http://bit.do/billsbook

In this video I explain how to choose chord voicings when improvising, comping or playing a piano solo. Knowing how to choose an effective voicing is very important for jazz, blues and especially pop piano.
When I'm talking about playing chords, I usually use two terms: inversion and voicing. Chord inversions are the specific ways in which a single, joined up chord of consecutive notes can be moved into different positions on the keyboard. Chord voicing involves using the whole piano keyboard to create a chord's particular character and identity, and is a much broader topic.
If you're trying to choose chord voicings, whether you're improvising, comping or playing a solo, there are three factors to consider:
Firstly, it is good practice to make sure that there is wider spacing between the notes in the left hand (generally below middle C) than the notes in the right hand (generally above middle C). To understand why this is important, you need to know a little about how the piano makes notes. Every note on the piano produces a 'primary tone' as well as many 'overtones'. This is because the strings vibrate over fractions of their length as well as their whole length.
A chunky chord made up of a lot of notes in bass sounds quite messy and unclear because a lot of overtones are being produced. However, the same chord further up the keyboard will sound a lot clearer. This is because at the top of the keyboard, the overtones are weaker and go beyond the range of human hearing.
Secondly, there shouldn't be any ambiguity about the chords that you are playing. Typically, problems occur when playing four or five note chords- if you only play some of the notes, your chord could be one many different chords! In most cases, it's important to make sure that you're including all the notes of each chord somewhere on the keyboard.
Thirdly, what really affects character is the choice of bass note. By and large in a chord progression, you should play the root note in the left hand. As you get more confident you'll learn how to vary left hand notes to give a chord more character.
To practice, try making use of the three factors I've described on a chord progression of your choice to play around with different chord voicings. Be sure to use your ears and play voicings that run into each other naturally, rather than voicings that create large jumps between the chords in your progression.
If you're interested in learning more about chords and harmony, check out my other videos as well as my book -- How to Really Play the Piano -- which has loads of chord charts as well as sections on chords and harmony.