POST # 206 Johnny Smith on Triads and Upper Extensions

I like to break tonal harmonies down into simple things to work from. With the exception of the 6/9 chord, all of our tonal harmonies harmonies can be broken down into one of four components: a major triad, a minor triad, a major- third interval, and a minor-third interval. The major and minor triads are the upper three notes in just about any chord. For instance, a G13b9contains an E major triad on the three
highest strings: If you want to fit a melody to the G13b9chord, play around an Etriad. If you want to play against,say, a G7#5b9 chord, you have an Abm triad to
work with: So remember: Simplify soloing by playing against the chord’s upper triad. - Johnny Smith

( I love chord substitutions! Make your playing more hip and less 'root' oriented. Plus definately easier to play E major triad then think what ar the notes in G13b9! Although you probably would need to resolve on one of G7 chord tones to pull it off. - Ed )