Hey YouTube! mDecks Music here and welcome back to another episode of Upper Structure Friday's!
A series and where we look at upper structure voicings for the purpose of piano
comping and improvisation. If you haven't done so already definitely check out the
introduction to this series where we explain upper structures and how to use them to
create new colors in music. You can click on the iCard right here, we'll also leave
a link in the description down below... also don't forget to check out our website (mDecks.com) where
you can download the upper structures book bundle with all possible upper structures.
Enough introduction let's get started! So today what we're gonna look at is a major triad on
the second degree of a dominant chord if you do that the color you'll get is this...
We're simply playing a major triad on top of a dominant chord starting on the second of that
chord for example: in G7, the 2 is A. So we just have to play an A major triad on top of the G7 that
will give us a G7 (9 #11 13). As you can hear, this is a rich sounding chord with 3 tensions: the
9, the #11, and the 13. And you can also hear it out of context this is a harsh sounding chord.
So let's talk about ways of conceptualizing this upper structure triad and one way is
this: you start with your dominant seven chord -- which in this case was G7: G, B, D, and F -- and then you
find the ninth of that chord you extend the cord up to the ninth -- that gives us an A -- and
then you root the major triad on that A giving us an A major triad. There's our A major
triad,, there's our G7 chord and when you put them together... you get this... you get that rich sort of
harsh sound we were talking about before... Another way would be to just think of the
major triad starting on a major second above the root and playing it using any inversion...
The more advanced way of looking at this upper structure is by looking the scale it produces!
If we put all the notes from the chord, plus the upper structure, in order, we get a Lydian b7 because
1 3 5 b7 9 #11 and 13 in order is just 1 2 3 #4 5 6 and b7 which is the Lydian b7 scale!
This scale pairs perfectly with two common functions found in music: the bVII7
and the subV7. So when you see a bVII7, your best bet is the Lydian b7 and the same goes
for the subV7. In C, the bVII7 is Bb7, and it typically resolves to the one -- C -- so now
when you play this Bb7 you can use our upper structure which is a major triad starting in the
second degree. In Bb7, the major triad starting on the second degree is the C triad.
As you can see in this case the upper structure -- our C chord -- represents the one of the key that we're in!
We can then think of this upper structure as just playing a one chord on top of the bVII7.
In "My Romance," this Ab7 is the bVII7 We're in the key of Bb, so we can play
the Bb triad which is the one on top of it and resolve it by moving the Bb to an A to get the
major seventh of the Bbmaj7, which is our one chord! So moving forward you can always use
this technique when you see a bVII7 - I Cadence. So here's my Ab7 chord on
the left hand this represents the bVII7 of the key were in with my right hand all I need
to do now is play the triad -- our Bb chord: Bb, D, and F -- and when I put them together... there's
that sound we talked about earlier now all I have to do is resolve the root of that upper structure
the Bb down a half step when I go to the one... we get a really nice resolution this is the same
exact muscle memory and technique and movement we used in our first example with "Satin Doll" ...
The other common function where you can use this upper structure is any subV7
diatonic or secondary because they all use Lydian b7 as the default chord scale.
--- as you can see clearly in Mapping Tonal Harmony --- So now you have three different perspectives on
how to think of this upper structure and all three of them, while different,
are completely valid and will get you to the same conclusion! So here's your challenge of
the day try to find the appropriate upper structure using today's technique for the
chords we're about to give you. As usual we'll give you four beats to think about your answer...
So that's it for today guys hope that was helpful come
back next week for another episode of Upper Structure Fridays where we explore a brand
new technique on how to use upper structures in our voicings and improvisation. Please like
and subscribe, click on the notification bell if you'd like to stay up to date on
current content. Thanks for watching and we'll leave you with this demo..... :)