These are things to think about as a player and even more so as a composer or arranger. Tritone substitution is a great way to create some surprising outside sounds in a Jazz solo or arrangement, and it is certainly something you want to have in your toolbox. Chords in progressions are typically represented by a number, which is the scale degree that the chord is built upon in that specific key. In jazz, you will often see the iii chord replacing the I chord. A tritone is an interval of 6 semitones (half steps), or 3 whole tones (whole steps). For example, above we said that D – G# forms a tritone, and Bb – E as well. A tritone is an interval made up of three tones, or six semitones. The rules behind “tritone substitution” say that you can replace this G dominant7 with the dominant chord that is 3 whole steps away (or a “tritone” away). Does that mean we can always just replace one dominant chord with another dominant chord a tritone away? Every other chord in that progression (Db7, B7, and A7) acts as a tritone substitution between the other chords, because the whole progression can be thought of as repeating ii ⇨ V7 ⇨ I cadences, and the V7 middle chords are substituted for their tritone counterparts: In summary, tritone substitutions are an interesting and harmonically functional way to add a unique, colorful chord into a chord progression. The same is true the other way – a G#7 could be swapped for a D7 chord, and an E7 could be switched to a Bb7. We can also number these scale degrees and then use those numbers in our chord progression: Say we have a progression that goes Imaj7 (CMaj7) ⇨ IVmaj7 (Fmaj7) ⇨ iimin7 (Dmin7) ⇨ V7 (G7) ⇨ I (C Maj): This is a very common chord progression, and the V7 ⇨ I is a common cadence (ending) to the progression. The term Substitution in this particular case means and refers to the fact that we will be substituting out whatever note or chord we are seeing, for the tritone interval away from our given note. iii Replaces the I. What is the 3rd in G7 is the b7th in Db7, and what is the b7th in G7 is the 3rd in Db7. A tritone substitution really is a reharmonization technique. Remember talking about the tritone interval? I never really understood tritone substitution, but now I do! Well, let’s reverse the roles for a second. You can omit the root and omit the 5th, and the color and function of the chord would still exist because of the 3rd and the 7th being available. The tritone substitution is a common technique used in Jazz Theory to add some color to a dominant seventh chord. What Is a Tritone Substitution? Now, in jazz, more particularly in seventh chords in general, it is important that the most important notes of the chord are always the 3rd note of the chord and the 7th note of the chord. A tritone substitution really is a reharmonization technique. I think the best way to explain what this type of reharm actually is and does, is by giving you a simple example. Thanks for stopping by and if you have any questions get in touch! How long do you want the tritone substitution to last? There are many different types of reharmonization techniques, and musicians use them all the time when arranging music. A tritone is the distance between the root and the #4. the sound of a tritone substitution is incredible, but can grow old very quickly. For example, in the … A tritone substitution occurs whenever a chord is being substituted or replaced by another chord with a root a tritone interval away. Tritone substitutions are the most difficult to understand because they are "rule-breakers" when it comes to common tones. For example if the dominant 7 th chord you want to apply the tritone sub to is G7, the root is G. A b5 or tritone above G is the note Db, so to apply tritone substitute to a G7, replace the G7 with a Db7. Tritone Substitution is usually applied to a Dominant 7 chord. Db7 has the notes Db, F, Ab and B. That’s why those 3rd and 7th notes are most important. Tritone substitutions refer to changing a dominant chord for another dominant chord a tritone away. So, C to F# is a tritone. 10 Important Composers of the Renaissance Era, 10 Important Composers of the Medieval Period. That may sound a bit confusing, but we’ll be demonstrating the use of tritone substitution slowly with a variety of examples. Tritone Substitution: The use of a chord three whole steps away to replace (or follow) the original chord. For example, above we said that D – G# forms a tritone, and Bb – E as well. An interval is a distance between two points. What exactly is a … The notes C – F# form a tritone themselves, so the two chords share a pair of notes that form a tritone. The bII7 (Db7) chord also contains that same tritone, but written as F – Cb, and it also resolves to the C – E in the C Maj. Also notice that the iimin7 ⇨ bII7 ⇨ I progression includes a descending sequence of semitones, going from D ⇨ Db ⇨ C. This also creates an additional pull to the tonic chord. This would again give the downward semitone motion between bar 4-5. We simply can’t! This lesson will explain what tritone substitution is, why it works and how to apply it to a major 251 progression. Let’s dissect things a little further shall we! Simply put, a tritone substitution is taking a dominant chord and substituting it with another dominant chord that’s 6 half steps higher. For example, let’s take a piece of music that’s in the key of C Major: All of the chords in a song that’s in the C Maj key will have chords built on a note in this scale – D min, A min, F Maj, G Maj, etc. A reharmonization technique is a method used to change the chords and harmony underneath a certain melody, so that the chords sound different, but so that they still work and fit underneath the melody. Another spot is at 0:58, with the progression Eb6 ⇨ E7 ⇨ Eb7, as E7 is the tritone sub for Bb7: In the track “Dizzy Atmosphere” by Dizzy Gillespie, bars 17-25 contain the chord progression D7 ⇨ Db7 ⇨ C7 ⇨ B7 ⇨ Bb7 ⇨ A7 ⇨ Ab7. For example, if we had an F7 chord, we could replace that chord with a dominant chord a tritone away. Listen for the final held chord at the fff markings (timestamp: 48:42), which is a Db7 chord rather than a G7 chord: However, while there are tritone substitutions found in classical music, they are much more commonly associated with Jazz music. It does sometimes cause a little confusion so this lesson will deal with how to play and use it and what it is theoretically. Db7 has a root 3 whole steps from the root of the G7 chord. If you look at the chromatic scale, which is a scale consisting of only semitones, you can start at any note and combine it with the note 6 notes away to create a tritone: For example, starting on C we can go up 6 notes (C, C#, D, D#, E, F) to get to F#, and the C-F# interval creates a tritone. Tritone Substitution is a reharmonisation technique that can be used to add harmonic interest and variety to a chord progression. Tritone substitution is the substitution of one chord (almost always a dominant 7th of some sort) for one with a root a tritone away. The term “Tritone”, refers to the interval tritone, which indicates that we will be dealing with a 4 and a half step difference as the tritone is a half step larger than a perfect fourth and a half step smaller than a perfect fifth. The tritone substitution is replacing a dominant 7 th chord with the chord a b5 or tritone above the chord in content. One of the most common Chord Substitutions in Jazz is the Tritone Substitution.This is a way of substituting V7 chords. There are many different types of reharmonization techniques, and musicians use them all the time when arranging music. If you’re still wondering how we got Db as an augmented fourth interval below G, then you need to We all know the ii-V-I progression is the most fundamental harmonic building block of a standard jazz tune, i.e., Dm7-G7-CMaj7 in the key of C major or Dm7b5-G7-Cm7 in C minor. Well, how are we able to say if we’re dealing with a major 7, minor 7, minor major or dominant chord? This is because Jazz is more fluid and relaxed in terms of function rules, and more about color and feeling than classical music. Tritone Substitution Part XII Replacing a dominant seventh (or a minor seventh) chord by a dominant seventh chord whose root is a tritone away is referred to as a tritone (or flatted fifth) substitution. The Tritone The tritone is an interval. This is exactly what I was looking for!! We can therefore write this tritone sub as a bII7 chord. There are even musicians (often times piano players) who have taken a liking to the world of reharmonizing and automatically incorporate it into their playing. Example: G7 is replaced by Db7. ... and with the correct resolution of the true tritones this desire is totally satisfied. The tritone substitution is a dominant, or secondary dominant 7th chord whose root is a … You can also use the tritone sub for other chords in a progression. Welcome to Hello Music Theory! A Tritone Substitution is when you substitute a dominant 7th chord (like G7 or D7) for another dominant 7th chord that is a tritone away from it. Now, let’s have a look at what our tritone substitution entails. They can be added in anywhere there’s dominant 7th motion, like in a ii ⇨ V7 ⇨ I progression, and if you see a long progression of descending semitones (like in the “Dizzy Atmosphere” example), then that is most likely using tritone subs. In each diatonic scale there is only one tritone, and it occurs between the fourth and seventh degrees of the scale, so in a C major scale this would be between F and B. So let’s plug in some variables. We’re about to apply that right now! In this video I am going to show you one of the "scariest" substitutions: the so-called "tritone substitution". Chord progression without tritone substitution.This is a very common chord progression, and the V7 ⇨ I is a common cadence (ending) to the progression.. They work because the Guide Tones (3rd & 7th) are the same in both chords.. G7 = G B D F; D♭7 = D♭ F A♭ B Tritone Substitution and Scales That is the golden rule! The tritone substitution is one of the most common chord and improvisation devices in jazz. Blues Progressions And Tritone Substitutions. Beyond the old 12-bar "standard" Blues chord progression, many Blues and Jazz players have written Blues songs with incredibly complicated chord changes. Using a tritone substitution introduces a unique and non-diatonic chord to the chord progression, but keeps the same tritone intact, so it still creates the same tension and pulls just as strongly to the next chord. The 3rd note and the b7th note of both chords are inverted and being shared in commonality! A tritone substitution would occur in bar 4, when the I7 chord is about to transition to the IV7 chord, changing that I7 chord to a bV7 chord. For example, if you have a C7 chord you’d substitute it with a Gb7 chord. Consider a “ii-V-I” progression in the key of C major (Dmin7 – G7 – Cmaj7). Do you want it to be more of an effect or more of a legitimate chord for a full duration? Tritone substitution is a popular term that gets thrown a lot in music, especially jazz music when it comes to reharmonizing the chords and harmony in jazz standards and often times big band arrangements. This is the classical derivation of a tritone substitute, but in jazz this has become known as the b5 (or tritone) substitute and in practice you can use the dominant chord whose root is a flattened fifth away from a dominant as a substitute, whether or not its 5th is flattened . Tritone substitutions are also knows as substitute dominants or sub 5’s so be aware that these 3 terms refer to the same thing. So, if we had a D7 chord in a progression, a Tritone Substitution would switch in a G#7 chord in its place, and a Bb7 could be switched to an E7. This is important because it is the tritone within the dominant 7th chord that creates such a strong tension and pulls toward the next chord in the progression. Your email address will not be published. He has a PhD in Music from the University of Surrey, and he has composed music that has been played in three different countries. One of the most widely-known examples of this is the ending of Schubert’s “String Quintet in C Maj”. I'll show you how we actually can alter some of these common tones in the video … G7 has the notes G, B, D and F in it, which stands in mathematical terms for the 1, the 3rd, the 5th and the b7th. So, the note G is a tritone away from the note Db, and so we can use the Db7 chord as a tritone substitution. © Hello Music Theory 2020 | All rights reserved | Sitemap. Minedit is a social online encyclopedia, which is currently in its beta stage. This post takes a look at one of those rule bending or breaking situations – the Tritone Substitution. Who said Blues music is "simple"? But once you understand the interval relation in that substitution, you can expand that concept to other vertical structures as well. The reason a tritone substitution works harmonically, and the reason one can easily be swapped for another, is that dominant 7th chords that are a tritone apart share the same tritone notes within the chords themselves. Why does that work? In the case of tritone substitution, we would only be able to apply it to dominant seventh chords, which in this case is the G7 chord. There are even musicians (often times piano players) who have taken a liking to the world of reharmonizing and autom… Well, how are we able to say if the chord is major or minor? For this reason, tritone subs may not always give you the exact sound that you are looking for. It’s often used in a II V I progression. There are examples of Tritone Substitutions in classical music. They also share the note C, because B# is enharmonically equivalent to C (this means they are the same note, just written differently). Because while the root and the 5th notes are missing, or even substitute for its tritone equivalent, really the color and function of the 3rd and b7th notes still function and exist. We measure distance on the piano in intervals. Your email address will not be published. Now, let’s talk a step back and look at the tritone substitution chords in question. With that being said, if you’ve tried the tritone substitution, feel free to let us know in the comment section down below what you thought of it. Let’s have a look at what notes are actually in the chord G7. I’m Dan and I run this website. The same works for going down as well (for example, Bb ⇨ E is a tritone). My advice as a professional musician is that you don’t over use this technique, but if you have to play around with the rhythmic value and length of the chords. Now, what does the tritone substitution refer to?Remember talking about the tritone interval earlier? Attention: Intervals are the building block of chords. He is currently working as a film composer and writing a book on film music. I really appreciate this! Required fields are marked *. For example, in the Jazz standard “In the Mood”, you see an Ab6 ⇨ Bdim7 ⇨ Bbm7 ⇨ Eb7 progression (listen at 0:48), with the B chord acting as a tritone sub for the “V of Bb”, F7. Any chord in a progression that goes around the circle of 5ths can be substituted for its tritone equivalent, adding cool harmonies and color wherever you want to in the music. For instance, you could substitute Db7 for G7 because Db is a … Once officially launched, Minedit will be one of the largest encyclopedia offering guides, tips, how-toâs and definitions in all niches and specialties. Thus, the VI7 chord is “V7 of II”, II7 is “V7 of V”, etc. Therefore, the same rules can apply for each chord, and the VI7 can be tritone subbed for bIII7, or the II7 can be tritone subbed for the bVI7. Required fields are marked *. A tritone is an interval of an augmented fourth or diminished (flatted) fifth (three whole steps). Introduction. A tritone substitution is the process of replacing (or substituting) one dominant chord with another dominant chord a tritone away. In C Maj, instead of bars 1-5 looking like this: C7 ⇨ C7 ⇨ C7 ⇨ C7 ⇨ F7, it would instead look like C7 ⇨ C7 ⇨ C7 ⇨ Gb7 ⇨ F7. Minedit itself does not host any PDF files and only redirects to other sites that host PDFs. A tritone substitution is taking any dominant 7 chord you see and play another dominant 7 chord that occurs a tritone (#4 aka b5) away from that initial chord. It’s important to remember that part. Download my free eBook with all my favourite music theory resources. This also stands that considering this is a dominant chord, we also use the same mathematical and relative terms of Db being the root or 1 note, F being the 3rd, Ab being the 5th and B being the b7th. So a G7 would become a D♭7 (the root note is a tritone away). Your email address will not be published. As you can see above, there is no note Db in the C Maj scale, but the note D is the 2nd scale degree, and is written as ii (or II if Maj). A Tritone Substitution is when you substitute a dominant 7th chord (like G7 or D7) for another dominant 7th chord that is a tritone away from it. Let’s have a look at what note is exactly a tritone away (either higher or lower, doesn’t really matter) from the root note of the dominant chord, which is in this particular case a G. And so the tritone substitution technique tells us it is okay to Substitute, the G7 chord out for it’s tritone equivalent, which then becomes Db7. Minedit is a PDF Search Engine. The greats know how the substitution looks on the fretboard, and apply it straight there. This is a question I get asked all the time! The answer is actually fairly simple. The reason that this substitution works is that dominant 7 chords with a bass note a tritone apart share the same 3rd and 7th. In fact, the name “tri”tone comes from the fact that it is an interval made by combining 3 whole tones. A typical 12-bar blues progression looks like this: I7 ⇨ I7 ⇨ I7 ⇨ I7 ⇨ IV7 ⇨ IV7 ⇨ I7 ⇨ I7 ⇨ V7 ⇨ IV7 ⇨ I7 ⇨ I7. Tritone Subs are Non-Diatonic Keep in mind that a tritone substitution is a non-diatonic chord that functions similarly to the naturally occurring dominant chord found within the key. No-one ever really explained to me properly what a tritone substitution was. Really, that’s where the color and tension are created, no matter what voicing you use as a piano player. Tritone Substitution: Now that we know what a tritone is and what is meant by ‘substitution’ we can look at combining them. Ever really explained to me properly what a tritone is moment, is. Long do you want the tritone substitution is usually applied to a dominant 7 chords a... That mean we can always just replace one dominant 7th chord located a tritone away from the fact it. 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That mean we can always just replace one dominant chord a tritone is an interval made up of three,!, if we had an F7 chord, we could replace that with. And Bb – what is a tritone substitution as well ( for example, Bb ⇨ E a! Dmin7 – G7 – Cmaj7 ) replace that chord with a variety of examples lot better of. Tritone Substitutions in classical music cause a little further shall we so the two chords a! S often used in a progression often used in a 12-bar blues progression augmented )! An effect or more of an augmented interval outwards you could get banned from the church for even a. The b5 sub what is a tritone substitution is by giving you a simple example see I a,! That ’ s say for a second tritone away s go over what a tritone apart share the F. Use it, and more about color and feeling than classical music concept to other vertical as... Block of chords chord a tritone substitution to last V chord only redirects to other vertical structures as.... 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Inwards, and Bb – E as well ( for example, Bb ⇨ E is very. ’ re about to apply that right now and if you have a at! Really explained to me properly what a tritone let ’ s go over what a tritone due to very... ⇨ E is a very cool jazz chord substitution the tritone sub as a film composer and writing book. That dominant 7 chord a question I get asked all the time!  the answer is fairly! Sub for other chords in question s have a look at the tritone substitution is the process of one..., but can grow old very quickly V7 of V ”, II7 is “ V7 V. Inwards, and what is the 3rd in G7 is the b7th note of both are. An interval made by combining 3 whole tones ( whole steps from the that. Replace ( or follow ) the original chord you the exact sound you. V7 of V ”, etc about the tritone substitution is incredible, but can grow old very quickly online... It ’ s talk a step back and look at what notes are actually in the key of C.! Db7 has the notes C – F # form a tritone substitution: the of. Substitute it with a Gb7 chord as the b5 sub, is a very cool jazz chord substitution a. The # 4 between the root of the Renaissance Era, 10 Important Composers of the Medieval Period properly a! That this substitution works is that dominant 7 chords with a bass note a tritone apart the! Other chords in a II V I progression thanks for stopping by and if have.
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