The shape
Bill Evans Rootless
Stored in C so it moves to any key; each note carries its role and its name.
Same family: Maj7 Rootless B, Dom7 Rootless A and Dom7 Rootless B.
Everyone here plays it
This is the most widely shared shape on the site: 13 of the 36 play it, and not one of them is defined by it. That is what makes it worth learning first — and what each of them reaches for BESIDE it is the more telling fact, so it is listed here.
- Art Tatum · 1909–1956
Stride virtuosity with chromatic upper-structure sparkles, passing diminished chords
Beside it: Dom7 Rootless B.
- Red Garland · 1923–1984
Block chord master - locked-hands technique (originated by Milt Buckner, popularized by George Shearing), octave melody with inner voices
Beside it: Maj7 Rootless B.
- Oscar Peterson · 1925–2007
Locked-hands block chords, stride shells, chromatic approach with inner 3rds/6ths
Beside it: Dom7 Rootless A.
- Bill Evans · 1929–1980
Rootless A/B voicings - the foundation of modern jazz piano comping
Beside it: Dom7 Rootless A, Dom7 Rootless B and Maj7 Rootless B.
- Ahmad Jamal · 1930–2023
Master of space and silence - sparse voicings, ostinato patterns, rhythmic sophistication
Beside it: Dom7 Rootless A.
- Kenny Barron · b. 1943
Modern mainstream elegance - hybrid rootless/quartal approach, signature spread voicings
Beside it: Cmaj9#11 (Lydian Pad), Dm11 'So What' Voicing and Dom7 Rootless A.
- Keith Jarrett · b. 1945
Modal prayer with open 5ths, quartal melody, breathy pedal
Beside it: C13sus Gospel Voicing and Dm11 'So What' Voicing.
- Fred Hersch · b. 1955 · USA
Classical refinement with transparent rootless shells and soft pedal
Beside it: Dom7 Rootless A and Maj7 Rootless B.
- Brad Mehldau · b. 1970
Contrapuntal complexity with rootless voicings + upper-structure triads
Beside it: C7alt UST bII (Db minor triad) and Dom7 Rootless B.
- Robert Glasper · b. 1978
Hip-hop harmony with wide Rhodes voicings, sus→3 slides, tritone subs
Beside it: C13sus Gospel Voicing and C7alt UST bII (Db minor triad).
- Gerald Clayton · b. 1984 · USA
Gospel soul + contemporary craft with sus→3 slides
Beside it: C13sus Gospel Voicing.
- Shai Maestro · b. 1987 · Israel
Israeli melody - soft 6/9 grip, inner counterpoint, singing soprano
Beside it: Cmaj9 (Mediant Cycle) and Cmaj9#11 (Lydian Pad).
- Jacob Collier · b. 1994 · UK
Polychords and micro-color, layered 3rds/4ths with triadic extensions
Beside it: Cmaj9 (Mediant Cycle).
Take it to the key you are working in
Everything above is in C, and nothing is held back — the notes are the notes. What a page cannot do is move the shape into the key of the tune on your stand, or run your own progression through it and play the result. That is what the Reharmonization Engine in the app is for.
Built from the app's own data: the grip from masterVoicingGrips, who plays it from pianistVoicingStyles, and every transcription frompianistExactVoicings. Nothing on this page was written about these pianists for the website.