An extension of the Neighbor Chord concept is to play the prevailing triad and neighbor chord pair “melodically” up or down in all three inversions…
Applied to a C Major Triad…
If the four-note chords in the right hand are too much of a reach, just drop the bottom note and play a three note chord instead…
Study-Practice Notes:
- Think of the neighbor chord as “the ii” of the prevailing chord.
- Notice that each of the three chord pairings has a characteristic “shape”.
- Notice that the prevailing harmony is played on downbeats and the neighbor is played on the upbeats.
- Notice that these are the very same notes in the Major Pentatonic Scale!
- Use your chord theory (and ears, of course) to work this pattern out for all twelve major triads.