If you do feel the need to sprinkle in major chords alongside the min chords typical of neo soul, you can give the listener a sense of stability. In addition, the Neo Soul major voicings that I share in this blog offer a further possibility to resolve dominant chords or even to sprinkle in II-V-I connections from jazz.

In this blog post, I share the four most important Min9 and Min11 voicings that, for me, best express the Neo Soul sound and have proven themselves in practice. I've shown the left hand in a darker shade of turquoise, while the keys played by the right hand are highlighted in light blue. I have also written the intervals for the respective notes in each picture so that you can transfer the voicings to all other keys with a little theoretical knowledge.

C Min9 (Root Position)

This voicing is full and expansive. In practice, however, it is the least common. I mention it anyway because it provides the basis for understanding music theory. The left hand plays the root note, the fifth and the ninth, which is also often referred to as the second or “2”. The right hand plays a maj7 four-note over the minor third of the minor 9 chord. Important here is the friction of the minor second between the ninth and minor third, which creates the sound character of neo soul.

C Maj9 (Min9 (2.Inv)

This voicing has now become the standard neo soul voicing with which the vibe and flavor are generated directly. The term “second inversion” only refers to the Maj7 four-note of the right hand and is not correct in terms of music theory (the fifth would have to be the root note for this, i.e. the one would have to be omitted, but nobody here cares anyway. It's just about how I describe the voicing). In any case, the seventh and the ninth are played an octave lower than in the basic position and make for a denser chord that only spans two octaves instead of three.

C Maj9 (Cluster)

This voicing has now become the standard neo soul voicing with which the vibe and flavor are generated directly. The term “second inversion” only refers to the Maj7 four-note of the right hand and is not correct in terms of music theory (the fifth would have to be the root note for this, i.e. the one would have to be omitted, but nobody here cares anyway. It's just about how I describe the voicing). In any case, the seventh and the ninth are played an octave lower than in the basic position and make for a denser chord that only spans two octaves instead of three.

C Maj#11/13 (Rootless)

By far the boldest voicings are the Maj13 without a root note. At first glance and without any knowledge of music theory, it can be difficult to understand which chord this cluster of notes is supposed to form (Bmin11/b6 perhaps). With a little thought, however, it becomes clear that the left hand has taken the Min7 four-note chord from the Maj9 voicings (2nd UK) and the right hand octaves the #11, while the 13 (or even the 6) and ninth are of course not neglected either. The important thing here is that my two thumbs cross over each other when playing, which ensures the thickness of the chord. This is also the only major voicing mentioned here that includes a minor second. I'll just say “Flovor”. Definitely a voicing for advanced neo soul tryhards.