All voicing styles

Stride Voicings

Left Hand·Intermediate·Difficulty 3/5

What it is

Stride is a left-hand technique where you alternate between a low bass note (beats 1 and 3) and a mid-register chord cluster (beats 2 and 4). The hand literally strides up and down the keyboard. It creates a built-in bass line and rhythm section with just one hand.

How to build it

Beat 1/3: root in octave 3. Beat 2/4: 3rd + 5th + 7th cluster in octave 3-4. The hand jumps between the two positions. Second variant uses the 5th as the bass note.

When to use it

For solo piano where you need to provide your own bass line and harmony simultaneously. Stride is the foundation of jazz piano — Art Tatum, Fats Waller, Oscar Peterson all used it. Start slow (the jump is physically demanding) and build speed gradually.

Examples

Dm7Stride
D3C4F4A4
G7Stride
G3D4F4B4
Try a ii-V-I with this style

Standards that work well with this style

Related voicing styles