This triad exercise is the key to nailing the jazz sound in your solos, but like most players, I ignored it because it seemed stupid and boring.

The thing is, it’s the one exercise pro jazz players obsess over, and when I did too it changed everything….so in this video, I will show you exactly how to use it to make your solos flow like real jazz–without years of frustration.

The Phrasing Problem In Your Playing

Before I started using the triad exercise, my lines sounded like this. Nothing wrong—but too predictable.

Now here’s a line that uses the exercise—suddenly you get these small ‘jazz turns.’

Let me show you the exact exercise—and how to practice it so you can get that sound into your solos.

The “Boring” Triad Exercise

My teacher gave me this as homework, and I thought, ‘No way this helps my soloing—it’s too easy.’ I ignored it… and that was a mistake.

Because when you use it inside a line, it creates those little jazz twists automatically, and as you will see in a bit, they are all over the solos from Joe Pass, Wes, and George Benson.

Take a C major triad like this:

It is simple: For each note in the triad, play a diatonic note above and a chromatic note below.

To keep it simple, let’s think of the triad in the C major scale.

You can also reverse the enclosures, something that will be very important later, as you will see when I show you how to create licks using this:

At first, you might think, “This sounds okay, but it’s too predictable to use in a solo.” Which is exactly how I felt. And yes—you can hear pros play this exact lick. I came across it in solos of Barry Harris and Joe Pass, where it sounded like this, but that’s not the real power of the exercise.

The real magic is when you stop treating it like one long lick and start using tiny fragments—that’s where your solos get better rhythm, and sound more exciting, and musical. Let me show you how it works and then how George Benson and Wes Montgomery use this in their solos.

Understanding Jazz Phrasing

To really understand why this exercise is so powerful, you need to know what actually makes jazz phrasing work.

Most players think jazz phrasing is about adding chromatic notes or using weird scales. But that won’t save bad phrasing.

You can play a line with chromatic notes… and it still won’t sound like jazz.

Can you hear how it feels kind of heavy and doesn’t really flow?

But now, check this out.

Here’s a similar idea, but with better flow and phrasing:

Same “chromatic flavor”… but this one has life. And it’s not because of the note choices—it’s because of melodic direction and rhythm.

The Real Secret is this: In Jazz lines,  Direction Creates Rhythm

Here’s what makes the first line feel heavy:

In the first example, the melody keeps changing direction right on the downbeats. So the line sounds like it’s constantly “landing” on the heavy beats, and it kills the feeling of swing and syncopation.

In the second example, the melody flows through the downbeats and changes direction between the heavy beats. That’s what gives it that natural lift—and makes the rhythm more syncopated, even if you’re not trying to be “fancy.”

And this is exactly where the “boring” triad exercise becomes gold. Let me show you.

Spotting The Boring Exercise

Listen again to the good line. You can already hear pieces of the exercise inside it—not as one long lick, but as small fragments.

For example, right at the start, I have an enclosure around F—the 3rd of Dm7.

Then notice what happens next: the melody changes direction, but not on the heavy beat. That one detail is a big part of the jazz sound.

On G7, I do a slightly different embellishment—still the same concept: I’m aiming for a target note on Cmaj7, and the extra notes create motion and direction to that resolution

The line doesn’t end on beat 1 of Cmaj7; there’s another little enclosure that immediately pushes the line forward into the next idea.

It sounds complicated but really it is just two chord tones, E anc C with an enclosure before C.

The Big Takeaway

Here’s the important point:

The enclosures aren’t just “decoration.” They shape the direction of the melody.

And when the melody’s direction is shaped well, the rhythm automatically feels more alive—because you stop getting those predictable direction changes on the heavy beats.

So on paper, this exercise can look like a boring little pattern…

…but the real skill is learning how to pull out small fragments and use them to create lines that actually sound like jazz.

And that’s the part most people are never told to learn.

Because if all you do is practice the raw exercise up and down, it still won’t be obvious how to turn it into music.

A George Benson lick made this click for me—I’ll break down that phrase, and then I’ll show you exactly how to practice it so you can use it in your own solos.

Thank you, George!

One lick from George Benson’s solo on Billie’s Bounce made me realize just how powerful this “boring” triad exercise really is—and how much I had missed something important.

I was working on a simple ii–V line—Gm7 to C7—and I couldn’t stop thinking: why does this sound so good?

That was short fragment.

This is what I suddenly realized

If you take the line apart, the “strong” notes are basically just G minor triad chord tones.

And the thing that makes it sound like jazz isn’t that he’s using some crazy scale—it’s how he arrives at those chord tones using approach notes.

Sometimes he uses a full enclosure (approach from above and below)…

And sometimes it’s just a single approach note that pulls drives you to the target, like the low D

and then another enclosure, a full one

That’s why it sounds so intentional, but also has a lot of energy and motion: it’s target + approach.

Once that clicked, everything changed for me—because it meant this wasn’t a random ‘George Benson secret.’ It was a repeatable way to create that jazz flow on purpose.

And after that, I started noticing it everywhere.

For example, when I was transcribing Wes Montgomery on Four on Six—his lines aren’t as dense as George Benson’s, but the concept is identical: clear targets and approach notes that create direction and phrasing.

And I even found it in a Joe Pass rhythm changes etude a teacher gave me—same idea again: triad target notes, with little approach notes creating that forward motion.

It was pretty mind-blowing—it wasn’t just a trick you throw in there on top. It was everywhere.

And the best part is: you only need to know the triad, coming up with lines gets way easier… because you’re not guessing. You always know what you’re aiming for.

So now let me show you how to practice this in a simple way—starting with the basic exercise, and then turning it into real lines you can use in your solos.

Bebop Without Scales

It’s kind of ironic—you can create really great bebop lines without thinking scales, even though there are thousands of books on bebop scales.

So here’s how this works.

Step 1: Start with a simple triad melody (put these on screen)

Start with a simple triad melody: “Here’s a super plain C major triad idea:”

Step 2: Add approach notes (enclosures)  (put these on screen)

Now I’m going to add some enclosures going to the C on beat 3, and to get to the G:

Step 3: Adjust it so it phrases like jazz  (put these on screen)

And here’s a tiny tweak that makes it feel more like jazz: instead of always enclosing,

I’ll use just a single passing note, F#,  for the G—so the phrase doesn’t land heavily on beat 1.

Now here’s the part most people miss: the direction of the enclosure really matters.

Start with a tiny cell: two chord tones and an enclosure—E and C as the targets:

Let’s add an enclosure:

This already sounds solid, but notice what happens if you flip the enclosure direction:

Hear the difference? One direction fights the natural flow of the melody in a good way—and that little clash is what makes the line feel more alive. It makes it pop.

So any time you can use an enclosure, you should instantly test it both ways.

Here’s that same small idea, now connected to a Cmaj7 arpeggio and a short chromatic phrase:”

Now—enclosures are one of the biggest tools, but they’re not the only one. Next, I’ll show you two more phrasing moves that give you the same ‘jazz flow’ without learning new scales or complicated theory.

Expanding Your Vocabulary

Once you start thinking in tiny 3–5 note building blocks, your soloing improves fast—because you’re not trying to spell whole sentences. You’re putting words together to say something.

We’ve been using enclosures as one of those building blocks. Now I want to give you two more that instantly add energy to your eighth-note lines—without learning new scales

Tool #1: Trills

A trill is just a quick burst that adds excitement without changing the harmony

And for guitar, using hammer-on/pull-off usually sound smoother and is a lot easier to execute. So start with those.

Now watch how it works inside a real line. I’ll combine a trill with a Cmaj7 arpeggio and a small enclosure:

And you can also treat the arpeggio itself as the target and add enclosures around it. Here I am adding a trill and have enclosures for the 3rd and 5th of the Cmaj7 arpeggio.

Tool #2: Chromatic triplets (instant forward motion)

Next tool: chromatic triplets. This is one of those classic bebop sounds that you’ll find in all the great solos.

You might have heard Barry Harris talk about this, as part of his 5432 system—but you don’t need the label. Just steal the sound.

Now I’ll combine the triplet with a C triad target and an enclosure:

Or here’s the same triplet idea used to land on G—the 5th of Cmaj7—

Then we add another enclosure to highlight the 3rd:

The Ultimate Flexible Arpeggio

Arpeggios are at the heart of jazz, and one arpeggio is the favorite of many great players like Charlie Parker and Barry Harris. You can use it on a LOT of chords, and it sounds great everywhere. That is what I cover in this video, showing you exactly where it works and how to turn it into great lines!

Check it out!

Learn Jazz Make Music

https://jenslarsen.nl/the-most-important-arpeggio-for-jazz-it-will-skyrocket-your-playing/

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