Jazz Jargon Charts, Changes, and Voicings

Charts, changes, voicings: what do these words mean and what do they have to do with jazz? Do they mean the same thing to all jazz musicians, whether a horn player or drummer or pianist or singer?

Bill French (jazz pianist and drummer): All three of these words are pretty standard jazz terms and anyone who plays (or sings) jazz would understand them the same way. A chart is a written piece of music that tells each musician what notes to play. Voicing refers to the vertical arrangement of the notes in a chord from bottom to top. You hear keyboard and guitar players, and arrangers, talk about voicings. Changes are simply the names of chords of a tune, the harmonic movement from one chord to the next, like C minor7 to F7.

Thomas "Shab" Wirtel (jazz trumpet, composer/arranger): Charts, voicings, and changes mean about the same things to everybody nowadays. Pretty universal stuff. Charts: a written-down arrangement of a tune, or, at its loosest, a previously agreed upon structure for presenting a tune, order of soloists, etc. Changes: the progression of a sequence of different chords played out in sequential time, such as the chordal sequence underlying and accompanying a tune like "Summertime." Voicings: the internal octave placement of the notes in a chordal structure. Are the notes close together in a clump, or are they spread out, as with a big brass section.

Joan Hickey (jazz pianist): A chart is simply a piece of paper containing the melody and the chords of a tune, such as "Misty." Many standards like "Misty" tend to be played in a common key. For example, "Autumn Leaves" is usually in G minor, and "Green Dolphin Street" is usually in C or E-flat major. Changes are chords, such as a B-flat7. It is up to the musician to interpret these chords and add the colors to them. Voicing is an interesting word because in jazz it means a particular configuration of notes that outlines a chord, such as adding a 9th on the top or putting the 3rd on the bottom. A pianist's voicing is as distinctive as a trumpet player's tone. In classical piano, however, voicing refers to what notes are played louder or softer in one chord. The top note is louder than the lower notes, for example. A piano tuner will ask a pianist how they want their piano "voiced." This is a third definition that has to do with brightness of tone. These terms mean the same to all musicians.