Triad Exercises for Musical Improvisation

               Before we can improvise using the chord tones of various triads, we must know those chord tones.  My previously posted video entitled Learning Music With Ray: Triads, helps to explain the various types (qualities) of triads, how they are formed and how to derive their pitches.  To improvise using these pitches, we must obtain the ability to rapidly recall and perform these pitches at will.  The following exercises are designed to help achieve that ability.

                In this first exercise, the pitches of each triad are arpeggiated up and back down by starting on the root.  Every key is covered by ascending through the keys in half-step increments.  The exercise is illustrated with major triads, but it can be applied to any type of triad.

                In this exercise, the pitches of each triad are arpeggiated down and back up by starting on the root.  Every key is covered by descending through the keys in half-step increments.  The exercise is illustrated with major triads, but it can be applied to any type of triad.

                In this exercise, the pitches of each triad are arpeggiated down and back up by starting on the root.  Every key is covered by descending through the circle of fifths.  The exercise is illustrated with major triads, but it can be applied to any type of triad.

                In this exercise, the pitches of each triad are arpeggiated up and back down by starting on the root.  Every key is covered by ascending through the circle of fifths.  The exercise is illustrated with major triads, but it can be applied to any type of triad.

               In this exercise, the pitches of each triad are arpeggiated up and back down by starting on the third.  Every key is covered by descending through the keys in half-step increments.  The exercise is illustrated with major triads, but it can be applied to any type of triad.

In this exercise, the pitches of each triad are arpeggiated up and back down by starting on whichever pitch exist in the lowest part of the instrument’s range (demonstration written for saxophone).  The point is to challenge the player with random triad inversions.  Every key is covered by descending through the circle of fifths.  The exercise is illustrated with major triads, but it can be applied to any type of triad.

In this exercise, the pitches of each triad are arpeggiated down and back up by starting on whichever pitch exist in the highest part of the instrument’s range (demonstration written for saxophone).  The point is to challenge the player with random triad inversions.  Every key is covered by descending through the circle of fifths.  The exercise is illustrated with major triads, but it can be applied to any type of triad.

In this exercise, the pitches of each triad are arpeggiated up and down in straight paths that extend through the full range of the instrument (demonstration written for saxophone).  The direction of the arpeggio remains constant (through multiple chords) until the end of the instrument’s range is reached.  The point is to create fluid lines across multiple triads, using the full range of the instrument.  Every key is covered by descending through the circle of fifths.  The exercise is illustrated with major triads, but it can be applied to any type of triad.

In this exercise, the patterns illustrate in the previous exercises are applied to a simple chord progression composed of three triads (I – IV – V – I).  The musician should start with simple applications like arpeggiated triads starting on the root; and then progress to more difficult applications.  The ultimate application is to create a free form musical improvisation that only utilizes the pitches of each triad and outlines the chord changes of the progression.

The above exercise can be repeated in various keys until every key is covered.

                In this Learning Music With Ray video I demonstrate various triad exercises that can be used to develop the rapid recall of the pitches of any triad for use in musical improvisation.  Each exercise is demonstrated with major triads, but can be applied to any type of triad.  Then I apply the same exercises to a simple three chord progression to add musicality to the practice routine.  Finally, I apply the same exercises to the chords of a simple folk song.