In the key of c, a 251 progression contains the chords. All altered dominant 7 chords have a tritone substitution, more on this later. Tritone substitution part 1 of 2 cocktail piano lessons. The most common type of substitute chord is tritone. In this bass lesson, well cover a simple but direct concept for the immediate application for tritone substitution based. This is by far the most common tritone substitution.
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. As a jazz piano teacher, its my job to make things easy for you. Tritone substitution is a reharmonisation technique that can be used to add harmonic interest and variety to a chord progression. The tritone substitution is a dominant, or secondary dominant 7th chord whose root is a tritone 3 whole steps away from the original chord. As said in the article harmonic function, the dominant chord has tension sonority. Keep in mind that dominant chords want to resolve to their i chord. The first exercise is to learn and familiarise yourself with the tritone 25 in all 12 keys. The tritone subs are also substitutions for the dominants of the next chords in the progressions, however they resolve in an opposite way of typical dominants. Our jazz piano lessons follow a unique 3 part video layout giving you a unique insight into the eye. When you build the tritone configuration on the seventh, youll be forming a th chord. Heres an easy chord substitution for church pianists to use. 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.
Tritone substitutions in a 251 progression as a bass player. You can also sign up to my jazz tutorial email newsletter where i share jazz piano email tips, video notifications, and additional sheet music. Firstinversion, diminished chromatic, minor chromatic, secondary dominant, 251, tritone substitution, and chromatic mediant. It often functions as a substitute for the v7 chord in a iiv7i progression. Because bass players essentially dictate the chord. 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. Dm7 g7 cmaj7 can have the g7 chord replaced to a db7, so the progression would become. Tritone bridge is a term used to describe using tritone substitutions throughout the bridge of a rhythm tune. In this hymn tutorial, you learn some advanced reharmonization techniques using passing chords such as.
A tritone substitution is a great way to make a typical iii7v sound more interesting. Jazz and gospel pianists rely heavily on these passing chords and their concepts. Use of the concept of tritone substitution adds the b9 and b5 tones aka altered extensions to the basic dominant seventh chord. So i understand the concept beyond a tritone substitution, but im a little confused as how to apply it in a walking bass line. Tritone substitution introduction to modern jazz lines. Music theory tritone chord progressions tutorial team comprised 2015. In this tutorial we put the magnifying glass on 7 superb real life examples of where stevie wonder has harmonically used this essential to know tritone substitution to such devastating effect. Using scales to approach tritone substitution learn jazz. The tritone has appeared in western music for hundreds of years.
A tritone is an interval of 3 whole steps exactly half of an octave. Using scales to approach tritone substitution jazz. When a i chord is leading into a iv chordadd a minor 7th to the i chord. So, here are 4 easy steps to figure out how to play a tritone substitution. Fortunately, the internet is awash with free, highquality guitar lessons like this one. In practice, a tritone sub in jazz is most commonly a dominant 7 chord. A tritone is an interval of 3 whole steps or 6 half steps on the piano. Tritone substitutions in a 251 progression as reddit. Before diving into each jazz concept in detail, i recommend watching the overview videos and downloading the pdf on the right to get a broad and contextualised understanding of the ideas we will soon be exploring. In order for a particular piano voicing to qualify as a tritone substitution it must exclude the root from the bass. This substitution is called a tritone substitution, so lets make sure we understand what a tritone is. These chords are interchangeable because the tritone interval pitches are identical in each.
Tritone chord substitution introduction 101 youtube. Shares guitarists whove starting exploring the different possibilities for soloing over dominant 7th chords have probably quickly realized there are a lot of different scales and modes you can use to bring color to. The chord that follows is a bb, its tritone substitution. Tritone substitutions explained jazz arranging class. I will continue to add more jazz piano lessons in the future to cover more topics and concepts. Free jazz piano lessons everything you need to know. Notice the top of the chord is the same but the bass note is moved a b5 away to bb. When learning to play your bass, an overkill of theory can often paralyze your results while performing. This is part of a series to come and will get deeper into. Using the concept of tritone substitution, we can make cyclical progressions move in half steps ddbc instead of in fifths dgc and still have the same result. Ellis pentatonic scales reharmonization technique secondary dominant the chicken the chicken travels the world tonal harmony tritone substitution tutorial. The minor 7th note is located a 7th above the root bottom note of the chord. A short introduction to the tritone scale, its construction, how to use it and some basic fingerings for this scale on the guitar.
The tritone substitution is a dominant, or secondary dominant 7th chord whose root. Download theory supplements, midi files, chord changes and full notefornote transcriptions of every lesson. Tritone substitution is a reharmonisation technique that can be used to add. The tritone substition adds alot of harmonic interest and it sounds very smooth because. If you build the tritone configuration on the third above your root, youre playing a sharp nine chord. If you play a tritone ten times in a row before you go to bed tonight figure 67, you probably wont be able to fall asleepyoull have to get up, run to the piano, and resolve it to a i chord figure.
Tritone substitution tutorial what is tritone substitution. How and why do dominant chords and tritone substitutions work. However, if you can, take this 2 5 1 lick in the key of c and see if you can transpose it into the other 11 keys yourself. Therefore, a tritone substitution means subbing ab for d, b for f, etc. For more information, and to get started pusing tritone substitutions and passing chords. Oct 9, 2018 heres another fun 2 5 1 lick for the piano.
Were only talking about dominant 7th chords, not major or minor chords. The tune lo jo by george coleman uses a tritone bridge. Tritone is the interval of three whole tones between two notes. In turnarounds its common to do this for any of the chords. Many musicians have learned the theory of tritone substitution, but when trying to apply this information, they often end up shortchanged. Stevie wonder amazing tritone substitution tutorial. Explanation of the tritone jazz chord substitution that adds so much colour to the sound by way of musical examples charlie parker, clifford brown. Tritone substitution improvisation the tritone relationship. The secret to passing chords piano lesson with warren.
The answer is because dominant chords that are a tritone apart share the same 3rd and 7th. Tritone substitutions are also knows as substitute dominants or sub 5s so be aware that these 3 terms refer to the same thing. Tritone substitution and scales if you like this jazz piano tutorial. For example, the tritone 25 of c major would be ab7, db7, to cmaj7. 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. Today we are going to discuss some scales that you can use to approach various tritone substitutions when you improvise. However, if you can, take this 2 5 1 lick in the key of c and see if you can transpose it into the other 11. The newest jazz piano chords pdf that i recently made available features those piano chords and voicings that i used during an eight bar segment of a piano video tutorial i created which focuses on the classic harold arlen tune paper moon. This is where the confusion usually begins for students. Aug 9, 2018 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. 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. Substitute dominant or tritone sub chords hub guitar. In this course, you will learn about the seven types of passing chords.
So lets jump right into some different kinds of tritone substitutions. You must be able to find these voicings in all 12 keys as per the demonstration covered in this lesson. The tritone substitution is one of the more useful harmonic progressions in jazz. Tritone substitution the tritone, and the v chord that it is part of, are very unstable and want very much to resolve, as in figure 66. Over time, the tritone has become more prominent in american blues and jazz and is. A tritone is an interval made up of three tones, or six semitones. How to use a tritone substitution in your progressions.
Ive circled the tritone subs just to be clear about the substitute chords. The goal of the first ten modern jazz lines was to learn how to hear and improvise creatively over the iivi progression. In part 1 of our article on tritone substitutions we discussed the tritone interval, the tritone substitution, and the theory behind why tritone substitution works. Tritone substitution the ultimate guide and video tutorial. This doesnt mean you cant substitute other chord qualities, but a dominant 7 is most often the chord being used to replace.
In this guitar lesson, learn how to play chord substitutions and passing chords in basic jazz guitar. Tritone substitutions greg howlett christian piano music. One of the most common chord substitutions in jazz is the tritone substitution. Tritone substitutes a bass players dream this is a description and demonstration on how tritone substitute chords work. The reason that this substitution works is that dominant 7 chords with a bass note a tritone apart share the same 3rd and 7th. Tritone substitutions are sometimes used in improvisationoften to create tension during a solo. Tritone substitution lesson everything you need to know. With the guitar, as with any other instrument, if you want to improve, youll need to practice. Years ago you could get banned from the church for even playing a tritone due to its very harsh or dissonant sound. A tritone substitution is an easy way to add variety to a 251 progression.
Pianogroove is an online jazz piano school and community. Jazz substitutions seem completely illogical or difficult to remember. In blues and jazz turnarounds, its common practice to use harmonic substitutions for any of the chords. What is a tritone and why was it nicknamed the devils. See the following explanation of the chords before viewing the free pdf sheet of this chord substitution. This video gives you a fundamental explanation about what is tritone substitution and how to use them in a jazz piano chord progression.
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