• AN INTERVALLIC APPROACH FOR IMPROVISERS•

DE TO...

&
A GUI

TRIA D
C HO RD P AIRS
TRI

Luke Lewis
www.GuitarVivo.com
 CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION ........... PAGE 2

PRE-LEARNING ........... PAGE 5

SHAPES ........................ PAGE 7

METHOD 1 .................... PAGE 12

METHOD 2 .................... PAGE 17

METHOD 3 .................... PAGE 22

TRICHORDS .................. PAGE 26

CONCLUSION .............. PAGE 27

PAGE 1
 INTRODUCTION

WHEN I FIRST STARTED LEARNING HOW TO IMPROVISE, I REMEMBER

BEING AMAZED ANYTIME I HEARD ANYTHING REMOTELY
INTERVALLIC OR OUTSIDE. I WASN'T LISTENING TO JAZZ BACK THEN
SO IT WAS PLAYERS LIKE CARL VERHEYEN, GEORGE MARIOS AND
MICHAEL LEE FIRKINS THAT WERE INSPIRING ME.
KEEN TO APPROXIMATE MY IDOLS, I STARTED LOOKING INTO
EXERCISES AND CONCEPTS THAT WOULD HELP ME DEVELOP A MORE
INTERVALLIC/ANGULAR LANGUAGE. THAT'S WHEN I CAME ACROSS
THE IDEA OF TRIAD PAIRS.
IT'S AN INCREDIBLY SIMPLE CONCEPT, WITH LIMITLESS
POSSIBILITIES AND JUST LIKE ALL GREAT HEROES; IT HAS A
PRETTY COOL ORIGIN STORY.
TRIAD PAIRS (SOMETIMES REFERRED TO AS HEXATONICS BUT I'LL
EXPLAIN WHY I DON'T USE THAT TERM LATER) CAME ABOUT WHEN
YOUNG JAZZ MUSICIANS WERE TRYING TO BREAK AWAY FROM
TRADITIONAL BEBOP STYLE. PLAYERS LIKE MILES DAVIS AND
JOHN COLTRANE WERE STARTING TO FEEL THAT THE LANGUAGE OF
BEBOP HAD RUN ITS COURSE. IT WAS THESE FEELINGS WHICH
BIRTHED THE MODAL JAZZ AND FREE JAZZ MOVEMENTS.
TRADITIONAL BEBOP LANGUAGE COULD LARGELY BE GENERALISED
AS CHORD TONES EMBELLISHED WITH SCALE DEGREES OR
CHROMATICS. A LARGE PERCENT OF IT HAD A STEP-WISE SCALAR
SOUND. TO BUST OUT OF THE RUT, A MODERN INTERVALLIC METHOD
WAS DEVISED: TRIAD PAIRS.

PAGE 2
 INTRODUCTION

TRIAD PAIRS INVOLVES LOOKING AT THE SCALE YOU WANT TO USE

OR THE HARMONY YOU WANT TO IMPOSE AND USING 2 TRIADS TO
IMPLY IT.
THE REASON THIS IS DIFFERENT TO SCALAR IMPROVISATION IS
BECAUSE BY BASING YOUR LINES AROUND TRIADS, YOU ARE
FORCED TO USE MORE LARGE INTERVALS AND LESS ADJACENT
NOTES (3RDS, 4THS, 5THS, 6THS, ETC)
THIS IS WHY I DON'T LIKE THE TERM "HEXATONICS" WHEN WE ARE
TALKING ABOUT TRIAD PAIRS. HEXATONICS INCLUDES ALL 6 NOTE
SCALES BUT HAS NO IMPLICATIONS ON HOW TO USE THEM. SO YOU
CAN PLAY HEXATONICS AND STILL SOUND SCALAR!
THE CONCEPT OF TRIAD PAIRS MEANS YOU ARE STRICTLY
ALTERNATING BETWEEN GROUPS OF THREE NOTES. THIS CREATES A
ELEMENT OF "CONTRAST" IN YOUR PLAYING.
I STRONGLY BELIEVE THAT CONTRAST IS ONE OF THE MOST
IMPORTANT ELEMENTS IN MUSIC. CONTRAST COULD BE SIMPLIFIED
TO "OPPOSING ELEMENTS". SO EVERYTHING FROM "TENSION AND
RELEASE" OR "QUESTION AND ANSWER" ARE EXAMPLES OF
CONTRAST.
TRIAD PAIRS FORCE YOU TO ALTERNATE PITCH SETS, IMPOSING A
STRONG SENSE OF CONTRAST WHICH WILL APPEAL TO THE EAR OF
THE LISTENER.
FOR MORE ON MASTERING CONTRAST, CHECK OUT THE "PHRASING
SCHOOL:CONTRAST SOLOING" MODULE ON GUITARVIVO.COM

PAGE 3
 PART 1
PRE-LEARN ING
 PRE-LEARNING: THEORY

BEFORE WE GET INTO THE TRIAD PAIRS THEMSELVES, IT WOULD

SERVE US WELL TO MAKE SURE THERE ARE NO GAPS IN YOUR
UNDERSTANDING OF THE TERMS.
THE FIRST THING TO NOTE IS THAT A TRIAD IS A GROUP OF THREE
NOTES, EACH A THIRD APART.
FOR EXAMPLE: C,E,G IS A TRIAD.
IT'S ACTUALLY A C MAJOR TRIAD, IT COMES FROM STACKING 3RDS IN
IN THE C MAJOR SCALE.
THERE ARE 4 TYPES OF TRIADS:
MAJOR
MINOR
AUGMENTED
DIMINISHED
I WILL GIVE YOU THE ESSENTIAL SHAPES FOR EACH ONE, BUT IF
THESE TERMS ARE NEW TO YOU I RECOMMEND TAKING A BREAK TO
FOCUS ON RESEARCHING THESE.
A TRICHORD IS ANY OTHER GROUP OF THREE NOTES THAT DOESN'T
FOLLOW THIS THIRD BASED CONSTRUCTION. FOR EXAMPLE A SUS4
CHORD IS 3 NOTES THAT AREN'T BUILT IN THIRDS. ANY THREE NOTES
CAN BE A TRICHORD BUT I WILL SHOW YOU SOME COMMON ONES
LATER.

PAGE 5
 PRE-LEARNING: THEORY

KEYS AND SCALES ALL CONTAIN TRIADS WITHIN THEM. YOU MAY
HAVE HEARD THIS REFERRED TO AS "DIATONIC HARMONY".
DIATONIC HARMONY IS THE CONEPT OF USING ONLY THE NOTES OF
THE KEY TO BUILD CHORDS AND PROGRESSIONS. REMEMBER, YOU
CAN BUILD A TRIAD FROM ANY NOTE OF THE KEY SIMPLY BY
STACKING THIRDS.
SO WHEN WE ARE USING TRIAD PAIRS WE ARE ESSENTIALLY
EXTRACTING THE TRIADS FOUND IN THE KEY OR SCALE WE WANT, AND
SOLOING WITH THEM IN AN ALTERNATING FASHION.

PAGE 6
 PRE-LEARNING: SHAPES

ONE NOTE PER STRING TRIAD SHAPES

MAJOR

MINOR

PAGE 7
 PRE-LEARNING: SHAPES

AUGMENTED

DIMINISHED

PAGE 8
 FURTHER SCALE SHAPES

THE PREVIOUS SCALE POSITIONS SHOULD BE PRACTICED IN 3 STRING

GROUPINGS. EACH 3 STRING GROUPING CONTAINS EACH NOTE OF THE
TRIAD. PRACTICE MOVING BETWEEN THE POSITIONS, MOVING UP AND
DOWN THE NECK ON THE SAME 3 STRING GROUP.

THERE ARE A FEW OTHER TRIAD FINGERING SYSTEMS TO LOOK INTO.

I RECOMMEND LOOKING INTO THE CAGED SYSTEM AND SEEING THE
POSITIONS AND FREEDOM THAT IT HAS TO OFFER. DIFFERENT
FINGERINGS WILL FACILLITATE DIFFERENT MELODIC OPTIONS. EACH
HAS THEIR BENEFIT

PAGE 9
 PRE-LEARNING: ABILITIES

BEFORE WE START WITH TRIAD PAIRS, I'D LIKE TO TAKE A

MOMENT TO EXPLAIN THE NATURE OF WHAT WE ARE DOING HERE.
I AM GOING TO TEACH YOU AN ADVANCED WAY OF CREATING
MELODIES AND IMPROVISING USING MULTIPLE TRIADS.
IT IS VITALLY IMPORTANT THAT BEFORE YOU START
EXPERIMENTING WITH TRIAD PAIRS, YOU ARE COMFORTABLE
SOLOING WITH A SINGLE TRIAD.
YOUR ABILITY TO CREATE STRONG MELODIES USING ONLY THE
TRIAD OF THE CHORD OR KEY IS GOING TO DICTATE YOUR
ABILITY TO MAKE GOOD MELODIES WITH TRIAD PAIRS.
IF YOU STRUGGLE TO IMPROVISE WITH JUST A SINGLE TRIAD,
THEN ADDING ANOTHER ONE WILL NOT HELP YOU YET.
THIS BOOK IS NOT GOING ANYWHERE, IF YOU NEED TO TAKE
SOME TIME TO ADDRESS YOUR COMPETENCY WITH SINGULAR
TRIAD SOLOING, THEN GO AND DO THAT FIRST.

PAGE 10
 PART 2
TRIAD PAIR METHODS

TO LEARN PRACTICAL AND CREATIVE WAYS OF USING THIS MATERIAL,

GO TO THE "TRIAD PAIRS" MODULE ON GUITARVIVO.COM
 TRIAD PAIRS: METHOD 1 - PARALLEL

THERE ARE THREE MAIN METHODS FOR CREATING TRIAD PAIRS. FOR
EACH METHOD I WILL SHOW YOU HOW TO USE IT TO EMULATE MAJOR,
HARMONIC MAJOR, HARMONIC MINOR, AND MELODIC MINOR SCALES
AND MODES.
THE FIRST METHOD IS SIMPLY TO BUILD A TRIAD FROM THE FIRST
AND SECOND DEGREE OF THE SCALE OR MODE YOU WISH TO USE. I
CALL THIS THE PARALLEL METHOD.
EXAMPLE: IF WE WANT TO IMPLY D DORIAN,
DEFGABCD
WE BUILD A TRIAD FROM THE FIRST NOTE, D, AND
THE SECOND NOTE, E. THOSE TRIADS ARE D MINOR AND E MINOR.
THE FOLLOWING PAGES SHOW YOU THE EXACT TRIADS TO USE FOR
EACH SCALE OR MODE YOU COULD POSSIBLY WANT. PAY ATTENTION
TO IF A TRIAD IS MAJOR OR MINOR AND IF IT STARTS ON THE FLAT
2, SHARP 2 OR NATURAL 2.

PAGE 12
 TRIAD PAIRS: METHOD 1 - PARALLEL

ONE OF THE REASONS THIS METHOD WORKS SO WELL IS BECAUSE OF

THE CONTRAST IT CREATES.
YOU WILL ESSENTIALLY BE ALTERNATING CHORD TONES (1-3-5, THE
NOTES OF THE FIRST TRIAD) WITH EXTENSIONS (9-11-13, THE NOTES
OF THE SECOND TRIAD.
ITS LIKE IMPOSING A V9 -I PROGRESSION. A VERY PLEASING
TENSION-RESOLUTION CONTRAST. SOME WOULD ARGUE THAT THIS IS
THE MOST IMPORTANT RELATIONSHIP IN WESTERN MUSIC.
WHEN YOU START IMPROVISING WITH TRIAD PAIRS, IT MIGHT HELP TO
CHANGE THE TRIAD EVERY BAR OR EVERY TWO BARS. THIS GIVES
YOU SOME TIME TO HEAR THE QUALITY OF EACH TRIAD. EVENTUALLY
YOU WANT TO BE ABLE TO CHANGE TRIAD EVERY BEAT OR TWO
BEATS.
PRACTICE SEQUENCES AND PERMUTATIONS. IT'S PERFECTLY
ACCEPTABLE TO PLAY PATTERNS IN YOUR IMPROVISING. IN FACT,
PATTERN PLAYING CAN HELP STRENGTHEN THE CLARITY OF YOUR
TRIAD PAIR LINES. IT WILL ALSO HELP SOLIDIFY THE MATERIAL IN
YOUR EAR.

PAGE 13
 TRIAD PAIRS: METHOD 1 - MAJOR

YOU DO NOT NEED TO MEMORISE ALL OF THESE. YOU DO NOT NEED

TO PLAY ALL OF THESE. JUST SPEND 20 MINUTES EXPLORING SOME
OF THESE IN A MUSICAL CONTEXT. THEN CONTINUE TO THE NEXT
METHODS. USE THIS AS A PRACTICE SOURCE BOOK OR REFERENCE.
FIND A JAM TRACK OR LOOP A CHORD AND PRACTICE ALTERNATING A
TRIAD PAIR THAT MATCHES THAT CHORD. THEN BE CREATIVE.

PAGE 14
TRIAD PAIRS: METHOD 1 - MINOR

PAGE 15
TRIAD PAIRS: METHOD 1 - OTHER SCALES

PAGE 16
 TRIAD PAIRS: METHOD 2 - PARENTAL

I HAVE NAMED METHOD 2 THE PARENTAL METHOD. INSTEAD OF USING

A DIFFERENT TRIAD PAIR FOR EACH MODE OF A SCALE, WE ARE GOING
TO FIND A TRIAD PAIR THAT BEST REPRESENTS THE PARENT SCALE
AND USE THAT TRIAD PAIR FOR EACH MODE.
OVER THE COURSE OF THE LAST 60 YEARS OF PEOPLE
EXPERIMENTING WITH TRIAD PAIRS, THE COMMUNITY HAS COME UP
WITH A CONSENSUS OF WHICH TRIAD PAIRS BEST REPRESENT EACH
PARENT SCALE.
THIS PARENTAL TRIAD PAIR IS USUALLY PICKED BECAUSE IT
CONTAINS A CERTAIN RELATIONSHIP NOT FOUND IN ANY OTHER
SCALE, THIS RELATIONSHIP LOCATION OF THE TRITONE OR TRITONES.
FOR EXAMPLE, THE MAJOR SCALE, MELODIC MINOR SCALE , HARMONIC
MINOR SCALE, AND HARMONIC MAJOR SCALE CONTAIN TRITONES IN
THEM BETWEEN CERTAIN DEGREES. THESE TRITONE POSITIONS ARE
UNIQUE TO THE SCALE, SO WE PICK OUR TRIAD PAIRS TO INCLUDE
THESE TRITONE RELATIONSHIPS TO KEEP THEM UNIQUE, ALSO.

PAGE 17
 TRIAD PAIRS: METHOD 2

THE BENEFIT OF THIS METHOD IS THAT INSTEAD OF MEMORISING

PAIRS FOR EVERY MODE OF EVERY SCALE, WE ONLY HAVE TO
PRACTICE ONE PAIR WHICH WILL BE USED FOR ALL 7 MODES.
THAT MEANS THAT EACH PATTERN WE USE HAS 7 APPLICATIONS.
THAT'S A NICE RETURN ON INVESTMENT.
THE ONLY NEGATIVE IS THAT EACH OF THE 7 APPLICATIONS STARTS
ON A DIFFERENT DEGREE. WHEREAS BEFORE EVERY PATTERN
STARTED ON THE ONE OR TWO.
TO MAKE THESE WORK YOU WILL EITHER NEED TO MEMORISE WHERE
THE PATTERN STARTS FOR EACH MODE, OR MEMORISE WHERE THE
PATTERNS START IN RELATION TO THE PARENT SCALE AND KEEP
GOING BACK TO THAT EVERY TIME.

(NOTE:YOU MIGHT HAVE SEEN THESE ON THE PREVIOUS PAGES, THEY

ARE THE PAIR LISTED IN LIGHT BLUE ON THE LEFT)

PAGE 18
TRIAD PAIRS: METHOD 2 - MAJOR

PAGE 19
TRIAD PAIRS: METHOD 2 - MINOR

PAGE 20
TRIAD PAIRS: METHOD 2 - DOUBLE HARMONIC

PAGE 21
 TRIAD PAIRS: METHOD 3 - COMBINATIONAL

METHOD 3 IS ESSENTIALLY PICKING ANY TWO TRIADS FROM THE KEY.

WELL, THERE IS ONE RULE.

IT IS IMPORTANT THAT THE TRIADS YOU PICK DON'T SHARE ANY

NOTES, THIS WILL DILUTE THE CONTRAST AND STRENGTH OF THE
PAIR.
I HAVE WRITTEN OUR THE "DIATONIC" HARMONY FOR EACH OF THE
SCALES AND MODES WE'VE BEEN LOOKING AT.
THIS IS A LIFETIME OF STUDY AND IT CAN LEAD TO A LOT OF NEW
CREATIVE WAYS TO NAVIGATE CHORDS AND KEYS.

PAGE 22
TRIAD PAIRS: METHOD 3 - MAJOR

PAGE 23
TRIAD PAIRS: METHOD 3 - MINOR

PAGE 24
METHOD 3 - OTHER

PAGE 25
 TRI-CHORD PAIRS

AS YOU'VE SEEN BY NOW, THERE IS ALREADY A UNLIMITED POTENTIAL FOR THE

KIND OF LINES YOU CAN CREATESIMPLY WITH TRIADS.
IN REALITY YOU CAN APPLY THIS METHOD OF ALTERNATING MELODIC MATERIAL
TO ANY GROUP OF NOTES OF ANY SIZE.
FOR EXAMPLE: PENTATONIC PAIRS.
I WOULD LIKE TO LEAVE YOU WITH TWO TRICHORD FORMS TO EXPLORE. I HAVE
CHOSEN THESE BECAUSE THEY ARE FREQUENTLY FOUND IN THE SCALES WE'VE
BEEN USING AND BECAUSE THEY'RE INTERVALS CREATE INTERESTING MELODIC
OPPORTUNITIES.
YOU CAN EXPERIMENT WITH TRICHORD PAIRS, OR PAIR A TRICHORD AND A
TRIAD. THERE ARE NO RULES EXCEPT THE IDEA OF NOT HAVING COMMON NOTES.
THE FIRST TRI CHORD IS THE QUARTAL TRICHORD
IT IS 2 PERFECT 4THS STACKED ON TOP OF EACHOTHER.
FOR EXAMPLE: G C F
THIS QUARTAL STACK HAS A VERY UNIQUE SOUND. IT CAN ALSO BE SEEN AS A
SUS2 CHORD OR A SUS4 CHORD DEPENDING ON WHICH NOTE YOU START ON.
THE SECOND TRI-CHORD IS THE VIENESSE TRICHORD.
THIS HAS THE INTERVAL STRUCTURE OF 1 B2 B5
AGAIN, THIS HAS A UNIQUE SOUND AND HAS USEFUL INVERSIONS. SPECIFICALLY
ITS FIRST INVERSION WHICH IS OFTEN INCORRECTLY REFERRED TO AS A LYDIAN
TRIAD. IF YOU REMEMBER BACK TO THE START, YOU'LL KNOW IT'S TECHNIALLY A
TRICHORD.
START TO LOOK FOR THESE TRICHORDS WHENEVER YOU'RE STUDYING SCALES
OR MELODIES, SEE WHERE THEY POP UP, SEE WHERE YOU CAN INSERT THEM.

PAGE 26
 CONCLUSION

I WOULD JUST LIKE TO CLOSE BY SAYING THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR

CHECKING OUT THIS EBOOK. I HOPE THIS INFORMATION SERVES AS A
SPRINGBOARD FOR SOME REALY CREATIVE PLAYING.
IF YOU WANT TO FIND OUT MORE ABOUT HOW I PRACTICE AND USE
THESE IDEAS IN SONGS AND IMPROVISATIONS, THEN CHECK OUT THE
"TRIAD PAIRS" MODULE AT GUITARVIVO.COM
I GO OVER HOW I PHRASE, ADD RHYTHMIC INTEREST, CHROMATIC
APPROACHES, AND USE THEM TO CREATE OUTSIDE SOUNDS.

IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS THEN PLEASE CONTACT ME

LUKELEWIS@GUITARVIVO. COM

LUKE LEWIS

www.GuitarVivo.com