Free PDF posted below...

Today's episode is based on three questions from Daniel.
(1) How do you use triad pairs?
(2) How do you apply triads over altered dominants?
(3) And how do you sound outside when improvising with triads?
 
(1) How do you use triad pairs?
There are plenty of traditional generic ways of using triad pairs which involve arpeggiating through one triad, then arpeggiating through the next, and then moving back and forth for a while. This is a fun technique that will get you outside of sounding like you're running scales. If you can't do this yet, you should try it. It's a good way to break things down.

However in the Melodic Triads approach, there's one additional thing happening. Melodic Triads is all about learning to control tension and resolution within our lines. So when we apply triad pairs in our approach, one triad is going to be a stable, resolution triad (our melodic triad) while the other will be a tension triad. The tension triad's entire purpose in life is to create turmoil which will want to resolve back to the resolution triad. We don't HAVE TO resolve it... but it's a good habit to start with to help train our ear and learn to control sound. 

If we look at a generic major 7 chord through the lens of Melodic Triads  let's say EMaj7 for our example our triad pair will be G# minor and A major. G# minor is our melodic triad and will give us stability, and A major will give us tension and drama that helps provide the feeling of a forward momentum... like the bad guy in a movie. 

Once we have our triad pair picked out that best accentuates the chord we want to imply (which melodic triads provides for us perfectly every time), and once we understand which of these triads provides tension and which resolution, then we can begin employing different techniques and variations to create a musical effect. 

As I show in the video, one of my favorite techniques, and the one that I find the easiest, is to pick one note and hold it constant while the other notes move. Here is a good way to visualize what this effect offers us.

Notice that the low E note is ringing out the whole time. If there's a bass player in the group, you might not need to play that note. If there's not, it can help define the chord by offering us the root note in the bass. Up on the top, we see that D# note static. It's a pedal tone that doesn't move while the middle two voices move up from G# and B to A and C#. Not only does this lead to some really interesting and unexpected chord voicings using only the shape of simple triads, but it also breaks apart the incessant parallel movement trap that we so easily fall into when running through scales or triads pairs where all of the voices move up or down together. This parallel movement is fine, but as soon as we halt it and create contrary motion (where voice movement in opposite directions) or oblique motion (where some voices move while others don't... as shown here) it creates a very 3dimensional quality to the music. It makes it feel as though the voices aren't simply one big chord voicing, but instead are individual voices the move in their own ways and have a life separate from the other voices. By holding that D# note and moving the lower two voicedyads through multiple inversions of our triad pair as shown in the video and the free PDF download for this post  we can create a ton of interesting movement. And once we're good enough at this idea, we can also then add movement into that top voice to create a separate melody line that is harmonized by our triad pairs.

McCoy Tyner uses this exact same static note technique during his solo on the John Coltrane Quartet's recording of My Favorite Things. You can hear this section of his solo in the video above, and you can see the voicings written out in standard notation and tab in the free PDF. It is such a beautiful effect and really creates a wonderful landscape at the start of his solo that he's able to expand upon once he gets going.
 
(2) How do you apply triads over altered dominants?
One of my favorite…

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Happy Practicing!
Jordan Klemons