voicings
The specific arrangement and spacing of notes within a chord across the available range.
In Depth
The same chord can be voiced in many different ways by changing which notes are on top, how far apart the notes are spread, and which notes are doubled or omitted. A close-voiced C major chord has all notes within one octave; an open voicing spreads them across two or more octaves. Jazz pianists develop libraries of voicings for each chord type. Bill Evans revolutionised jazz piano voicings by placing the root low, then stacking thirds and sevenths in the right hand, creating a modern sound that became standard.
Bill Evans's rootless voicings freed the left hand from playing the root (which the bassist covers), enabling richer harmonic colours that changed the sound of jazz piano forever.