Triadic Upper Structures

I'll admit it, this post will probably be most attractive to keyboard instrumentalists, but all tonal instrumentalists can benefit from knowledge of upper structures. 

Upper Structures (Or upper extensions) are major or minor triads, that are superimposed over existing chords to create fuller, richer sounding chords. If you're not a piano player, having a knowledge of upper structures gives you more options to use when improvising. You can arpeggiate the upper structure triads, for example. 

Example 1: Major 2-5-1

Here, I've spelled out each chord with the alterations and how they form upper structure triads. 

The first chord is a Dm11 chord. For this chord, I'm superimposing a C major triad above the shell voicing that's being played with the left hand. A shell voicing usually consists of the root, 3rd, and 7th notes. The 3rd and 7th are the spine, so to speak, of each chord. Everything else is just icing on the cake. The C, E, and G notes being played in the right hand represent the 7th, 9th, and 11th notes for D. 

The second chord is a G13(b9). The upper structure here is an E major triad. You can use any inversion, in this example, it's in second inversion. The B is the 3rd note doubled, the E is the 13th, and the G# is the b9 (The proper name in this context should be Ab in relation to the root of the chord, G, functioning as a b9 but written as a G# here to better visualize the E major Triad being used). 

And last, is the Cmaj9 chord. The upper structure here is a G major triad in first inversion. The B is the 7th note doubled, the D is the 9th, and the G is the 5th. 

Example 2: Major 2-5-1 alternate

The same principles apply in this example. I've thrown in two different upper structures for the same chord, the 5 chord. The shell voicing stays held out while both upper structure triads play in succession. Alternating between the #9, b13 sound to the b9, b5 sound. 

Example 3: Minor 2-5-1 

 Here is an example of the Minor 2-5-1 progression. You’ll notice a slightly different shell voicing used here. Instead of 3rd and 7th in the left hand, I chose to use the 11th and b5. When combined with the upper stricture C major triad it gives a full, rich, half-diminished sound. The 5 chord is exactly the same used in the previous example. And the 1 chord is minor / major 7th. Using almost exactly the same voicing as the previous C major 7, just the 3rd note is flatted for that minor sound. 

Example 4: Minor 2-5-1 alternate 

And the final example with an alternate voicing for the 5 chord. 

Take these through all 12 keys and try different inversions of both hands to find the best registers for these. 

Enjoy!!