From a recent live Q&A call with my online melodic triads students. We were talking about rhythm changes improvisation and how to get upper structure triads into our jazz improv. I put the two topics together to lay out a simple roadmap for them to follow to see changes fast... and I want to share it with you.
1. Think of rhythm changes as a simple I IV V chord progression and use basic major triads to improvise guide tone lines that voice lead through the changes without outlining every single chord
2. Add leading tones and chromaticism to create melodic tension and resolution that pulls you through the form and creates the sonic illusion of complexity while your mind is still just thinking about simple triads
3. Sub in different upper structure triads to make those sonic illusions seem even more advanced by relying on altered upper extensions and make your lines sound more modern
This basic framework has several HUGE benefits
*It will help you appear to be "playing the changes" while thinking about a fraction of the things happening as usual... meaning you can play at significantly faster tempos than you're probably able to today
*It will allow you to shove riffs and phrases you've memorized and stolen from other greats into your solo... but you'll no longer feel reliant as you'll have a simple framework that you can just dance through to improvise your own ideas
*Because most jazz students and musicians can find the I IV V of any key... we can (almost) instantly transpose this to any key signature. If the horn player at a jam session wants to be a d**k and call rhythm changes in Db just to weed out the amateurs... you can cheat with the A section. Just think through the III VI II V for the bridge and you're good to go.
Give it a shot and let me know how it goes for you down in the comments.
Jazz and Love 💙
jordan klemons
PS - Dig this way of using triads to simplify decades worth of work?
Want to tag team some of your progress together by exploring more shortcuts that triads provide us with?
Check out this short 3-minute video of my online students sharing what they've been learning studying triads with me online, and if it sounds interesting, book a game plan zoom call so we can talk and see if there's anything I can help out with in your playing.
www.nycjazzguitarmasterclasse...