Open v Close Chords - Chord Voicing - Music Theory Crash Course 

Moat of all composers use Close voicings a lot. In part writing, you can write it either close or open voicing. I mostly do close voicings for piano and SATB.

Thanks for this music theory playlist. This helps so much!

Perfect video, just when I was looking for it 😁

While the idea that open chords are simply any chord that spans more than an octave is accurate in many cases, this is not always the case. For example, a Cmaj9 chord contains C E G B and D, which itself is already more than an octave. However, we would still refer to this as a closed chord, since all of the notes of the chord are as close to each other as possible. Therefore, more generally, close chords are chords in which the notes are as close as possible and open chords are simply the same notes spread out across the keyboard. In the case of the Cmaj9, an open voicing could consist of C-G-E-B-D. That being said, when simply looking at triads and seventh chords and their voicings, I think this "octave span" rule is generally accurate and an easy tool to identify voicings of chords.

Wow. You are the first person I've seen that explained this so well and so simply. Beautiful. Thank you so much!

Very well explained and illustrated! 😊

Well laid out explanation, thanks.

You're explanation is the best. Thank you so much. I appreciate your lessons.

You do such a good job with your videos. I have tried several times to write music representing a thunderstorm, but the music doesn’t satisfy me. What do Beethoven and Vivaldi that I don’t? This is what I do: - Fast tempo, especially Molto Allegro and the slow end of Presto - Eighth note tremolo to add turbulence - Predictably unpredictable scales to represent wind - Dynamic bursts to represent thunder and lightning(Bass response - Thunder, Treble initiation - Lightning) - Staccato or Pizzicato to represent rain - Very little rest - String quintet ensemble with a double bass at the low end - Overall swell to the music, so like it crescendos to a fortissimo climax and then diminuendos back to an intense piano dynamic And yet my thunderstorm music doesn’t satisfy what I’m after. And yet I could be listening to Vivaldi or a Beethoven sonata and be like "Yeah, that’s stormy alright." So, am I doing something wrong? Is there something missing that Beethoven and Vivaldi have that I don’t?

Excellent!! Thank you!!!!

Thanks lot for your video.

"Aaverage human hand can reach up to an octave on the piano" Rachmaninoff and Liszt: *is that a challenge?*

Thanks, very informative

I love C major music also c#

I think it's easier if you just move the 3rd interval up one octave. Otherwise you're creating an inversion unintentionally

For what I learned, what you did is an open inversion, closed or open positions of the same chord is not made just moving the 3rd of the chord up in the octave ?

Can you explain how to invert open voicing chords?

very helpful thank you it would be better if you showed the chords on the piano

The open voicing is pretty much a drop 2 ?

open chords sound like windows 10 sound effects

I must admit that I'm a bit disappointed. You didn't explain how an open chord sounds different from a closed chord. Are the two chords feeling the same to a listener? I can hear a difference, but I can't put precise words on it. How is the emotion conveyed by the chord altered? When to use a closed chord and when to use a closed chord from an artistic point of view (not just from a technical point of view, i.e. whether a pianist can play it or not with one hand). Also, having the fifth note at the bottom of the chord (it's an advice in the video) should be a very conscious choice, because it makes the chord unstable. Having the third at the bottom of the chord would be a less strange advice.

Did I hear the Office? 🧐