and the basic open-voiced shapes. Every four-note chord thus has four possible open-voiced inversions (though not all are practical using human fingers). Chords that omit the root. A minor ninth chord in open voicing is formed by starting with a dominant seventh form, lowering the third by one fret, and raising the root by two frets. The resulting chords contain the minor third, fifth, minor seventh, and ninth, but no root. (Omitting the root leaves the harmonic sense intact; it is generally supplied by a bass player, or by the listener.) Low, middle, and high voicing. With slight fingering changes, the open voicing forms can be played on any four adjacent strings, not just the lowest four strings. These are sometimes referred to as low, middle, and high voicings. Other generic voicings. Working with the basic open-voiced generic forms, it is possible to raise or lower individual notes by an octave, to create additional voicings with an even more "open" sound. For example, consider an open-voiced major sixth chord, starting with the root on the sixth string: Spread voicing. Remove the second note from the bottom of the chord (the fifth in this inversion), and move it up an octave, by playing it on the second string. Wayne calls this "spread voicing"; the chord consists of a bass note, a gap, and three notes on adjacent strings. Spread voicing can be used with all of the open-voicing inversions, by raising the second note of the chord by an octave. Split voicing. Similarly, remove the third note from the bottom of the chord (the sixth in this inversion), and move it up an octave, by playing it on the second string. Wayne calls this "split voicing"; the chord consists of notes on two pairs of strings, split by a gap. Octave voicing. Similarly, replace the top note of a spread voicing chord with the octave of the chord's second note. Wayne calls this "Octave voicing"; it removes the top pitch from the chord, instead creating a three-note chord that is influenced by four-note harmony. Closed voicing and "specific" chords. Wayne's system also includes some "closed voicing" chords, and a number of "specific" chord forms that have special uses. But the main thrust is on the family of open, spread, split, and octave forms in all inversions. Use of Wayne's chords Jazz musicians are very much attuned to how "open" a chord