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Upper-Structure Triads

C7alt UST bII (Db minor triad)

Db MINOR triad over C7 - the true altered bII (b9, b13). Db major's F-natural is the natural 11, a m9 above the 3rd (E) and foreign to the altered scale; Db minor uses E(=Fb) instead, doubling the 3rd consonantly.. Written in C. Below it, 23 transcribed voicings from the pianists it defines, both hands, note by note.

The shape

Db MINOR triad over C7 - the true altered bII (b9, b13). Db major's F-natural is the natural 11, a m9 above the 3rd (E) and foreign to the altered scale; Db minor uses E(=Fb) instead, doubling the 3rd consonantly.

Upper-Structure Triads

Stored in C so it moves to any key; each note carries its role and its name.

The hands, in full

23 transcriptions across 2 players, oldest first.

Modal era still life for Herbie Hancock: a coiled patch cable beside a single chrome knob.

Herbie Hancock

b. 1940

Funk + Modal · Quartal + Modal

Funk harmony + modal exploration with quartal 4ths and Lydian colors

C7(#11)

Dominant #11 with D triad (UST II)

Upper-Structure Triad

C7(alt)

Altered dominant with Ab triad (bVI)

Upper-Structure Triad

So What over Dm

Classic 'So What' chord with quartal planing

Quartal

Cmaj9#11

Lydian pad - bright modern voicing

Pop-Lydian

Cmaj7 sus4-add9

Maiden Voyage sus4-add9 modal pad - signature Hancock open color

Sus4 over root + 5th, RH adds 9 for floating modal pad

Modal Pad

Cmaj7#11 (clean Lydian)

Clean Lydian voicing - shells in LH, D triad over Cmaj7 in RH

UST D over Cmaj7 = Lydian #11 brightness

Lydian UST

Cmaj9 spread

Open Cmaj9 spread - root/5th LH + 3-5-7-9 RH ascending

Open Spread

Dm9 So What

So What stack - LH all-quartal, RH adds 5th and 9th

Stack of 4ths in LH (D-G-C-F), pure modal sound

Quartal

Cm7 Cantaloupe

Cantaloupe Island modal m7 - sus4 + 9 + repeated F top

Open root + 5th LH; RH sus4-9 cluster over m7

Modal m7

Dm11 modal stack

Full modal m11 stack - 4ths in RH, root/5th LH

Quartal m11

C7sus Maiden Voyage

Maiden Voyage sus dominant - 4-b7-9 + double 5 top

Wide-open sus voicing, no 3rd, very modal

Sus Dominant

G13 Speak Like a Child

Wide G13 - root + b7 LH, 3-13-9-5 ascending RH

Shell LH (root + b7) leaves room for full UST in RH

13 with Shell

C7#11 Dolphin Dance

Dolphin Dance dom7#11 - shells + D triad UST + double D top

Lydian Dominant UST

Dm7b5 Levine half-dim

Levine half-dim - shell of m7b5 (b3 + b7) LH, root + b5 + b3 RH

Half-Diminished

Bm7b5 Dolphin Dance

Dolphin Dance ii of vi - root + b5 LH, b7 + b3 + b5 + b7 RH

Doubled b7 top emphasizes the descending tendency

Half-Diminished

Cm7b5 sus over half-dim

Sus reinterpretation of half-dim - b3 + b7 LH, b5 + 11 + b7 RH

Modal Half-Dim

C#dim7 passing UST

Passing dim7 connector - root+b5 LH, dim seventh chord RH

Used as approach to Dm7 in Speak Like a Child

Passing Diminished

Bdim7 modal substitute

Modal bVII° - chromatic approach to I in modal context

Modal Diminished

F#dim7 leading-tone

Leading-tone dim7 to G - wide-spread chromatic approach

Leading-Tone Diminished

G7alt chromatic UST

Chromatic UST altered V - 3 + b7 LH, b5 + b7 + b9 + #9 RH

Chromatic upper structure stacking #9-b9-b5 cluster

Chromatic Altered

C7alt Ab UST (extended)

Extended Ab triad UST altered - shell + full Ab triad with octave

bVI UST Altered

D7alt bii UST

bii UST altered V/ii - 3 + b7 LH, Eb minor triad + b13 RH

bii UST Altered

Also reaches for Cmaj9#11 (Lydian Pad), Dm11 'So What' Voicing and Dom7 Rootless A.

Fusion era still life for Hiromi Uehara: two coiled cables crossing on a brushed-metal deck.

Hiromi Uehara

b. 1979 · Japan

Fusion Explosive · Fusion Quartal

Fusion quartal with classical spread, wide 10ths and inner 4ths, alt dominant hits

C Lydian pads

C Lydian pads with RH wide 10ths and inner 4ths; alt dom hits (UST II/bVI)

Alt dom hits (UST II/bVI)

Fusion Quartal

Also reaches for Cmaj9#11 (Lydian Pad) and Dm11 'So What' Voicing.

Also in their vocabulary

2 more reach for it. Their notes are printed on the rarer grip each one plays.

Take it to the key you are working in

Everything above is in C, and nothing is held back — the notes are the notes. What a page cannot do is move the shape into the key of the tune on your stand, or run your own progression through it and play the result. That is what the Reharmonization Engine in the app is for.

Built from the app's own data: the grip from masterVoicingGrips, who plays it from pianistVoicingStyles, and every transcription frompianistExactVoicings. Nothing on this page was written about these pianists for the website.