Hi Aaron,

My apologies for the tech glitch during this seminar. I have implemented a new live stream system that we will use on Wednesday, so there will be no further technical issues. Thank you for your understanding.

To answer your questions:

1) To get fluency, should I practice using the cheat sheet in all keys ?

I recommend using the cheat sheet when playing through jazz standards. Instead of using the cheat sheet to work through all 12 keys, simply find dominant chords when playing through jazz standards and then use the cheat sheet to follow the process that I outlined in the first seminar this month. Before long, you will have encountered all 12 dominant chords in the jazz standards that you are playing. I find this way to be a much more practical and effective way to learn how to use upper structure triads, as otherwise it can be quite overwhelming to try to work through all 12 keys as a practice exercise, as at the end of this one can still be unsure how to apply the chords to out playing.

The process I outline will help you to learn the theory, but most importantly we are always applying it to songs and standards so that we understand how to actually use these chords and voicings in the songs that we are playing – which is the end goal!

2) When you say that the 2nd inversion is the best sounding inversion, does it mean we should not use the other inversions ?

Yes I mentioned the second inversion is the best sounding inversion but that doesn’t mean that we should only use the second inversion. Ultimately, we use upper structure triads to harmonize the melody notes on lead sheets. One part of the process is to find the correct inversion that keeps the melody note intact. I was simply saying that the second inversion has the strongest sound, and so perhaps if you had a choice between two different inversions or two different upper structures, this could help you to choose the most suitable voicing. In the final seminar this month we will dive a little bit deeper into the inversions and tritone substitution.

3) Would you consider to always end a song using the UST ?

I would not consider to always end a song using an upper structure triad, however, it is something that we can do. This also works well at the end of repeating sections where we often have space in the turnaround section. We will go into more detail with fills and upper structure triad runs in this week’s seminar and I’ll show you some fills and runs that I use all the time in my playing.

4) Are the UST related to the different modes ? Are each of your 4 different variations of UST in your cheat sheet related to different modes ?

Yes, upper structures can be related to different modes. This is a good point for discussion in this week’s seminar. Whilst it is useful to have an understanding of modes, I personally try to think more in terms of chord tones and chord structures (such as triads) than purely thinking about scales. Whilst scales can be used in improvisation, I find that by thinking in terms of chord tones and also chord structures such as triads, it gives a much more balanced sound than thinking purely in terms of scales.

Thank you for these great questions Arun – I will be sure to expand upon them in the upcoming seminars.

If you have any other questions, please post them here, and I’m happy to assist further.

Talk soon,
Hayden