BookatlasPiano Rabbit Hole: Improvisation Theory & Practice
4695 / 18210 · Workshop 29 — “Maiden Voyage”: Sus Chords as Stable Harmony, Parallel Planing, Quartal Color, and Hearing Chords Without Major/Minor Labels← prev⊞ allnext →

29.87The important theory upgrade

Earlier we had:

Triad

root + 3rd + 5th.

Then:

Seventh chord

root + 3rd + 5th + 7th.

It is easy to assume sophisticated harmony means:

keep adding notes.

But sus/modal harmony teaches the opposite:

sometimes sophistication comes from removing the defining note.

Removing the 3rd creates space.