Master Maiden Voyage – Bobby Hutcherson’s Perfect Solo

Maiden Voyage is a classic jazz standard that all improvisers will encounter at some point in their musical journey. With only four chords, beginners tend to gravitate toward this Herbie Hancock masterpiece because it seems like it would be an “easy” jazz tune…

While it’s true that there are only four chords and that the form is relatively simple to navigate, calling this a beginner jazz tune is quite a leap.

Like Modal Jazz, the jazz legends did not encounter this tune until after dealing with the fundamental challenges of jazz…

At this point (1965), they already had a firm grasp on:

• How functional harmony works
• The Jazz Language
• The Jazz Standard Repertoire
  

So to call it an easy tune or a beginner jazz standard is not really true and to understand both the chords and how to solo over them in a coherent way takes a bit of study.

But not to worry…

Today we’re going to give you all the tools you need to understand, hear, and play Maiden Voyage like a pro.

We’ll start out by getting into the chord progression and the form. Then we’ll do a little deep-dive into Sus chords. After that, we’ll take a look at the voicings Herbie Hancock uses on these Sus chords along with the rhythm.

And then, after laying the groundwork for the tune, we’ll deconstruct Bobby Hutcherson’s perfect solo on Maiden Voyage, detailing a bunch of soloing tactics that you can start using today.

That’s right, you’re going to completely master all the elements needed to play Maiden Voyage like a professional jazz musician. You’ll learn:

• How Sus chords are used in jazz to achieve an open sound
• How Maiden Voyage makes use of Sus chords
• How Herbie voices the chords to this classic tune
• How to hear the famous Maiden Voyage Rhythm with ease
• How to use the power of cells to transform your solo
• How to create interesting lines using intervals & arpeggios

And a whole lot more…throughout the lesson, you’ll see and hear exactly how legends like Herbie Hancock and Bobby Hutcherson create the most beautiful improvised lines on Maiden Voyage and how you can too!

We have a lot to cover, so let’s get into it…

Maiden Voyage: Chord Changes & Form

The Form of Maiden Voyage is very simple…

For its 32 bars, It uses the most common form in jazz, AABA, and it only has four chords – the A Section has two chords and the B Section has two chords.

But, contrary to popular belief and The Real Book, these chords are not all the same…

Listen to this incredible version of Herbie Hancock playing Maiden Voyage with Bobby Hutcherson and keep in mind there is an intro before the AABA from starts…

Three of the four chords are Sus chords, while if you listen closely to the second chord in the Bridge, you should hear that it’s actually a minor chord, typically voiced with the 13th in the chord voicing, A# or Bb. (And you can of course think of Db minor or C# minor. The later is my preference).

Now, Sus chords have a unique sound and they are what give this tune a wide open sound.

But what exactly is a Sus chord?

What is a Sus Chord?

The term Sus is actually an abbreviation…

So if you see the symbol D7 Sus, what this actually means is a D dominant 7th chord with a suspended fourth because “Sus” is short for “suspended”.

Yes, you can suspend other chord-tones like the 2nd/9th, but in general, in jazz, D7 Sus refers to the 4th being suspended unless otherwise notated…

And the easiest way to understand what this idea of suspension means is to look at the voice leading of a ii V.

In a standard ii V7 from Major Harmony, when moving from ii to V7 the 7th of the ii chord moves down chromatically to the 3rd of the V7 chord, the note G moves to F#.

But with a Sus chord, the 7th of the minor chord (G) does not move down to the 3rd (F#), it instead remains on the same pitch.

So, the 4th ends up in a suspended state, NOT resolving to the 3rd, which is why it’s called a Sus Chord, short for suspended 4th chord.

Next we’ll talk a little bit about the consonant notes on a Sus chord…

So what do you play over a sus chord?

Understanding the theory behind why a Sus chord is called Sus is great and all, but what do you actually play over them?

If we look at a normal V7 chord compared to a Sus chord, it would seem as though the 3rd on a Sus chord would be an “avoid note” because it’s not present within the basic chord and it’s replaced with the suspended 4th…

Above, I’ve shown you the chords all the way up to the 13th, and I’ve reordered the notes into a linear structure, a scale, next to them so you can very easily see what’s going on…

But treating the 3rd as an avoid note is actually not the right thing to do…

In reality, because there is no 3rd in the chord, BOTH a minor and major third are consonant possibilities.

Sus chords don’t close harmony or melody, they open them

So playing over Sus chords, you can treat them just like a normal V7 chord, with a couple more options…

• The 4th will sound consonant because there is no 3rd for it to clash with
• Both the major 3rd and minor 3rd can sound consonant in your lines
  

These extra options on a Sus chord give you more possibilities when you solo over them. You don’t have to worry about the sound of the 4th clashing with the major 3rd, and the minor 3rd will sound good as well.

Next, let’s look at how to voice the Sus chords at the piano using triads…

Piano Voicings on Sus Chords

Rather than just playing a chord in stacked 3rds and replacing the major 3rd of the chord with the Sus 4, jazz musicians voice the chords – they choose which notes from the chord they want to play, and arrange them in a specific order to create the particular character they desire for the chord.

And a great way to understand how Sus chords are often voiced is to first realize how they are sometimes notated…

Instead of D7 Sus, sometimes a Sus chord will be notated as a specific minor chord over a root note…

This notation uses the related ii minor chord over the root of the V7 chord, and by related I mean the ii chord that would pair with the dominant chord if it were a ii V progression.

So an alternate notation for D7 Sus that you might occasionally see will be A minor (the ii chord) over D (the root of the V7 chord)…

So that is one very effective way to voice Sus chords, by using the ii minor chord (A minor) over the V7 root (D).

Now, if you closely look at the structure of A minor, you should notice that a C major triad sits right inside of it.

In relation to D7, this is a major triad built from the dominant 7th and it gives you the b7-9-11 of the dominant chord, and that 11th is really the Sus4 in the chord.

And this is another very common way to voice Sus chords…

You take that b7 triad (C major triad) and put it over the root (D) of the Sus chord in any inversion, and then double the lowest pitch of the triad inversion (keep in mind that the lowest note, G in this case, could easily be played as an A to use the ii over V7 root idea instead).

And these are the type of Herbie Hancock piano voicings in Maiden Voyage. Although he may modify or switch up the exact notes, these are the general concepts used – Either use the ii minor (A minor) over the V7 root and 5th (D and A), or use the triad embedded within that minor chord (C major triad).

In the A Section you can use this type of voicing for both the D7 Sus and the F7 Sus.

Notice how the inversion of the triad changes to suit the voice leading needs, but that it’s still just the b7 major triad over the root of the chord.

Then, in the B Section, you can voice the Eb7 Sus using the same tactic.

Now let’s talk about the comping rhythm in Maiden Voyage and how to learn to hear it…

Hearing The Comping Rhythm

Hearing the comping rhythm in Maiden Voyage is not easy…

In fact, I can remember it tripping me up a ton when I was younger and looking back on it, I wish someone had showed me the rhythm and walked me through an easy way to hear it.

So let’s do that for you…

Here is the comping rhythm written out and repeated several times so you can hear it clearly…