music than harmonizing chord tones, and when you can engage with those other areas you will generally create more interesting music. For me it came in the form of focusing on writing interesting countermelodies which encompassed the color I wanted to come through in the music. Voicings can achieve a lot and probably aren’t that overrated, but you should just make sure they don’t encompass your entire focus like what I found myself doing early on.

And just like that we’ve come to the end of another newsletter entry. We are now halfway through the month which means there are only two more weeks dedicated to voicing topics. Next week I’m going to be focusing on one which a lot of people get introduced to in university arranging classes. However, there will be a bit of a twist as it has come to my attention that a lot of people don’t quite understand the full scope of the technique and often use it in less than ideal ways. But you’ll have to wait until next week for me to reveal what the specific technique is.

Thanks,

Toshi