Upper Structure Triads

Upper structure triads are one of the most elegant concepts in jazz piano. The idea: play a simple major or minor triad in your right hand over a tritone (3rd and 7th) in your left hand. The combination creates rich altered dominant sounds that would be intimidating to think about note by note, but are surprisingly simple when you think of them as "triad over tritone."

The Basic Concept

Take a C7 chord. The 3rd is E and the 7th is Bb — together they form the tritone, the most harmonically charged interval. That's your left hand. Now, in your right hand, play different triads on top. Each triad adds different colour tones:

For example, play E and Bb in the left hand, then an Eb major triad (Eb, G, Bb) in the right hand. The Eb functions as a #9 over C7. The result is a C7#9 — the classic "Hendrix chord" sound:

Now try a different right-hand triad. Keep E and Bb in the left, but play a D major triad (D, F#, A) in the right. The D is the 9th, F# is the #11, and A is the 13th. You've just created a C13#11 — a bright Lydian dominant sound:

Why This Approach Works

The beauty of upper structures is cognitive simplification. Instead of thinking "I need to play the 3rd, 7th, #9, and b13 of C7," you think "E-Bb in the left, Eb triad in the right." Your right hand plays a shape it already knows — a basic triad — while the left hand provides the harmonic anchor. This makes real-time improvisation with altered dominants much more practical.

Common Upper Structures for Dominant Chords

Over any dominant 7th chord's tritone (3rd and 7th in the left hand), try these right-hand triads:

• Major triad a whole step above the root (D over C7) → 9, #11, 13
• Major triad a minor 3rd above the root (Eb over C7) → #9, 5, 7
• Major triad a tritone above the root (Gb over C7) → b5, b7, b9 → altered sound

Upper structures are an advanced technique — you'll want solid rootless voicings and comfort with altered dominants before diving in. But once you start hearing triads over tritones, you'll find altered chords much less intimidating. Explore more altered voicings on our 7#9 and 7b13 pages.