the Herbie Hancock school

Upper-Structure Triads

A plain major triad stacked over the guide tones — simple triad, sophisticated colour.

The reference version in C major: Dm11 – G7(♯9♭13) – Cmaj9. Pick any key below for notation, audio and MIDI.

All 12 keys

C major

Dm11 – G7(♯9♭13) – Cmaj9

1 of 5 voices hold from ii to V · total resolve motion 25 semitones

D♭ major (C♯)

E♭m11 – A♭7(♯9♭13) – D♭maj9

1 of 5 voices hold from ii to V · total resolve motion 25 semitones

D major

Em11 – A7(♯9♭13) – Dmaj9

1 of 5 voices hold from ii to V · total resolve motion 25 semitones

E♭ major

Fm11 – B♭7(♯9♭13) – E♭maj9

1 of 5 voices hold from ii to V · total resolve motion 25 semitones

E major

F♯m11 – B7(♯9♭13) – Emaj9

1 of 5 voices hold from ii to V · total resolve motion 25 semitones

F major

Gm11 – C7(♯9♭13) – Fmaj9

1 of 5 voices hold from ii to V · total resolve motion 25 semitones

G♭ major (F♯)

A♭m11 – D♭7(♯9♭13) – G♭maj9

1 of 5 voices hold from ii to V · total resolve motion 25 semitones

G major

Am11 – D7(♯9♭13) – Gmaj9

1 of 5 voices hold from ii to V · total resolve motion 25 semitones

A♭ major

B♭m11 – E♭7(♯9♭13) – A♭maj9

1 of 5 voices hold from ii to V · total resolve motion 25 semitones

A major

Bm11 – E7(♯9♭13) – Amaj9

1 of 5 voices hold from ii to V · total resolve motion 25 semitones

B♭ major

Cm11 – F7(♯9♭13) – B♭maj9

1 of 5 voices hold from ii to V · total resolve motion 25 semitones

B major

C♯m11 – F♯7(♯9♭13) – Bmaj9

1 of 5 voices hold from ii to V · total resolve motion 25 semitones

The story

The fastest route to a modern, Herbie Hancock–grade dominant is to stop picking tension notes one at a time and simply stack a plain major triad on top of the chord's guide tones. The ear hears a clean, in-tune triad up high; the 3rd and 7th underneath quietly reinterpret it as an extension or an alteration. Here the ii carries a C triad over its guide tones — the triad's notes land as the ♭7, 9 and 11, giving a lush m11. The V is the payoff: an E♭ triad floated over the 3rd and 7th of G7 spells a ♯9 and a ♭13, the classic altered sound, with none of the mental arithmetic. Then the tension releases onto a bright major 9th for the I, the guide tones capped by a simple G triad. It's the great open secret of postbop comping: sophisticated harmony assembled from the simplest shapes your hand already knows.

Listen: Herbie Hancock behind Miles and on "Maiden Voyage"; McCoy Tyner's right-hand triads; Bill Dobbins' pedagogy.