Stage 6 of 7

Upper Structure Triads

Maximum Dominant Colour

Upper structure triads are the most colourful way to voice dominant chords. You play the tritone (3rd + b7th) in your left hand, then stack a major or minor triad on top that contains the extensions you want. For example, over G7, playing a D major triad on top gives you 5-7-9 — a bright, open sound.

Playing an Ab major triad gives you b9-3-b13 — a dark, altered sound. There are 6 common upper structures per dominant chord, each with a distinct colour. This is advanced territory, but it gives you the harmonic vocabulary of players like Herbie Hancock and Chick Corea.

Prerequisites

Comfortable with quartal voicings and all rootless types. Can hear altered tensions.

Voicing Styles in This Stage

Upper Structure

How to Practice

1.Learn all 6 upper structures over one dominant chord (e.g. G7) before transposing
2.The 6 triads: bII, II, bIII, #IV, V, bVI major triads over the tritone (Levine)
3.Practise resolving each upper structure to its target chord — hear the colour change
4.Apply upper structures to the V chords in All The Things You Are — different colour on each V