Jazz Guitar Upper Structures: How Did Kenny Burrell Turn All the Things You Are Into a Blues?
In his solo on All the Things You Are, Kenny Burrell plays F minor blues, a D♭maj7 line over E♭7, and an A♭ blues line that resolves into F minor — then pulls the 3rd of C major up from the minor 3rd. Upper structures explain every move.
Use Them Over a ii-V-I in a Solo?Jazz Guitar Upper Structures: How Do You
An upper structure doesn't work as a single chord — it works inside a chord change. Here's how to hear Dm7–G7–Cmaj7 as Fmaj7, Fmaj7♭5 and Em7, and why the guide-tone line has to come first.
Guitar? Three Upper Structures Over One ii-V-IWhat Is Superimposition on Jazz
Over Cm7–F7–Bbmaj7 the band plays those chords and you play Ebmaj7, F# minor and Gm. That is superimposition: your harmony sits on top of theirs, and the melody decides which tensions are allowed.
Jazz Blues From the Voicings? Find the Dominant Function FirstHow Do You Solo Over a
Every chord in a 12-bar blues is a dominant 7th, but only a few carry dominant function — bar 4 heading into the IV, the V chord, and the turnaround. Hear those moments, then solo from the voicings themselves: minor upper structures on the I and IV, a half-step slide into each target, and the Wes Montgomery line through the 2-5.
Play Upper Structures Over a Minor ii-V-I? Move One NoteHow Do You
Take the root off a Gm7b5 and you are holding a B♭ minor triad. Drop one note a half step and that triad becomes B♭ diminished — which is C7. A whole minor ii-V-I, played as two triads and one moving voice.
Why Can You Play the Same Notes Over Cm7 and EbMaj7? One Shape, Two Chords
Drop the root from Cm7 and an EbMaj7 triad is left — which is why the vocabulary you built two bars earlier still works. Upper structures, the chromatic slide into Bbm, and the common tone line turn one shape into a whole chorus.
Jazz Guitar Upper Structures: How a Dominant Chord Borrows the Next Chord’s Sound
The altered, dominant-function sound on a jazz blues comes from one move: voice the target chord's upper structure a half-step above and slide it down. Here's the logic — and how George Benson used it.
Pull Triad Pairs Out of a Diminished ChordJazz Guitar Upper Structures: How to
A single diminished shape hides a whole family of triad pairs. Replace each diminished chord tone with the whole-step tension above it and major triads fall out — ready to chain into altered-dominant lines, as on Stella by Starlight.
Jazz Guitar Upper Structures: How Shell Voicings Become Rootless Upper-Structure Voicings
Upper structures aren't a separate subject — they grow out of shell voicings. Drop the root from a 1-3-7 shell, raise the guide tones into tensions, and you're already playing upper-structure, rootless voicings.
Jazz Guitar Upper Structures: Why the Altered Sound Is Just a Half-Step Triad
The altered scale terrifies a lot of advanced jazz guitarists because it looks like a different theory subject. It is not. It is a single upper-structure decision: play the minor triad a half-step above your dominant chord, and you have already produced the entire altered sound. Here is how to wire that into your II–V–I.