Unit 8-1: Chord Substitution

Objectives

By the end of this lesson, students will be able to:

Explain what a borrowed chord is, which are most common, and how artists commonly use them in popular music.
Define what a tritone substitution is and explain how to use it in a chord progression.
Spell borrowed chords and tritone substitutions in various keys.
Compose a chord progression and substitute one of the chords for a tritone substitution, borrowed chord, or secondary dominant.

Preparation for Class

Read:

Substitutions (Lavengood, OMT)
Borrowed Chords (Wilmoth, PopGrammar)
Tritone Substitution (Terefenko, Jazz Theory: From Basic to Advanced Study)
Tritone Substitute Handout (Louden)

Watch

Tritone Substitution Intro
(Jazz Duets, 7 mins)

The 7 Levels of Jazz Harmony
(Adam Neely, 3 mins)
Just watch from 0:00–3:23

Explore

Explore chord progressions with tritone substitutions:

Chord Player: Practice building chord progressions in Chord Player that use tritone substitutes for V7 and V7/V and singing along with an improvised melody to get the sound of these chords in your ears. Here's a looped progression to start with: I - ii7 - Sub(V7) - I (in A major: A - Bm7 - Bb7 - A).

Reference Aids

Examples of Tritone Substitutions
(Source: Sarah Louden)

Six examples of tritone substitutions are shown in standard notation. Each example shows a dominant chord resolving to a tonic chord, with the tritone substitution for the dominant chord shown below. Roman numeral analysis is provided below each chord progression. Example 1: G7 resolving to C. Tritone substitution: Db7 resolving to C. Example 2: D7 resolving to G. Tritone substitution: Ab7 resolving to G. Example 3: E7 resolving to Am. Tritone substitution: Bb7 resolving to Am. Each chord is shown in root position. The tritone (the interval of six semitones) is highlighted in red in the substituted dominant chords.

In-Class Activities

Discussion

What's in a Name? What is a tritone substitution? Why is it called a tritone substitution? When you substitute a chord with its tritone substitution, which notes in the chord are preserved?
What's the Effect? Listen to a few examples from the repertoire that incorporate tritone substitutions. What style of music do you associate with these progressions? How would you describe the sound of this progression?
Construction Methods: What are a few different methods for quickly constructing tritone substitutes? Which method do you prefer? Practice both methods in the tritone substitution worksheet in the activity below.

Activities

Practice Worksheet: Work through the practice activities in the Tritone Substitution Worksheet here. Then, complete the Tritone Scavenger hunt on pp. 3–4 of the worksheet in groups.
Composing Progressions: Given a starting key, complete each of the following exercises. Notate the chord symbols for the progression, then voice the chords on the grad staff using 3-way close voicing.
- - Select a common chord schema and either add in or substitute a tritone substitution.
  - Select a common chord schema and substitute one of the chords for a borrowed chord.
  - Compose your own chord progression using a tritone substitution and/or borrowed chord.

Repertoire for Practice

Examples for Analysis: Check out the anthology pages to the right to explore examples from the repertoire that use tritone substitution and mode mixture.

Anthology: Tritone Substitution

Anthology: Mode Mixture

Assignment

Assignment 8-1

NEXT STEP

Next Lesson: Embellishing Chords

Practice

Musition:
- - Pop Chords: Levels 4a, 4b (Tritone Substitutions)
  - Pop Progressions: Lvl 7 (Tritone Substitution Voicing)
Quizlet: Tritone Substitution Flashcards
- - Given the Dom7 chord (e.g. G7), name the tritone substitute for that chord (e.g. C#7).

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