Tag: triads

Understanding Triads and Slash Chords in Music Theory

Posted on by Modern Music Theory and Application
The 12 Major Triads/Slash chords music lesson in theory and practice:

Please watch video above for detailed info:

Hi Guys,

Today, a look at altering harmony and cadences with triads, slash and altered chords.

PART 1:

To begin with let’s take a pedestrian V to I cadence,

Now, let’s add some colour to it.

A musical notation diagram showing a V to I cadence with altered substitutions to the Major key, including the slash chords Db/C and C/F for music theory lesson
Illustration of a V to I cadence with altered substitutions, showcasing the Db/C and C/F slash chords.

Here, we can see the slash chord of Db/C resolving to C/F:

The Db/C harmony creates a powerful dominant chord of Csus/b9/b13

Musical notation for Csus/b9/b13 chord with tablature for guitar. Example of slash chord Db/C
Musical notation illustrating the Csus/b9/b13 chord, showcasing its structure and components.

With this in mind let’s now apply this and cadence to the minor key [FmMaj7]

Musical sheet displaying a V to I cadence with altered substitutions for the minor key, featuring Db/C and FmMaj7 slash chords.
V to I cadence illustrating altered slash chord substitutions in a minor key.

Straight away, we can see and hear how easy it is to manipulate and alter the harmony with slash chords.

They also possess a unique flavour and colour that really shines out on the guitar due to the Major triads being very bright. This way they naturally cut through and resonate.

PART 2: Extending 1 simple Triad:

In this example, we will take a simple triad of F Major 1st inversion [F/A]

From this, we will add melodic notes/movement in the top and bottom to extend the harmony, and, finish with a 7sus4 cadence of F/G to Cmaj7#11

Music sheet showing chord substitution notations for F Major 1st inversion (F/A), F6/A, F#m7b5, and F/G with finger placement.
Visual representation of F Major triad variations, including F/A, F6/A, F#m7b5, and F/G, showcasing chord extensions.

Let’s now add this to a complete chord sequence:

A music sheet displaying harmonization techniques with chord notations including Em9, Am, C/G#, F/A, F6/A, F#m7b5, F/G, and Maj7#11.
Chord sequence demonstrating triads and harmonization techniques.

PART 3: Harmonising a melody:

We will now take the simple melody below,

To exploit this, we will employ altered and slash chords starting with G7#9 moving to Eb/E

Sheet music illustrating melody notes with annotations for G7#9 and Eb/E chords.
Melody harmonization using the G7#9 and Eb/E slash chords.

We will now repeat this, but, add a chord of E/F in between to harmonise the Ab note:

Sheet music showing G7#9 and E/F slash chord for jazz fusion reharmonisation

Finally, resolving back to the Eb/E slash chord

Chord diagram showing E/Eb slash chord and diminished harmony with fingering positions on the guitar.
Chord diagram for E/Eb, illustrating finger placements for guitarists.

FULL HARMONISATION EXAMPLE:

Musical notation displaying John McLaughlin guitar melody notes and chords G7#9, Eb/E, and E/F, highlighting the harmonic structure, slash chord and how to re harmonise a melody in jazz fusion music.
John McLaughlin Guitar Harmonization with slash chords and altered chords

PART 4: 12 TRIADS over I bass note

In this exercise we will play all 12 Major Triads over a single C [as root] Bass note.

Musical notation showing a progression of slash chord triads: Db/C, D/C, Eb/C, E/C, and F/C over a single bass note.
Chord progression visual for 12 Major Triads over a C bass note, illustrating various slash chords.
A musical sheet displaying the 12 Major Triads over a C bass note, highlighting various slash chord combinations.
An illustration displaying the progression of 12 Major Triads over a C bass note, highlighting various chord combinations.

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Jazz Guitar Alternate Picking Exercises: ii V7 i [Double Time]

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Modern Jazz Fusion Chords part 2. Steely Dan, Dan Chord and Slash Chords

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Jazz Guitar Alternate Picking Exercises: ii v7 I [Double Time]

Please watch video above for detailed info:

Hi Guys,

Today, we will look at some alternate picking guitar technique exercises for jazz improvisation when double timing

We will exploit ii V7 I’s as a basis for honing our alternate picking skills whilst employing 4 note tetrachord groupings.

In the first exercise it’s a good idea to accent the third note in each four note grouping. We are also starting on a downstroke:

jazz-guitar-alternate-picking-lesson-exercies

Here is the same exercise but with a variation in the second bar:

jazz-guitar-alternate-picking-lesson-exercies
jazz-guitar-alternate-picking-lesson-exercies

SEXTUPLETS EXERCISE:

The next exercise will employ groups of 6 notes called sextuplets: As an exercise we will start with an “Upstroke” this time. This will be played over an AmMaj7 pad:

First Part:

jazz-guitar-alternate-picking-lesson-exercies-sextuplets

2nd Part:

jazz-guitar-alternate-picking-lesson-exercies-sextuplets

Full Exercise/Line:

jazz-guitar-alternate-picking-lesson-exercies-sextuplets

CHROMATICISM/PENTATONIC

The following exercise uses some chromatic movement that smoothly connects to pentatonic movement starting on a downstroke:

jazz-guitar-alternate-picking-lesson-exercies
jazz-guitar-alternate-picking-lesson-exercies

PENTATONIC/ARPEGGIO MOVEMENT

In our final exercise we will join together some of these principles.

jazz-guitar-alternate-picking-lesson-exercies-double-time
jazz-guitar-alternate-picking-lesson-exercies-double-time

In Conclusion

This was just a brief look at how to create alternate picking guitar exercises for improvisation through chord changes by applying simple patterns/fingerings that work naturally.

This was only around 140 bpm. But, this is essential before moving onto much quicker tempos with the alternate picking guitar technique.

With the 4 note “Tetrachord” groupings you will get fluidity through the changes. They will give you stability. They can then be broken up to create anticipation and syncopation-which will in turn create the natural expression of musical phrasing.

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Modern Jazz Fusion Chords part 2. Steely Dan, Dan Chord and Slash Chords

A Natural Minor Scale/Chords/Arpeggios:

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Modern Jazz Fusion Chords part 2. Steely Dan, Dan Chord and Slash Chords

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A Natural Minor Scale/Arpeggio:Basics

Please watch video above for detailed analysis:

Hi Guys,

Today a quick look at the Chords,Scale and Arpeggios of the A natural minor scale.

To begin with this scale is exactly the same as the C Major scale but starting on the 6th degree:

Chords of Major

c-major-chords-of-scale-diagram

Chords of A natural minor

a-minor-natural-chords-of-scale-diagram

Next we will play through and exploit and “Colour” the arpeggios of the scale:

A minor

a-minor-arpeggio-diagram

B Diminished

b-dim-arpeggio-diagram

C Major 7th

c-major-arpeggio-diagram

D minor

d-minor-arpeggio-diagram

E minor

e-minor-arpeggio-diagram

F Major

f-major-arpeggio-diagram

G Major

g-major-arpeggio-diagram

We will now descend in broken chords in groups of 4 notes.

arpeggios-c-major-scale

Exploiting the arpeggios over different chords of the scale:

Here are a few examples of playing a different arpeggio over a different chord of the scale:

arpeggios-c-major-scale-superimpositions

Scale ideas:

Here is a basic way of breaking up the scale by employing triplets:

First we will do this on one string:

a-minor-scale-triplets-example

Now we will cross all 6 strings:

a-minor-scale-triplets-example

This time we will employ 16th’s in 4 note groupings of “Tetrachords” creating a double time smooth pentatonic line.

tetrachords-a-natural-minor-scale-example-pentatonic

We can change the Dominant [minor] chord in the A natural minor scale and make it Major:

With this in mind we realise that the G natural is now a G# and so we can employ the A Harmonic minor scale to play over it.

Here is a simple 2 finger fingering:

a-harmonic-minor-scale-dominat-chord-example

Now, let’s extend this:

a-harmonic-minor-scale-dominat-chord-example

We could also use the E7 Arpeggio:

e7-dominant-arpeggios-example

Finally, we have a lick with an arpeggio [that also implies a triad pair] going to a pentatonic phrase:

E-dominat-chord-guitar-lick

PDF DOWNLOAD:

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Modern Jazz Fusion Chords part 2. Steely Dan, Dan Chord and Slash Chords

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