© Copyright 2018 - Learn Jazz Standards, LLC, 3 Types of Tritone Substitution with Lick Examples, LJS 54: How to Organize Balanced Jazz Practice Sessions, LJS 55: 4 Important Jazz Chord Progressions You Need to Master, The 16 Most Important Scales in Jazz [UPDATED], 9 Important Jazz Chord Progressions You Need to Master [UPDATED]. Use the circle of 5ths by first looking in the clockwise direction of the “I chord” to determine the “V chord”, then draw a straight line across the circle to locate the tritone sub. Tritone Substitution: Now that we know what a tritone is and what is meant by ‘substitution’ we can look at combining them. The 9th in Db7 is Eb7, and what is Eb7 in the context of G7? This is a way of substituting V7 chords. D♭7 = D♭ F A♭ B ¿Could you please add a "print" button? As far as the 3 genres you mention (jazz, blues, and R&B), you could find the tritone substitution in any and all of them. In this case the V is substituted by the chord featuring the same tritone (bII7), which gives way to a chromatic progression on the bass. Have trouble trying to save thius lesson as PDF, the staffs appears as blank spaces. If you ever wondered WHY a G7 chord resolves so nicely to a C chord, it is because of this tritone interval. Today we are going to discuss some scales that you can use to approach various tritone substitutions when you improvise. Doing this creates some delicious dissonances: C Dm7 Db7/G C. You get the bass note G clashing with an F … Well, look at the notes of a C major chord now: The note ‘B’ is 1/2 step away from the note ‘C’, which is the root of the C major chord, The note ‘F’ is 1/2 step away from the note ‘E’, which is the 3rd of the C major chord. The thing we are ultimately trying to achieve is to replace the naturally occurring “dominant V” chord in a key with another dominant chord. It's harmonically complex, and because of this, there is a demand for a certain level... You have entered an incorrect email address! You can add tensions to the tritone sub chord, and more often than not, … Pick a note and define what the tritone interval is. I’m going to combine the tritone sub of VI with the tritone sub of V. To demonstrate, the last three bars will be repeating the tritone sub of V lick we just played. Advanced Tritone Substitution Tutorial. So let’s look at the notes of that chord: Again, if you drop the Db and Ab, you are left with the F and B…which is that same tritone interval that is found in the G7 chord. Look at these combinations of ‘B’ and ‘F’: This is by far the most common tritone substitution, so pay close attention. The last tritone sub that I want to cover is the tritone sub of ii. 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. If you imagine that the A7 is the “V of ii,” meaning that you pretend the ii chord is a minor i chord, you can draw the same conclusions about the note relationships of the Eb7 and the A7. Let me explain. A tritone substitution occurs whenever a chord is being substituted or replaced by another chord with a root a tritone interval away. G7 = G B D F 2. 1/2 step higher would be the note ‘C#’ or ‘Db’ (same note). Here is a list of the 16 most important scales for jazz improvisation and the harmonic contexts in which they can be used for... For some, learning jazz can be a daunting task. I’m old af now and still at it! This is called a "dominant substitute" or "dominant substitution." The tritone substitution is a dominant, or secondary dominant 7th chord whose root is a tritone (3 whole steps) away from the original chord. This can only be explained in words so much. Here in Part 2 of our discussion on tritone substitution we will go through some specific examples of how tritone substitution works in practice and discuss some ideas for improvisation. In this episode I give example of three different way to apply tritone substitution and I give some … This is an intense sound, because with this kind of substitution, the root of the chord is chromatic. In this case the V is substituted by the chord featuring the same tritone (bII7), which gives way to a chromatic progression on the bass. That’s because Gb is 6 half steps higher than a C. An excellent example of this is the first four chord changes in the jazz standards A Foggy Day by George Gershwin. Thanks! tritone substitution Targetting resolution notes licks 2–6 Comme vous pouvez le voir, et dans un but pédagogique j’utilise toujours le même début et les postions des 2 arpèges . The Am7 line is an Em7 arpeggio (arpeggio from the 5th of Am) followed by a scale run. The tritone substitution is one of the most common chord substitutions found in jazz and was the precursor to more complex substitution patterns like Coltrane changes. Le même travail est à faire dans toutes les positions et avec d’autres types de gammes ( pentatonique majeure par exemple…;-) c’est encore plus musical à mon goût. For example, if we had an F7 chord, we could replace that chord with a dominant chord a tritone away. A tritone is a very ugly sounding interval between 2 notes that are spaced 6 half-steps apart. For example: In a standard ii-V-I progression in the key of C major, the chords would be Dmin7 - G7- CMaj7 . So let’s jump right into some different kinds of tritone substitutions. Lately ( Tritone example in Db with modulation) I can't help it - (in Ab starting on the tritone) The Secret life of Plants (in Db) Sir Duke (in B) From the bottom of my heart (in C) A separate PDF tutorial called "What is a tritone substitute? This is called a "dominant substitute" or "dominant substitution." Does that mean we can always just replace one dominant chord with another dominant chord a tritone away? Example lines with Tritone Substitutions The first example line is a fairly basic line just to show what the sound of the Ab7 chord can already do in the line. In Blues and Jazz turnarounds, it's common practice to use harmonic substitutions for any of the chords. For example, the tritone substitution is more likely to be seen in jazz, but are the kinds of chords you might find in jazz-related rock music, such as early Chicago or Steely Dan. A dominant chord wants to resolve to the I chord. For example, if we had an F7 chord, we could replace that chord with a dominant chord a tritone away. Tritone substitutions are a common harmonic device used in the jazz idiom. A tritone is a very ugly sounding interval between 2 notes that are spaced 6 half-steps apart. In this example it goes like this: D-Db-C. Tritone substitution is the substitution of one chord (almost always a dominant 7th of some sort) for one with a root a tritone away. Great lesson and audio examples help a lot, thanks Brent. The Eb7 would imply an A7alt. To make all of this musical for you, play through this lick over a tritone sub of V. Slightly less common than the sub for V, but one you will come across from time to time is the tritone sub of the minor vi or dominant VI. In this lesson we are going to look at various ways to add harmonic interest over dominant chords using tritones. 1/2 step higher would be the note ‘G#’ or ‘Ab’ (same note). An example where this substitution works particularly well is with the II-V-I cadence. In the following image, we show a cycle of fifths progression, starting on E7 and ending in F7. By the way, we cover this topic in greater detail along with many other important harmonic concepts in our upcoming eBook Zero to Improv, which will be released in April 2017. Example lines with Tritone Substitutions. Chords substitutions really make your playing stand out. The first example line is a fairly basic line just to show what the sound of the Ab7 chord can already do in the line. The two chords can function as the same chord, as shown here: This has enormous implications for improvising. Play around with them, and see what you come up with! It’s the flat 13. Then you can work out your own tritone substitutes. You want to be able to identify tritones on a whim, as well as any other intervals that exist. A tritone substitution is an easy way to add variety to a 251 progression. Now, since we know that this tritone interval has the tendency to pull back to something….and that something in this case is the C major chord….what if there was another chord that contains this same interval? Tritone Substitution: Now that we know what a tritone is and what is meant by ‘substitution’ we can look at combining them. 0:00 – Intro A short example where Db7 substitutes G7: A dominant chord descending by half-step is probably a tritone substitution. The b II7 chord (D b 7) can be in place of the G7, thus giving Dm7 | D b 7 | Cmaj7. Theoretically, yes. Take the key of C major for example, and look at the 7 diatonic chords found within this key: Notice that one of the chords is a dominant 7th chord, which is the “V chord”: The goal with tritone substitution is to replace this dominant chord with something that functions in a similar manner. A series of descending dominant sevenths is a variation of a cycle of fifths using tritone substitution (Bb7 = E7, Ab7 = D7, Gb7 = C7): Chopin uses tritone substitution … The first step is to learn the examples covered in the lesson. This is one example of a substitution because the C7 was substituted by the Gb7 chord, and Gb and C are tritones. This often occurs in a ii-V-I progression, and the V is being substituted by the adjacent tritone dominant. These chords are interchangeable because the tritone interval pitches are identical in each. There are more possibilities with tritone substitution, but these are the main ones you will encounter. A tritone substitution really is a reharmonization technique. 9:53 – The “Tritone Interval” as Found in Dominant 7th Chords. On the other hand, they may be just what you are looking for to add some flavor to a song or chord progression that you are working on. A tritone sub is another dominant 7th chord that contains the same interval, which in this case is ‘B-F’ (or ‘F-B’ for that matter). A more conspicuous chord substitution is where a V7 chord in a ii → V → I is replaced by a dominant 7thchord whose root is a tritone below. The reason that this substitution works is that dominant 7 chords with a … In the example I have only used the Eb Mel min scale, but if you want to do the same. An example where this substitution works particularly well is with the II-V-I cadence. One example of a tritone interval would be the notes B and F. You can verify that these two notes are six half-steps apart. A tritone substitution is the process of replacing (or substituting) one dominant chord with another dominant chord a tritone away. Here are some examples of tritone substitutions with a II-V-I progression : Dm7 | G7 | Cmaj7. Advanced Tritone Substitution Tutorial. It’s the same concept. For example : playing Db7 over G7. Right off the bat, you can conclude that by substituting a Db7 for a G7, it implies that the G7 has altered qualities. Yesterday I gave some detailed examples of common places you can use a tritone substitution, including some tunes that use tritone substitution in different ways. Looking forward to new eBook on Improv. If we use a tritone substitution the chords become Dmin7- Db7- CMaj7. 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. -Michael. Look at the notes in a G7 and a Db7. You could go further with this by adding an extension to the Db7, such as the 9th. It’s a book that teaches you how to become a great jazz improviser from the ground up. Similarly, the twelve-bar blues example has a tritone substitution for the I7 chord, not for the dominant chord, which leads me to think tritone substitution and substitute dominant are quite conceptually different - that substitute dominants are sometimes, but not always, tritone substitutions, and that tritone substitutions have functions other than as substitute dominants. At 0:11 the … You simply have to try it for yourself to hear what this tension/resolution concept sounds like…. Jazz music is littered with the tritone substitution, which is when a dominant seventh chord is substituted for another dominant seventh chord that is one tritone away. I’ve been playing in bands and studying the fretboard since I was 11. Glad to be of help, and nice to hear you're interested in the eBook! Here is what is included when you pay the one-time fee to upgrade your account. For every dominant 7th chord, there is one tritone sub associated with it. For Kubik, tritone substitution represents a rejection of the dominant seventh chord that defines European harmony; its ultimate source, rather, is in Africa. This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. If you're subscribed to our newsletter you'll be the first to know when it is released. Tritone substitutions are sometimes used in improvisation—often to create tension during a solo. 1. The tritone substitution for the 5 … So instead of G7 –> C, it will be “tritone sub” –> C, 2 Simple Ways to Find the Tritone Sub for any Key. How does it work with diminished, 7b5, sus4, etc (colorful chords). One example of a tritone interval would be the notes B and F. You can verify that these two notes are six half-steps apart. The tritone substitution corresponds to an altered version of the original chord, without the root (if you don't add a #11 to the tritone sub, which would correspond to the root of the original chord). When do you use lydian dominant? The above example shows a C7 going to a Gb7 with Db in the bass. Learn how your comment data is processed. The Am7 line is an Em7 arpeggio (arpeggio from the … Here in Part 2 of our discussion on tritone substitution we will go through some specific examples of how tritone substitution works in practice and discuss some ideas for improvisation. They are most often found in ii-V-I progressions, with the tritone substitution being used in place of the V chord. Aha, and that is the point of a tritone sub. So a G7 would become a D♭7 (the root note is a tritone away). The chromatic effect of the tritone. Also the roots of the two chords are a tritone apart. Therefore the “tritone sub” for the key of C major would be the Db7 chord. In practice, a tritone sub in jazz is most commonly a dominant 7 chord. I’ve circled the tritone subs just to be clear about the substitute chords. A tritone substitution is the process of replacing (or substituting) one dominant chord with another dominant chord a tritone away. He writes: “Comparable to melodic and harmonic progressions in African music (and the blues), movement of chord sequences in bebop emphasizes resolutions in a downward direction, eliminating all memory of European leading-tone … 0:34 – Part 1: Two Easy ways to Find the Tritone Sub for any Key Wikipedia explains it this way: In jazz music, a tritone substitution is the use in a chord progression of a dominant seventh chord (major/minor seventh chord) that is three steps (a tritone) away from the original dominant seventh chord. For example, Db7 would be the tritone substitution for G7. Attention: Intervals are the building block of chords. Tritone Substitution is usually applied to a Dominant 7 chord. Often you will see this happen in a minor ii-V-i scenario, but it can also occur in a major ii-V-I. I think it will be helpful for you to see both of these in action together. An important technique that jazz musicians use to create harmonic movement is tritone substitution. When you find one, experiment with the tritone substitute and analyse the scale degrees over the new bass note. It can be used to create a descending bass line in a II – V – I progression. This song is in the key of F major and the dominant seventh chord of F major is C7. Therefore the “tritone sub” for the key of G major would be the Ab7 chord. Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. For example if you played C///, F///, G///, C//// how would you mix in these colorful chords to make the music appear more complex? If you remove the G and D, you are left with this tritone interval ‘B-F’. Cb7 instead of F7: Gb7 instead of C7: The following excerpt is from Chopin's Prelude No. 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. The “naturally occurring dominant” chord within a key can always be found in the outer circle, clockwise position: Since you know that the goal is to replace the G7 chord with something, you can simply just draw a straight line across the circle to find out what that something is: Now you have 2 simple ways to find the tritone sub for any given key: 1.) Note in the jazz idiom ground up something different fretboard since I was 11 scale then really focusses in that. 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