Recording artist, saxophonist, educator and author Gary Campbell presents an effective strategy for constructing fresh sounding melodic lines. He takes you step by step through the concept, the practice exercises and the practical application of TRIAD PAIRS FOR JAZZ. Gary includes: deriving triad pairs from the most used chord-scales; determining the best pairs for various chords and progressions; practice patterns for mastery and exploring linear possibilities. Recommended for intermediate to advanced players as an expansion of the chord-scale approach. A must for today's improviser!
triad pairs for jazz by gary campbell pdf free
2 Table of contents - Introduction..3 - Triads Triad pairs Hexatons, bitonality Conjunct and disjunct triad pairs. 5 - Triads in the natural music systems. 6 - Triads in the symmetrical music systems Variations of the disjunct triad pairs Disjunct triad pairs possibility over the seventh chords..8 -Experimenting with the same type of triad pairs over seventh chords Examples: Modern jazz guitarists and the triads Kurt Rosenwinkel Adam Rogers Tony Graves Applying triad pairs in blues in a horizontal way Applying triad pairs in a standard in a vertical way How to create own patterns Triad pair ideas over seventh chords Bibliography Attachment: Result of the possible triads over the seventh chords..32 -Disjunct triad pairs and their hexatonic scale over the seventh chords Disjunct triad pairs and their hexatonic scale in the octatonic and aug. system
3 Introduction Since I do jazz I like to play and experiment with irregular and dissonant chords and I like to play with multiple phrases at the same time. For some reason I feel more comfortable during my solo if I play with chords as well. That is why I would like to research the voicing and triad chords more. I would like to develop my skills of playing alone and that is also why I am so interested in chords and polyphony. I listen to modern jazz a lot and I hear this kind of modern triad substitutions and voice leadings by the contemporary guitarists (Kurt Rosenwinkel, Ben Monder, Adam Rogers, Jonathan Kreisberg). This is the sound I m looking for because I hear the same in my music as well. On the guitar it is not so common to lead the voices between the chords. Without exaggeration I can state that there are some exceptional modern guitarists who play the guitar like pianists play the piano. They use very nice and interesting chord voicings with triads when they comp and during their solos. There are some background sources already about jazz theory that relate to the topics of triads, polytonality and voice leading. Gary Cambell and Randy Vincent address polytonality with an emphasis on vertical sonority (Cambell, 2007; Vincent, 2002). Jazz theory at large has been examined by Bert Ligon in his book Jazz Theory Resources: tonal, harmonic, melodic and rhythmic organization of jazz (2001). Modern jazz uses triad chords a lot. I would like to know all possible triad substitutions over seventh chords, so I will also examine this in my thesis. What I hear and what I transcribed from these musicians is that they know the main music systems and the possibilities very well. I will listen to and transcribe solos from the artists above and find out what kind of scales and triad combinations they use. I will then examine these systems to discover what kind of triad chords there are and how we can use them in an irregular way. So my main question is, how can I use the concept of triad pairs to express the sound that is in my head? 3
4 Triads Definition: A triad is a set of three different notes that can be stacked in thirds. Types: Cmajor, Cminor, Cdiminished, Caugmented A structure of the triad chord is strong enough to specify a tonality of the music. This can be the most traditional and popular, as well as one of the most modern sounds. If we put two different triad chords next to each other, we get a triad pair. We can use these four, five or six notes as a scale over any seventh chord. Triad pairs Any two triads can form a triad pair, and there are about 7 diatonic triads that can be stacked onto every regular 7th chord. If I m thinking in major modes, then I can start a triad on any note of the scale and extend it by adding another triad on top of it that comes from the same diatonic scale. What triad you play gets you a different sound. The term polytonal refers to two triads that have no notes in common, resulting in a six-note (hexatonic) collection. Triad pairs that have both triads belonging to the same seven-note scale are always adjacent triads. Their roots are next to each other in the scale, such as I and II or IV and V. Major and minor triad pairs which are a tritone apart, can be found in the eight-note diminished scale. Most of the popular triad pairs use two major triads or two minor triads, but mixed versions and versions using diminished and augmented triads also exist and are used. Working with triad pairs is a very effective way for building fresh sounding melodic lines. If we limit notes down to six, we can get a concise and special sound. Rendering these notes in a form of triad pairs we can get more variety in tone color and melodic possibilities. Triads usually express tonality. Combining two triads may create the effect of bitonality or polytonality. The polytonal effect is stronger when the triad pair is used over a root tone that is not present in any of the triads. The stand alone sound is often enough to make a strong melodic line no matter how it is relating to the harmony over which it is built up. The triads offer a frame to base lines. This can be a good way to build up modal settings where there are no diatonic movements where every chord changes can last long. 1 1 Campbell 2007, p.1 4
5 Hexatons If we put the notes of the two triads in order we can call this Hexatonic scale. This thinking which is based on hexatons is a very popular tool of the modern jazz. For instance: C major triad and F# major triad If I think about the hexaton as two triad chord I can use it in a vertical way. For example, I can substitute seventh chords with triads or I can play triads over different basses. If I think about the hexaton as a scale I can use it in a horizontal way. For example I can make melody from the scale or I can play 2 triad arpeggios over the actual seventh chord. Conjunct and Disjunct triad pairs If I put two triads next to each other and they have at least one common note it is called conjunct triad pair. For example: A major triad and C major triad These systems/scales have just 5 different notes or less. If the two triads don t have a common note because there are 6 different notes they are called disjunct triad pair. In my thesis I will only examine these triad pairs. Let s see for example a melodic minor scale as the chord-scale for a situation and see which triad pairs we can use. We see that within a C melodic minor scale the following triads can be found: Cmin, Dmin, Eb.aug, Fmaj, Gmaj, Adim, Bdim The possible triads are: Cm/Dm, Dm/Eb.aug, Eb.aug/Fmaj, Fmaj/Gmaj, Gmaj/Adim, Adim/Bdim, Bdim/Cmaj, These are my preferred selections: Cmin/Dmin, Fmaj/Gmaj The above mentioned triad pairs can be used wherever we would like to use the C melodic minor scale. We have to experiment with them and decide which sounds best. 2 I ve taken the triad pair Fmaj-Gmaj and I want to decide over which chords it can be used. I have examined the diatonic triads within different scales and I have found this triad pair within the C melodic minor scale and the C major scale: Fmaj and Gmaj diatonic triads in the C melodic minor scale: 4 th and 5 th degree. 3 2 Campbell 2007, p Ibid. 5
7 Triads in the Octatonic system (1-2) C-octatonic scale: C C# D# E F# G A Bb 1 b9 #9 3 # b7 One of the best scale choices may be the diminished scale over Dom7alt. chord. Triads in the system: Major:1,3,5,7 Minor:1,3,5,7 Dim.:,1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8 Aug.: NO Triads in the Augmented system ( 1-3) C Augmented scale: C Db E F G# A 1 b #5 6 It is possible to play augmented scale over maj, min, aug, minmaj7, Maj7, Maj7+ chord. For example: It is possible to play C augmented scale over these chords: Db or F or A (maj, min, aug, minmaj, Maj7, Maj7+) Triads in the system: Major: 2, 4, 6 Minor: 2, 4, 6 Dim.: NO Aug.: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 Variations of the disjunct triad pairs I was curious to know how many variations there are of the disjunct triad pairs. There are 4 types of triad chords and to check all the combinations there are 4x4=16 different options: (maj+maj, maj+min, maj+dim, maj+aug,..etc) It is necessary to check all the 16 combinations compared to all the 11 distances. (b2,2,b3,3,p4,b5,5,b6,6,b7,7) Therefore we have 176 options (16x11). It is a lot, but fortunately we can simplify it. To examine the b2,2,b3,3,p4,b5 distances is enough because the rest is the same in this context. For example, between Cmin and Ab dim chord there is a (minor 6th) distance. We confirmed this already when we examined the distance between Ab dim. and Cmin chord. (3rd distance). This would be unnecessary double work, so instead of 176 we have 96. 7
8 We also have to recognize some conformities such as the possibilities of the augmented triads. For example, a minor and a major pair which are triton distance from each other are the same as a major and minor pair with the same distance. 5 This is a list of all the disjunct triad pairs: Maj-maj: b2, 2, b5 Maj-min: 2, b3, b5 Maj-dim: 2, b3, p4 Maj-aug: b2, 2, Min-maj: b2, 2, 3 Min-min: b2, 2, b5 Min-dim: 2, p4 Min-aug: b2, 2, Dim-maj: b2, 3 Dim-min: b2, 2, 3 Dim-dim: b2 Dim-aug: b2, 2, 3, p4 Aug-maj: No Aug-min: No Aug-dim: No Aug-aug: b2, 2 Disjunct triad pairs possibility over the seventh chords I wanted to know what are the 12 different major, minor, dim. aug. triads compared to the Maj7 chord. First I took the Maj7/9/#11/13 chord as a main chord and then I checked all the 12 major triad over this Cmaj7 chord. The result demonstrated all of the triad possibilities over Cmaj7 chord. (C, D, G) In general it is possible play over the Maj7 chord a major triad from the Root, 9th, and 5th. 5 Aved 1998, p.15. 8 2ff7e9595c
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