What’s a Chord Substitution?Ī chord substitution is a musical technique where one chord is replaced by another chord that has a similar function in a chord progression but provides a different harmonic color or interest.

You can test your ability to identify any note and learn the basics of interval ear training by checking out our Ear Training 101 Test.

You want to be able to identify tritones and other intervals by ear. Gb (or F#) is a tritone away from C, and C is a tritone away from Gb. You can also think of it as a #4 or b5 from a root note. What’s a tritone?Ī tritone is an interval of three whole tones (tri) between two notes.

Want to Learn More About Jazz Harmony and Supercharge Your Jazz Improvisation Skills? Check out the Learn Jazz Standards Inner Circle.īefore we dig into tritone substitutions, we should probably define its constituent parts: tritones and chord substitutions.

Tritone Substitution of ii in a ii-V-I Chord Progression.

Tritone Substitution of vi/VI in I-vi-ii-V Chord Progressions.

Tritone Substitution of V in a ii-V-I Chord Progression.

Ready to overhaul your jazz playing? Check out what the Inner Circle is all about. There are over ten years of educational materials, invaluable backing tracks, in-depth jazz standard studies, and instrument-specific accelerator courses to help you get your jazz playing where you want it to be. If you feel your jazz theory chops could use a little polishing, you should check out the Learn Jazz Standards Inner Circle. Whether playing jazz guitar, jazz piano, or even a non-chordal instrument, you must know how to navigate a tritone substitution when comping or improvising. We’ll also include listening examples to hear tritone substitutions in action.

Tritone Substitution of the ii in a ii-V-I Chord Progression.

Tritone Substitution of the VI in a I-vi-ii-V Chord Progression.

Tritone Substitution of the V in a ii-V-I Chord Progression.

In this post, we’ll talk about three different harmonic situations where you’ll sometimes encounter a tritone substitution:

You have probably heard a tritone substitution in action, but you may not have known what it is and why it works. An important technique that jazz musicians use to create harmonic movement is the tritone substitution. This technique adds color and tension to your jazz improvisation and spices up jazz harmony.

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