10/25/05

Gary Campbell's Triad Pairs for Jazz

I just picked up Gary Campbell's book called Triad Pairs. Mr. Campbell is and Associate Professor at Florida International University in Miami since 1993. His book thoroughly details how to use pairs of triads in Jazz improvisation.

In his introduction Mr. Campbell explains the importance of triad pairs in improvisation:


"Why Practice Triad Pairs?

1. By limiting note selection to six tones (each triad consisting of three), a more concise sonority is created. For example, the conventional chords used in the Jazz idiom are oftentimes associated with parent chord-scales of seven or more tones (melodic minor, major, minor, harmonic minor, and so on). Rendering these scales in the form of triad pairs yields more variety in tone color and suggests novel melodic possibilities.

2. Each of the triads expresses a tonality. By using two triads, bi-tonal effects are created. This effect is multiplied when the triad pair is used over a root tone that is not present in either triad.

3. The structure and "tensile strength" of triads give the melodic line an independent internal logic. The "stand alone" sound is oftentimes enough to make a strong, effective melodic statement regardless of how it is (or isn't) relating to the harmony over which it is being used. It sounds "right". {see my Thursday, August 18, 2005 post- Bob Reynolds on Garzone's Theory of Major Triads}


4. The triads offer a skeleton structure to base lines on. This can be very helpful in modal settings where there are no diatonic, cycle-forth root movements or resolutions and where each chord change may last a long time (for instance, four, eight, or sixteen measures)"

The applications of this concept are covered in great detail in this highly informative book.

Here is an example of the concept applied to a C melodic minor tonality:

A C melodic minor scale contains the following triads-

Cmin Dmin Eb+ Fmaj Gmaj Adim Bdim

The possible triad pairs are:

Cmin/Dmin__Dmin/Eb+__ Eb+/Fmaj__ Fmaj/Gmaj__ Gmaj/Adim__ Adim/Bdim Bdim/Cmaj

Of these the preferred selections are:

Cmin/Dmin_ Eb+/Fmaj_ Fmaj/Gmaj

These are the chords that a C melodic minor scale can effectively be applied to:

Cmi(maj7) Dsus(b9) Ebmaj7(#5) F7(#11) G7(b13) A-7b5 B7alt

  • One of the most basic triad pairs is Major triads a Whole step apart. This one triad pair is explored exhaustively in Walt Weiskopf's book Intervallic Improvisation (Abersold press). I f you have ever heard Walt play you will hear him use this A LOT! It can be used over ANY Major chord and any Dominant chord with a natural 9th and 13th. These two triad triads contain the following:
1st triad- root, 3rd, 5th

2nd triad- 9th, #11th, 13th

Other triad pairs covered are:
  • Major Triads a Half-Step apart
  • Major Triads a Tritone apart (works well over dominant seventh b9 chords from the root)
  • Minor triads a Half-Step apart
  • Minor Triads a Tritone apart

And on and on.........


Here are is a triad pair idea for a /ii-7 /V7 /Imaj:

Over a- / D-7 /G7alt / Cmaj /

Play- / G triad F triad / Eb triad Db triad / C triad D triad /

  • Here is the same concept applied to a diminished scale (also see my Monday,June 27th post-Slonimsky's Symmetrical Scales-Diminished, Wholetone):

Over a C7b9 chord you can play a- C# diminished 7th chord, a D# diminished 7th chord, AND A, F#, Eb, and C major triads.

All these ideas will open your playing up and break you out of the linear rut that Jazz players often fall into. If you start with some of these ideas and then start adding more outside triads to the mix you can come up with some very modern and interesting lines. Try adding some passing tones between the triads to smooth things out.

I would highly recommend Gary Cambell's Book Triad Pairs to any player looking for new improvisational material. This book will really open up your lines and give you some new ideas for playing over chord changes. It is also good for improving sight reading and technique.

Here is a link to order Triad Pairs for Jazz

12 comments:

Anonymous said...

Are 'triad pairs' the same as the 'hexatonic scale?'

what is the hexatonic scale, and just how widely is it used in 'jazz' anyhow?

great blog!

David Carlos Valdez said...

A hexatonic scale is any scale that has six notes. This could be a whole-tone, Blues, or Augmented major scale.

Triad-pairs are used for their bi-tonal effect when used in alternation. The idea is to use the triad(s) as an alternative to scales.
This give lines a vertical structure.

ericdano said...

A better, cheaper book that covers this subject is Walt Weiskopf's Intervallic Improvisation

David Carlos Valdez said...

Walt has more etudes in his book, but he only deals with one particular pair, Major Triads a whole-step apart.
That pair get old pretty fast. The two books are very different, so it's like comparing apples and oranges.

I'm soon planning to do an interview with Gary Campbell on this topic, so stay tuned.

googlmar said...

David ,you are a wonderful teacher ,I applaud you for sharing all these little things with us (self-taught players)...a big thank you.....
Mario Ticlea

saxman said...

I have Walt Weiskopf book, although I've not played all I see min triad/aug triad whole step apart, maj triad/aug triad half step apart, aug triads min third apart, maj triads tri-tone apart

joesh said...

Nice post, thanks; I think I should add in here that anyone interested in really stretching their ears/musical brain should also look up Gary Campbell's "Expansions". I'm sure David already knows this book. It's a little daunting for those not used to thinking for themselves, but - the good thing is - due to the fact that Gary doesn't really give many written examples, he just puts thin information and leaves you to do the work.

David Carlos Valdez said...

Yes, I have that book but never got into it

joesh said...

Okay, but from your article I guess you really enjoyed the triad pair book. Are there lots of exercises, or is it also 'Spartan', like the "Expansions" book?

I also noticed the John O'Gallagher book recently (I don't have it), any thoughts?

David Carlos Valdez said...

I meant that I just didn't take the time to read through it, not that I wasn't into it. Haven't seen John's book yet.

David Carlos Valdez said...

The Triad-Pair book is mostly musical examples

joesh said...

Thanks David.

So if there was a misunderstanding, I'd understood, or at least that's how I read the comment, that you meant you hadn't had the time to read "Expansions", and not that you didn't like it.