Upper Structures
- a polychord is two chords superimposed on each other
- an upper structure is a special type of polychord
- the two chords are played with a bottom chord in the LH and top chord in the RH
- the bottom chord is the "real" chord; the top chord adds extensions and alterations
- these voicings are often used sparingly for color but may be used more freely as well
- the bottom is generally played as root, third, and seventh; the top as a triad
- notes may be omitted from the bottom chord if they double notes in the top
- the major third should be omitted if the top chord contains the fourth
- be careful not to get too muddy
- if it works for the hands, overlapping the chords is possible
- each possible melody note has one or more triads that fits it and the bottom chord
- sometimes we need to tell some enharmonic lies to make it work
- upper structures can also be inserted as punctuation between melodic phrases
- dominant seventh chords allow for a wide variety of upper structures
- other chords types also have one or more characteristic upper structures
- see the attached handout for examples
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