Upper Structure Triads

Major triads over V7 — two voicings per dominant, twelve keys

The LH holds the dominant's defining anatomy — root and ♭7, the tritone-spanning pair that says "V7" — while the RH stacks a major triad high above it. The triad's notes substitute for the dominant's upper extensions (9, ♭9, ♯11, ♭13, 13), and which triad you choose changes the chord's colour completely without changing what the bass and the ear hear as the root motion.

Two USTs cover most of the territory. The ♭V triad (a major triad a tritone above V) produces the "altered" sound: ♭5 + ♭7 + ♭9, drawn from the melodic-minor-from-the-♭9 scale. The II triad (a major triad a whole step above V) produces Lydian dominant: 9 + ♯11 + 13. Both leave the V's function intact while opening up totally different vocabulary above it.

♭V / V (altered)

Triad notes = ♭5, ♭7, ♭9 of V. Tense, resolves hard.

II / V (Lyd dom)

Triad notes = 9, ♯11, 13. Bright, open, post-bop.

G7 (V of C)

C7 (V of F)

F7 (V of B♭)

B♭7 (V of E♭)

E♭7 (V of A♭)

A♭7 (V of D♭)

D♭7 (V of G♭)

F♯7 (V of B)

B7 (V of E)

E7 (V of A)

A7 (V of D)

D7 (V of G)

The Daily Drill

Hear the altitude

4 minPick one key. Play the V7 with no UST (just LH shell + RH plain shell). Then add the ♭V triad. Then the II triad. Hear how the tension shifts.
8 minCycle three keys at a time. Use the altered UST when the V is about to resolve to a minor i (it predicts the ♭3 of the minor); use the Lydian dom UST when resolving to a major I (the ♯11 colour brightens it).
3 minApply to a tune: pick a standard with a long V before the resolution (the V of All The Things You Are, for instance) and substitute one of these USTs.
3 minTry moving between the two USTs within the same V bar: altered on beats 1-2, Lydian dom on beats 3-4. That's how Mehldau colours his dominants.

Why a major triad on the ♭5

The ♭V triad's three notes are an inversion of the ♭V/V's tritone substitute (the ♭II7 chord). So the ♭V triad over V7 is literally the upper structure of the tritone-sub chord, stacked on top of the original V's shell. The bass moves V (in the LH) but the upper voices float on the ♭II7 — two functions at once. Pat Martino, Brad Mehldau, the entire post-bop ECM lineage lives in this dual-function zone.

Same V, two ceilings. The bass commits; the top floats.

80 bpm

Sound