Dear 5strngs:
I'm a bass player, too, and I had to learn all about rootless chords to really learn how to play jazz with keyboard players when they use the rootless voicings. Rootless voicings are great, because it gives the bass player LOTS of freedom! Also, because the rootless voicings are played in the keyboard players left hand, it gives the keyboard player lots of freedom, because they aren't wasting the left hand by playing basslines (which is what the bass player is doing), but instead, the keyboard player is playing full harmonies in the left, and adding runs, fills, melodies, or thickening up the harmonies in the right hand. Also, because the voicings follow good "voice leading", the left hand doesn't have to do alot of jumping around to play the right notes.
These rootless chords are played around the 'middle C' region. That leaves lots of room for the bass player.
This style is usually associated with jazz.
THere are lots of books on this, but here are some basics, using "ii-V-I" in Major, then minor:
I'll use C Major, then it's relative minor: A minor.
ii-V-I: Dminor7, G7, CMajor:
ii: Dminor 7: standard voicing: D-F-A-C, rootless voicing: F-A-C-E
v: G7 (dominant) standard voic:G-B-D-F, rootless voicing: F-A-B-E
(or richer harmony: F-Ab-B-Eb)
I: C Major: standard voicing: C-E-G, rooless voicing: E-G-A-D
Now using the relative minor:
(this is called a "minor ii-V-i" or, many people on this site
refer to it as "7-3-6" which makes perfect sense to me, too, so I'll use that indication.)
7-3-6: Bminor7b5, E7(altered), Aminor7:
7: Bminor7b5: standard voicing: B-D-F-A, 'rootless' voicing: A-B-D-F
3: E7 (altered): standard voicing: E-G#-B-D, rootless voic'g: G#-B-D-F
(or richer harmony: G#-B-D-Gnatural)
6: A minor7: standard voicing: A-C-E-G, rootless voicing: G-B-C-E
Here is an easier way to understand what has been written above: play these using the roots in the left hand, then try them without the roots:
D/ F-A-C-E
G/ F-A-B-E (or, F-Ab-B-Eb)
C/ E-G-A-D
B/ A-B-D-F
E/ G#-C-D-F (or, G#-C-D-G)
A/ G-B-C-E
This voicing can be transposed to other keys near C Major as well. Keys that are closer to G would use all the same voicings above, but inverted twice in order to keep the voicing from going too low on the keyboard, (muddy) or going too high(too thin). I could post the G Major versions for you, if you like.
hope that helps!
God BLess!!!
