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Pentatonic/Quartal (Tyner)

Tyner Quartal Stack in C — jazz piano voicing

McCoy Tyner quartal grip - LH root + 5th, RH two stacked 4ths topped by the 3rd. Written in C. Below it, 28 transcribed voicings from the pianists it defines, both hands, note by note.

The shape

McCoy Tyner quartal grip - LH root + 5th, RH two stacked 4ths topped by the 3rd

Pentatonic/Quartal (Tyner)

Stored in C so it moves to any key; each note carries its role and its name.

The hands, in full

28 transcriptions across 4 players, oldest first.

Modal era still life for McCoy Tyner: four stacked brass rings on dark felt, evenly spaced.

McCoy Tyner

1938–2020

Quartal Power · Quartal

Quartal power - stacked 4ths with pentatonic overlay

Bbm6/9 (Pursuance LH)

Rootless quartal-derived m6/9 (b3-6-9, no root or 5th) from the 'Pursuance' comping on Coltrane's A Love Supreme (1965). Source: John Belzaguy transcription via music.stackexchange.

Db-G-C = b3, 6, 9 of Bbm6/9

Rootless m6/9

Ebm6/9 (Pursuance iv LH)

Rootless m6/9 (b3-6-9) on the iv chord, 'Pursuance' (A Love Supreme, 1965); also reads as D7alt. Source: John Belzaguy transcription via music.stackexchange.

Gb-C-F = b3, 6, 9 of Ebm6/9

Rootless m6/9

Bbm7/11 (Pursuance quartal)

Opening stacked-fourth quartal voicing (root-11-b7, 3rd-less sus colour) of the 'Pursuance' Bb-minor blues comping (A Love Supreme, 1965). Source: music.stackexchange transcription analysis.

Bb-Eb-Ab = stacked perfect fourths (1-11-b7)

Quartal

Cadd9 quartal comp

Modal intensity with stacked 4ths - root + 5th below, D-G-C in 4ths topped by the 3rd

Move up/down in 4ths; pitch classes C-D-E-G = root, 9, 3, 5

Quartal Power

G13sus (V)

Dominant sus with no 3rd - ambiguous quartal

Quartal Sus

Cmaj9#11

Quartal 4ths with Lydian #11

Quartal Lydian

C6/9 quartal (Inception)

Inception-era quartal tonic voicing - root/5 LH, 3-13-9-5 (stacked 4ths) RH

RH built on 4ths E→A→D→G with 3rd of chord on bottom

Quartal Power

Cmaj9 pentatonic top

Pentatonic top voicing - E minor pentatonic (the pentatonic on the 3rd) above shell

Top 5 notes are E minor pentatonic - three stacked 4ths (E-A-D-G) topped by a major 3rd (G-B); over C they are 3-13-9-5-maj7

Pentatonic

Cmaj7#11 quartal Lydian

Quartal Lydian - root/5 LH, ascending 4ths from #11

RH stacked 4ths starting on #11 = pure Lydian color

Quartal Lydian

Dm7 quartal stack (Passion Dance)

Passion Dance head - root/5 LH, ascending 4ths G-C-F RH

Quartal m7

Dm11 full quartal (Impressions)

Impressions full quartal - 4 notes of stacked 4ths in RH

Bb on top is the 13 of Dm11 (or modal flat-13)

Quartal m11

Cm7 root-fifth + RH 4ths

Ballad m7 - root/5 LH, 4ths RH starting on 4 (F)

Ballad Quartal

G13sus quartal upper (A Love Supreme)

A Love Supreme dom13sus - root/5 LH, b7-4-b7-13 RH

Doubled b7 + 4 + 13 = pure quartal sus dominant

Quartal Sus Dominant

C13sus quartal (Walk Spirit)

Wide dominant sus - root/5 LH, b7-4(8va)-b7 RH

Wide Sus Dominant

G7 root-fifth + RH 4ths (Real McCoy)

G7 with shell LH and ascending 4ths from b7 (F-B-E-A)

B = 3rd anchors the quality; 4ths give McCoy the modal urgency

Quartal Dominant

Bm7b5 stacked-fourth shell

Half-dim with quartal RH - root/b5 LH, b7-b3-b13 RH (4ths)

Quartal Half-Dim

Em7b5 quartal half-dim

Quartal half-dim ii of Dm - root/b5 LH, b7-b3-b13-b9 RH

Modal Half-Dim

Am7b5 root-flat-5 + 4ths RH

Wide half-dim - root/b5 LH, b7-b3-b13-b9 ascending in 4ths

Stacked 4ths in RH preserve McCoy quartal aesthetic on half-dim

Quartal Half-Dim

Bdim7 chromatic + quartal RH

Dim7 with chromatic LH and dim+1 RH spread

Diminished Spread

C#dim7 passing 4ths

Passing dim7 with quartal RH overlay - bb7 + b3 + b5 ascending

Passing Diminished

Edim7 symmetric quartal

Symmetric dim7 with octave-doubled tritones in RH

Tritones doubled at the octave reinforce dim symmetry

Symmetric Diminished

G7alt #9/b13 + quartal RH

Alt V with quartal RH - root/b7 LH, #9-b13-b9-b5 spread

Each adjacent RH interval is a 4th — McCoy alt vocabulary

Quartal Altered

C7alt drag-quartal

Drag-quartal C7alt - root/b7 LH, #9-b13-b9-3 RH

Quartal Altered

D7alt full alt + RH 4ths

Full alt V/G with quartal RH - root/b7 LH, #9-b13-b9-b5 in 4ths

Quartal Altered

Also reaches for Dm11 'So What' Voicing.

Contemporary era still life for Vijay Iyer: a slide rule lying fully extended on black lacquer, its scale catching one line of light.

Vijay Iyer

b. 1971

Rhythmic Quartal · Rhythmic Quartal

Rhythmic cells with quartal stacks, modal panels, displaced polyrhythmic voicings

E Dorian ↔ F Lydian panels

Modal panels with LH pedal, RH rhythmically displaced quartal stacks

RH C–F–B–E etc., displaced rhythmically

Rhythmic Quartal

Also reaches for Dm11 'So What' Voicing.

Free Jazz era still life for Kris Davis: a prepared-piano bolt standing upright between two strings.

Kris Davis

b. 1980 · Canada/USA

Cluster + Bitonal · Cluster + Bitonal

Clusters and bitonal overlays, open 5ths with dissonant RH clusters

C cluster over open fifth

C cluster (RH C–D–Eb) over LH open fifth C–G; move to F quartal, then space

Move to F quartal, then space

Cluster + Bitonal

Also reaches for Dm11 'So What' Voicing.

Contemporary era still life for Tigran Hamasyan: a hammered brass bowl on black lacquer.

Tigran Hamasyan

b. 1987 · Armenia

Armenian Polyrhythm · Polyrhythmic + Quartal

Armenian polyrhythm - quartal clusters, mediant planing, odd meters (7/8, 9/8, 10/8)

C Dorian pedal

C Dorian pedal with polymetric RH movement

LH C pedal | RH D–G–C–E (polymetric)

Polymetric Pentatonic

C7alt harsh hits

Harsh altered dominant hits with UST bVI and bII

UST bVI (Ab) and bII (Db) punctuations

Alt Dom Hits

Also reaches for Cmaj9 (Mediant Cycle) and Dm11 'So What' Voicing.

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.