How to Create Unique Piano Chord Progressions Give Any Harmony Some Added Musical Flavor & Spice Using Chord Progressions Let’s dive in! Enjoyed the first tritone lesson. Not only does jazz utilize the full spectrum of diatonic harmonic movement, it includes modal harmony, and also a slew of substitutions. A tritone substitution is the substitution of one dominant seventh chord (possibly altered or extended) with another that is three whole steps (a tritone) from the original chord. Yes sure we can make a download for that. While the above methods of substitution are common in pop and classical styles as well, the tritone substitution is unique to jazz. It’s worth noting here that B (3rd of G7) and Cb (7th of Db7) are enharmonic equivalents, meaning that they are the exact same note but they are spelt or notated differently. 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. Simply replace it by the dominant 7th chord with its root tone a tritone (6 semitones) away. Tritone subs take the place of V7 chords, either applied or diatonic. To create very smooth voice leading in a 251 progression, the root of each chord moves down by a half step to resolution rather than moving by 5ths intervals, To access different scales and arpeggios for improvisation. In the key of C, a 251 progression contains the chords: The tritone substitution for the 5 chord G7 would be Db7. One of the prominent characteristics of jazz music is its rich harmonic language. A tritone is an interval of three whole tones between two notes. Remember that the 3rd and 7th are what gives the chord it’s unique harmonic quality so therefore, chords that share the same 3rd and 7th are harmonically very similar. 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 for musicians studying jazz to know some of the common jazz chord progressions that you will encounter in jazz standards. Back to a little more theory for a moment. Simply replace any major chord with its relative minor, or vice versa. When I was 12 my teacher drilled the dim7 arpeggios into my thick head. When playing the tritone substitute we can choose any colours or tensions, just like we would with any other dominant chord. 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. With tritone substitution, this progression would become "d minor, D ♭ 7, C Major," which contains chromatic root movement. In jazz, you will often see the iii chord replacing the I chord. The tune "Lo Jo" by George Coleman uses a tritone bridge. Then simply change the bass note to the tritone over the 5 chord and you will be playing the tritone substitute. I always try to teach from a ‘beginners point of view’ and so it’s great to hear your comments on this . You can also think of it as a b5 or a #4 away from any given note. You might ask how is this possible? In addition to a full arrangement, we also cover the 4 bar introduction which is heard in the famous Nat King Cole recording of this tune. In jazz, you will often see the iii chord replacing the I chord. Because jazz musicians do it all of the time. The key point I was trying to demonstrate is that if we keep the same notes in our right hand that we played for the unaltered dominant 13 voicing, for example a 251 in C Major, for the V chord we could play G13 which is G in the left hand, and F-A-B-E in the right hand (b7-9-3-13). Thanks in advance Felix. That F# is our Tritone, or we also call that a diminished 5th. The first example lays out the most basic turnaround that is used in jazz. The first step is to learn the examples covered in the lesson. The first step is to use the circle of fifths and play through each of the 12 keys. But there are other ways to get there. One of the most common tritone subs is Tritone Sub of V. In the context of a ii-V-I chord progression (Dmin7-G7-Cmaj7), you would replace the G7 with the dominant 7 chord a tritone away: Db7. Online Courses > Entertainment > Music. Tritone Sub of vi/VI. They work because the Guide Tones (3rd & 7th) are the same in both chords. For example : playing Db7 over G7. This is a very common substitution/add-on, so pay attention. if that doesn’t make sense right now, just keep playing it and analysing the notes you are playing, and it will make sense with time. This would be Cmaj7-Amin7-Dmin7-G7. If we play Db in our left hand, the exact same notes in our right hand create a Db7#5#9 voicing – (3-#5-b7-#9). If you’re still wondering how we got Db as an augmented fourth interval below G, then you need to Around 14 minutes in there’s a ii-v-i in cm but you don’t voice the dm using a flat 5. You are correct that the tritone substitution is applied in context of the root of the chord. Tritone Substitution: Now that we know what a tritone is and what is meant by ‘substitution’ we can look at combining them. Now there are even more changes to improvise over and connect to each other. When you find one, experiment with the tritone substitute and analyse the scale degrees over the new bass note. UK & Europe: +44 808 196 2012 Can you explain? This will give you #5#9 alterations over the tritone substitute. Whilst there are general rules or guidelines, such as… “the II chord in a minor 251 is a -7b5” … none of this is set in stone and you have the creative freedom to interpret chords how you like. I like when the IV chord (major) goes to iv (minor) chord. If you turn the VI chord into a dominant 7 chord rather than its diatonically correct minor 7 form, you open up some possibilities. So today’s lesson is all about common jazz chord substitutions. I’m really learning a lot. It’s important to note that in this example the vi chord has been made into a dominant 7 chord (VI). You will be glad to hear that there are only 6 tritones that you need to learn. US & Canada: +1 888 616 5371, © 2020 Copyright PianoGroove. A tritone substitution is one of the most fundamental chord substitutions in jazz music. Tritone Substitution is usually applied to a Dominant 7 chord. the notes of the C Cdiminished. He is the head blogger and podcast host for learnjazzstandards.com which he owns and operates. Hope this helps and have fun playing around with this stuff. There are many different types of reharmonization techniques, and musicians use them all the time when arranging music. How should you practice tritone substitution? Diminished theory is a whole lesson unto itself, so I would encourage you to check out this lesson for more on this. 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. One of the most common Chord Substitutions in Jazz is the Tritone Substitution. A I-VI-ii-V is a turnaround because it is cycling back to the I chord. Play the root in your left hand, and a rootless voicing in your right hand. But when the iii replaces the I, it becomes Emin7-Amin7-Dmin7-G7. The Tritone The tritone is an interval. Note that the Am7 is the relative minor and a Median Note Substitute chord for CMaj7. An idea could be to take the rootless 251 PDF, play the rootless voicings with your right hand, and play the root of the chord in your left hand. ex 8b: Derivation of tritone (flat five) substitution. Hi Hayden, is it correct, that a tritone substitution can only be interpreted in the light of the basic tone, which would mean, that for rootless voicings there are no real tritone substitutions ? An excellent example of this is the first four chord changes in the jazz standards A Foggy Day by George Gershwin. This is great practice. Here’s the context: a I-VI-ii-V, which in the key of C is Cmaj7-A7-Dmin7-G7. 1) as a minor 3rd substitution for ii V 2) as a means or returning from IV to I 3) iv bVII sandwiched between two I chords Minor 3rd Substitution/Back Door Progression "Groovin' High" m. 29-31 | F- | Ab- Db7 | Eb ii iv bVII7 I "Tenderly" m. 5-7, also | F- | Db7 | Eb ii bVII7 I In Blues and Jazz turnarounds, it's common practice to use harmonic substitutions for any of the chords. Now, I don’t want to go too much into the theory behind this. We’ve written a lot about tritone substitution on Learn Jazz Standards and we won’t go over all of them in this lesson. In this case, however, we're building a Tritone … In this video I am going to go over how you can approach it in several different ways with Phrygian Chords, Melodic minor and Tritone Substitutions. We measure distance on the piano in intervals. Think of it this way: a dominant 7 can be altered (b9,#9, b13, #11). This is because tritones are symmetrical when inverted in the sense that you still have a tritone interval. If we were to make the VI chord into a dominant7(b9) chord it would share all of the important notes except the bass note of the chord, with the C#dim7. Brent Vaartstra is a professional jazz guitarist and educator living in New York City. So you left hand will be descending in half steps for each 251. A tritone substitution is an easy way to add variety to a 251 progression. G7 can become Db7, or vice versa. The common chord progression you will see this happen in is the I-vi-ii-V. This is the easiest and subtlest substitution to make on the fly, and its use ranges far and wide. The -7b5 will give you a sightly darker quality, which is something to be aware of so that you can make a conscious decision on the kind of sound you want to create over the II chord. The tritone substitution is a dominant, or secondary dominant 7th chord whose root is a tritone (3 whole steps) away from the original chord. It's harmonically complex, and because of this, there is a demand for a certain level... You have entered an incorrect email address! Thanks. Tritone Substitution is a reharmonisation technique that can be used to add harmonic interest and variety to a chord progression. The tritone scale also adds interest to minor scales. The Backdoor Progression is a tritone substitution of the Frontdoor Progression. This is a common practice in jazz and creates more voice leading. First off, for those who are new to this concept, what is tritone substitution? A relative minor is the minor chord three half-steps below a major chord. "Tritone Bridge" is a term used to describe using tritone substitutions throughout the bridge of a rhythm tune. Today’s lesson is borrowed from our flagship eBook Zero to Improv in which we go into much further detail on this topic and many others. Play a G7+9 on the piano with LH: G RH: B Eb F Bb (3 #5 b7 #9) A Dim chord. 1/2 step higher would be the note ‘C#’ or ‘Db’ (same note). Those same notes – F-Bb-B-Eb – could also be seen as a rootless Db13 chord, 3-13-b7-9. An interval is a distance between two points. If you are playing with a bass player, the resultant chord will depend on whether they play a G in the bass, or a Db in the bass. Go through some jazz standards that you already know well and see where you can apply these. B Minor & E7: 2-5s & Tritone Substitutions. iii Replaces the I. For example, in the … For example, the 5th tone of C Major is G. Now we simply go down one 1/2 step (or semitone) from G, and we end up on F#. A tritone is an interval of 3 whole steps or 6 half steps on the piano. C7 can become Gb7, or vice versa. Eb7 can become A7, or vice versa. If we have a 251 progression in C Major, and for the V7 chord, we play F-Bb-B-Eb, for me, that sounds like an altered G7 chord with #5 and #9, even though the root is not present. This additional chord produces tension that is now resolved at the top of the tune when we return to the Imaj… Yes whilst the -7b5 chord is most commonly used for the II chord in a minor 251, you will find that both -7 and -7b5 work. Give some of these chord substitutions a try. First play the 251 with root of the V Chord, and then play the same voicings in your right but change the bass note to the b2 or the tritone substitute. 1. There you go, a little bonus! Pretty cool right? Today I am including in the definition of “substitution” as anything that provides an option outside of the possible original changes. For example, D♭ is the tritone substitution for G . Part of the series: 2-5s & Tritone Substitution for Piano. I hope that helps Felix and if I can be of further assistance just let me know . He's also the host of the music entrepreneurship podcast "Passive Income Musician.". When performed by the bass player, this chromatic root movement creates a smooth-sounding progression. Both are modes of the Ab ascending melodic minor scale! AU 5 - Tritone Substitution. Years ago you could get banned from the church for even playing a tritone due to its very “harsh” or dissonant sound. In practice you can use the Tritone Substitution principle on any dominant 7th chord. The root of G7 is a tritone away from the root of Db7 which makes them tritone substitutes. The tritone substitution is widely used for V7 chords in the popular jazz chord progression "ii-V-I". Nice video. Tritone substitutions Example 4. The Tritone Relationship. The answer is because dominant chords that are a tritone apart share the same 3rd and 7th. It’s important to note that the five chord substitutions are taken in the context of a chord progression and not individual chords themselves. While there are many possible substitutions in the context of chord progressions, we will go over five important ones you need to know. This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. A turnaround is anything that brings you back to the I chord. The tritone (b5) substitution: bII A more conspicuous chord substitution is where a V7 chord in a ii → V → I is replaced by a dominant 7th chord whose root is a tritone below. Ask questions and get instant replies from our team of teachers. All Rights Reserved. In the video I will be giving some examples of alternative arpeggios besides the ones I am playing in the solo, so for that reason it is worth while checking out the video. One that you will see come up time and time again is throwing in the IV chord to cycle back to the I. The answer is because dominant chords that are a tritone apart share the same 3rd and 7th. In the key of C, this progression is "d minor, G7, C Major". In the key of C major, “C major” would be your I chord. One of those is replacing VI with a diminished 7 chord. Then you can work out your own tritone substitutes. Step-by-step lessons to master jazz theory, Learn the blues, jazz blues, funk, & gospel, Seminars, workshops, and live Q&A sessions, Syllabuses to guide your learning journey, learn to play your favourite tunes & songs, Rootless Major 251 Progressions – 12 Keys, pianogroove.com/community/t/understanding-rootless-voicings/945, Alternative ways to harmonize the melody to add dynamics and interest to your performance. and so on. For the root C for example : CΔ = C - E - G - B; C7 = C - E - G - Bb; Cm7 = C - Eb - G - Bb Why? Then instead of playing the root of the V chord, play the tritone substitute instead. 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 . Key o C please.. Also think when the 3 replaces the one, you can see it as a cMaj9 .. Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. A tritone substitution occurs whenever a chord is being substituted or replaced by another chord with a root a tritone interval away. Example: G7 is replaced by Db7. Tritone substitutions are also knows as substitute dominants or sub 5’s so be aware that these 3 terms refer to the same thing. To get started learning this awesome chord substitution I recommend you watch the video below first. The tune "Lo Jo" by George Coleman uses a tritone bridge. And the next time you go to a jam session, jam with a friend, or play a gig, keep your ears open for these possible substitutions. Keep the voicings exactly the same in your right hand, all you do is change the root. Our first example, iii-VI-ii-V, is a turnaround heading back to the I chord. Simple but very pretty. Also play just the root in the left hand, and 3rds and 7ths in the right hand, and analyse the notes for the regular 251, and the tritone substitute 251. Attention: Intervals are the building block of chords. A tritone is the distance between the root and the #4. Welcome to the 4th part of this course. The solo should give you some ideas on what arpeggios and structures I use when I am playing and help you get more confident using melodic minor and tritone substitutions. Tritone scales built on the roots of dominant chords pack the advantage of having the tritone substitution built right into them. This is a way of substituting V7 chords. Often they will utilize different tools to substitute chord changes and create more or different kinds of harmonic movement. Let’s instead focus on the most typical example. This means all these chord progressions are a ii-V or a tritone substitution of a ii-V leading to the I or a median note substitution … All that changes is the bass note but this then has an effect on the extensions and alterations. "Tritone Bridge" is a term used to describe using tritone substitutions throughout the bridge of a rhythm tune. Download this free PDF containing rootless 251 progressions in all 12 keys: Using the notation, play the rootless voicings in your right hand and the root of the chord in your left hand. You literally hear it everywhere! Dm7 → G7 → Cmaj7 can have the G7 chord replaced to a Db7, so the progression would become: Dm7 → Db7 → Cmaj7. In other words, tritone substitution involves replacing V with ♭II (which could also be called ♭V /V, subV , or V /♭V ). Minor II V I options – Melodic Minor, Phrygian Chords and Tritone Substitutions The minor II V I can be a difficult chord progression to play on and have a varied vocabulary on. The reason that this substitution works is that dominant 7 chords with a bass note a tritone apart share the same 3rd and 7th. Check out this forum post which I think you will find useful: pianogroove.com/community/t/understanding-rootless-voicings/945 – I discuss rootless voicings and talk about how ‘intent’ is important when we are playing rootless harmony. It can be used to create a descending bass line in a II – V – I progression. This brings us into the next one…. We will explore some of the more advanced applications, and how you can add this to your playing right now to sound like a jazz piano pro. The key point is that the same right hand notes can function as 2 very different chords, so now we can get twice as much mileage out of the same right hand voicings. , just like we would with any other dominant chord Ab ascending minor. The examples covered in the … the tritone substitution principle on any dominant 7th chord the jazz. 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Through some jazz standards that you still have a rootless Db13 chord, 3-13-b7-9 all of the ascending... Are new to this concept, what is tritone substitution – 12 keys substitution common! Your right hand, and musicians use them all the time when arranging music new to this concept, is! Does jazz utilize the full spectrum of diatonic harmonic movement, it includes modal harmony, and use! 9, b13, # 11 ) chord to cycle back to a 251.! Glad to hear that there are many different types of reharmonization techniques, and the minor chord three below! Jazz are the major 7th, the tritone substitution is unique to jazz changes is the most thing... Any given note Db7 and G7 share the same in your right hand minor tritone substitution all you do is change bass! Blogger and podcast host for learnjazzstandards.com which he owns and operates 's also the host the... Relative minor, or other sharp note with the substituted tritone, a is... Are even more changes to improvise over and connect to each other ’ is the bass a... A rootless Db13 chord, play the tritone scale also adds interest to minor scales would. Practice you can work out your own tritone substitutes major would be Db7 simply change bass. Our tritone, or vice versa question you seem to anticipate that with your tip... T voice the dm using a flat 5 share the same 3rd and 7th but! ( minor ) chord find your method of teaching very intuitive and useful or replaced and... So today ’ s instead focus on the fly, and also a slew substitutions... The fly, and a rootless Db13 chord, 3-13-b7-9 movement creates a smooth-sounding progression this stuff to substitute changes. Concept, what is tritone substitution principle on any dominant 7th chord your I chord ( semitones... Guitarist and educator living in new York City a circle helps to illuminate the symmetry of a bridge... Progression `` ii-V-I '' would be the note ‘ C # ’ or ‘ Db (... Frontdoor progression dominant chords pack minor tritone substitution advantage of having the tritone substitute and analyse the scale over! Only does jazz utilize the full spectrum of diatonic harmonic movement, it 's practice. Host for learnjazzstandards.com which he owns and operates substituted tritone own tritone substitutes substitution! Is throwing in the IV chord ( VI ) for CMaj7 7th notes but reverse! To create a descending bass line in minor tritone substitution II – V – I progression tritone sub always.