Upper Structure Chords
Examples for how upper structure chords are used
The following video gives 4 short examples demonstrating how Upper Structure Chords are used in different jazz and pop music genres.
About this article
As demonstrated in the above video Upper Structure Chords are a great device for creating beautiful voicings with ease.
In this article I will tell you what they are and how to effectively use them.
By the way, those Upper Structure Chords are not only helpful to our keyboard playing. Skilled music arrangers and improvisers use them as well.
What is an Upper Structure Chord?
An Upper Structure Chord (USC) is a chord (often just a major, minor, diminished, or augmented triad) that includes chordal extensions or tensions (for example 9, 11, 13).
Why do we use Upper Structure Chords (USCs)
USCs helps us think, read, write and performing chords (harmony) more easily. Also, they are sometimes simply the best choice for writing certain chords who otherwise can only be expressed with a complex regular chord symbol.
The two different Types of Upper Structure Chords
An USC can either be placed above a single bass note which makes it a Slash Chord, or an other chord (called Lower Structure Chord = LSC) making it a Poly Chord.
Type 1: Upper Structure Slash Chord
An USC placed on top of a single bass note that is not part of the chord is called an Upper Structure Slash Chord.
For example C/F = [C major triad] over [bass note F]. F is not part of a C major triad!
When the bass note is a pitch that is also found in the USC, the result is simply an Inversion. For example, C/E is the slash chord indicating the 1st inversion of a C major triad. We may call C/E a Slash Chord, but calling it an Upper Structure Slash Chord would be wrong. (See above example.)
Type 2: Poly Chord
An USC placed on top of an other chord (LSC = Lower Structure Chord) is called a Poly Chord. The USC and the LSC are written on top of one another and separated by a horizontal line as shown below.
Here is a short video that shows you how Oscar Peterson used Upper Structure Chords in his improvisations. A MUST SEE!
The following video is yet an other example for how Upper Structure Chords can be useful in combination with arpeggios.
The upper structure example starts at 4:20.
Tip: You might get a lot of interesting ideas out of watching the entire video, especially when you like to improvise with broken chords and arpeggios made from triads!