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    Tritone Substitution & Scales - TJPS

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    Tritone Substitution & Scales - TJPS

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    Ritik Aswani
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    13 views2 pages

    Tritone Substitution & Scales - TJPS

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    Ritik Aswani

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    20/07/2024, 17:19 Tritone Substitution & Scales - TJPS

    TJPS

    Tritone Substitution & Scales


    Introduction
    One of the most common Chord Substitutions in Jazz is the Tritone Substitution. This is a way of substituting V7 chords. So a G7 would become a D♭7 (the
    root note is a tritone away). 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


    Ordinarily, you would just use the C Major Scale (or equivalent modes) to improvise over a II-V-I in C, as shown in Chord Progression #1 below.

    ii V7 I

    Chord Progression #1 Dm7 G7 CMaj7

    Scales D Dorian G Mixolydian C Ionian

    Key C Major

    Chord Progression #2 Dm7 D♭7 CMaj7

    Scales D Dorian D♭ Mixloydian C Ionian

    Key C Major G♭ Major C Major

    Chord Progression #3 Dm7 G7 - D♭7 CMaj7

    Scales D Dorian ? C Ionian

    But what if you were to tritone substitute the G7 to D♭7, like in Chord Progression #2 above? Then you cannot (generally) use the G Mixolydian mode over the
    D♭7 because it contains the note C (which is a natural 7th from the point of view of the D♭7). You could, however, play the D♭ Mixolydian mode (G♭ Major).

    G Mixolydian (C Major) = G A B C D E F
    D♭ Mixolydian (G♭ Major) = D♭ E♭ F G♭ A♭ B♭ C♭

    But what if the chord progression was 1/2 a bar of G7 and 1/2 a bar of D♭7, like in Chord Progression #3 above? Or what if someone was ‘comping and you
    didn’t know which chord they were going to play?

    D♭ Mixolydian doesn’t quite fit over the G7 chord; and


    G Mixolydian doesn’t quite fit over the D♭7 chord

    And changing scales for 1/2 a bar, especially at a quick tempo, can be challenging and unnecessarily complex.

    Discover related topics

    Tritone Substitution Piano

    Tritone Substitution Piano Gospel

    Tritone Substitution Pdf

    Tritone Substitution in Classical Music

    Tritone Chord Progression


    Privacy - Terms

    https://www.thejazzpianosite.com/jazz-piano-lessons/jazz-scales/tritone-substitution-scales/ 1/3
    20/07/2024, 17:19 Tritone Substitution & Scales - TJPS
    Wouldn’t it be great if there was a scale that fit over both G7 AND D♭7? Well, there is. You have a number of options when improvising over G7 and/or D♭7:

    Play G Mixolydian but avoid the C


    C is an avoid note for G7 and D♭7 – so just omit it
    Scales that fit over G7 and D♭7
    Wholetone Scale = G A B D♭ E♭ F
    Dominant Diminished Scale = G A♭ B♭ B D♭ D E F
    A♭ melodic minor = A♭ B♭ C♭ D♭ E♭ F G
    AKA G Altered Scale
    AKA D♭ Lydian Dominant
    D melodic minor = D E F G A B C#
    AKA D♭ Altered Scale
    AKA G Lydian Dominant

    So now it doesn’t matter whether the accompaniment plays a G7 or a D♭7, because the above scales work well over both chords.

    Miscellaneous Dominant Facts


    A few more interest points about tritone substitution:

    A V7♭5 Chord is its own tritone substitution


    G7♭5 = G B D♭ F = D♭7♭5 = D♭ F G B
    Rootless Voicings of Dominant Chords include the: 3rd, 7th, 9th & 13th (we will discuss rootless voicings a future lesson)
    Rootless G7 = F A B E
    Rootless G7#9♭13 = Rootless D♭7 = F A# B E♭
    You will often see Tritone Substituted II-V‘s
    When improvising, use the relevant Dorian scale for m7 chords
    The possible combinations and permutations are listed below

    Dm7 G7 CMaj7

    A♭m7 D♭7 CMaj7

    Dm7 D♭7 CMaj7

    A♭m7 G7 CMaj7

    Tritone Substitution and Scales

    >> NEXT LESSON >>

    https://www.thejazzpianosite.com/jazz-piano-lessons/jazz-scales/tritone-substitution-scales/ 2/3

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