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

Jazz Piano Holiday