What is a Tritone Substitution? - Music Theory
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Date: 2022-03-28
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Comments and reviews: 10
RicardoJoglar
Hi Gareth, thank you. Would you mind should I correct what you-ve said about tritone had been believed to be the musical sound of the devil? In fact, some medieval theorists wrote about the -diabolus in musica- because -diabolus- means -divider- a metaphor to the fact the the tritone divides, splits the octave in two, creating this strong dissonance; that-s why the Tritus Autenticus Mode was the last of the Octoechos modes to be enployed due the lack of a liable notation that could express the exact pitch of the B and the B flat, the fourth degree above the final degreee F. Many manuscripts of the XIIth century even avoid to write the B so the too strong dissonance would be replaced by a minor third from A to C (the Tenor degreee) But, the Chant books includes lots of pieces, mainly Alleluias, with a B flat and the B interchanging causing a beautiful effect, so it wiuldn-t be so should the Tritonus be the -sound of the devil-, even more by the fsct that it wad never meant to be understood this way, it was not a supertitious way of thinking, but wisdom and gusto.
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Hi Gareth, thank you. Would you mind should I correct what you-ve said about tritone had been believed to be the musical sound of the devil? In fact, some medieval theorists wrote about the -diabolus in musica- because -diabolus- means -divider- a metaphor to the fact the the tritone divides, splits the octave in two, creating this strong dissonance; that-s why the Tritus Autenticus Mode was the last of the Octoechos modes to be enployed due the lack of a liable notation that could express the exact pitch of the B and the B flat, the fourth degree above the final degreee F. Many manuscripts of the XIIth century even avoid to write the B so the too strong dissonance would be replaced by a minor third from A to C (the Tenor degreee) But, the Chant books includes lots of pieces, mainly Alleluias, with a B flat and the B interchanging causing a beautiful effect, so it wiuldn-t be so should the Tritonus be the -sound of the devil-, even more by the fsct that it wad never meant to be understood this way, it was not a supertitious way of thinking, but wisdom and gusto.
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David
There is another way to think about this by asking the question: what are the most essential notes in the scale of a V7? Well it's the 1 and the 7th of course, but also the 3rd, so we can hear that it's a Dur and not a Moll scale. Every other note can be altered. So the 2 becomes b2 and #2, the 4 becomes #4 and the 5 #5 (b4 is the same as 3, b5 is the same as #4, b6 the same as #5 and #6 is the same as the b7 enharmonically). This is in fact the altered scale which is often used in Jazz. But if you look at this scale you may notice it's the same as the bII Myxolidian, except that it has a sharpened 4th which is usually written as #11. That's why the tritone substitution is usually written bII#11 in Jazz. So when you improvise over this chord don't use the standard bII Myxolidian scale but a sharp 11. So in the case of Db the scale shares the g with the G7 chord in addition to the tritone which makes the relationship even stronger.
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There is another way to think about this by asking the question: what are the most essential notes in the scale of a V7? Well it's the 1 and the 7th of course, but also the 3rd, so we can hear that it's a Dur and not a Moll scale. Every other note can be altered. So the 2 becomes b2 and #2, the 4 becomes #4 and the 5 #5 (b4 is the same as 3, b5 is the same as #4, b6 the same as #5 and #6 is the same as the b7 enharmonically). This is in fact the altered scale which is often used in Jazz. But if you look at this scale you may notice it's the same as the bII Myxolidian, except that it has a sharpened 4th which is usually written as #11. That's why the tritone substitution is usually written bII#11 in Jazz. So when you improvise over this chord don't use the standard bII Myxolidian scale but a sharp 11. So in the case of Db the scale shares the g with the G7 chord in addition to the tritone which makes the relationship even stronger.
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Joseph
That-s great lesson! You confirmed my thought which happened many years ago when I was in a guitar festival. When someone show me a Tritone substituted chord to me, after hearing his demo, I said that-s nothing more than just a German sixth chord on the 2nd degree to me. He was trying to convince me that the concept of German sixth chord is from classical music whereas the tritone substitution is a Jazz concept.
But I don-t think so, because I heard #4th to the 5th and the b6th to the 5th. The said think is, he passed away long time ago too.
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That-s great lesson! You confirmed my thought which happened many years ago when I was in a guitar festival. When someone show me a Tritone substituted chord to me, after hearing his demo, I said that-s nothing more than just a German sixth chord on the 2nd degree to me. He was trying to convince me that the concept of German sixth chord is from classical music whereas the tritone substitution is a Jazz concept.
But I don-t think so, because I heard #4th to the 5th and the b6th to the 5th. The said think is, he passed away long time ago too.
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Robert
I think the -devil in music- was probably prohibited since Palestrina counterpoint rules because it-s just so hard to vocalize- (as well as the augmented second) - however, that also cultural. In Bulgarian ethnic music, we hear augmented and diminished intervals as well as microtones all over the place. My Bulgarian mother-in-law songs these amazing vocal acrobatics and I even hear children singing them too! I guess it al depends on what you grow up with! Love the video; you-re awesome!!
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I think the -devil in music- was probably prohibited since Palestrina counterpoint rules because it-s just so hard to vocalize- (as well as the augmented second) - however, that also cultural. In Bulgarian ethnic music, we hear augmented and diminished intervals as well as microtones all over the place. My Bulgarian mother-in-law songs these amazing vocal acrobatics and I even hear children singing them too! I guess it al depends on what you grow up with! Love the video; you-re awesome!!
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Adrian
thank you for your video. when i'm writing music i most often get inspired to write rhythms and melodies rather than chords.
chords happen where the melodic lines collide together and i listen to hear if they are in harmony at these points. i've always wondered from my view at such an emphasis on chord structure. so much so that i think i am alone in my thinking.
Is this method an alternative method of writing? I know this is off the point. Sorry.
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thank you for your video. when i'm writing music i most often get inspired to write rhythms and melodies rather than chords.
chords happen where the melodic lines collide together and i listen to hear if they are in harmony at these points. i've always wondered from my view at such an emphasis on chord structure. so much so that i think i am alone in my thinking.
Is this method an alternative method of writing? I know this is off the point. Sorry.
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Cynical
I was right with you until 11:22 when you said -it- works in Cm as well. Do you mean Db7 resolving to Cm? Or Dbm7 to Cm? Completely on board with the major key example but struggling to understand what you mean by -it- as the 5 chord in a minor progression does not have a tritone within it? Or are you just sayiIng that in C minor you can replace the Bb7 with and E7 before resolving to the Eb (relative minor of Cm) ? Would love to understand thanks !
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I was right with you until 11:22 when you said -it- works in Cm as well. Do you mean Db7 resolving to Cm? Or Dbm7 to Cm? Completely on board with the major key example but struggling to understand what you mean by -it- as the 5 chord in a minor progression does not have a tritone within it? Or are you just sayiIng that in C minor you can replace the Bb7 with and E7 before resolving to the Eb (relative minor of Cm) ? Would love to understand thanks !
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Madison
I haven't learned about tritone subs in my theory class but I had one come up in a piece that I'm playing for my piano class. My piano teacher tried explaining it to me but it was not clicking! Thank you for this amazing explanation! You made it seem so simple. In class we're talking about borrowed harmonies... Is a tritone the same as bII?
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I haven't learned about tritone subs in my theory class but I had one come up in a piece that I'm playing for my piano class. My piano teacher tried explaining it to me but it was not clicking! Thank you for this amazing explanation! You made it seem so simple. In class we're talking about borrowed harmonies... Is a tritone the same as bII?
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Winand
So basically you can use a dom7 chord on the flat second degree of any major or minor scale and it will resolve to the first degree ? That would be pretty genius. I've been looking for ways to harmonize phrygian mode in a way that it sounds likes a proper scale and not just a mode. This would actually be a solution.
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So basically you can use a dom7 chord on the flat second degree of any major or minor scale and it will resolve to the first degree ? That would be pretty genius. I've been looking for ways to harmonize phrygian mode in a way that it sounds likes a proper scale and not just a mode. This would actually be a solution.
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Bon
01:54 So _why_ does it work well anyway despite of not being from the key? What is that _function_ of a chord that you're talking about? Do you have any video about those functions of different chords? Are these functions somehow related to the _emotions_ that these chords convey per any chance?
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01:54 So _why_ does it work well anyway despite of not being from the key? What is that _function_ of a chord that you're talking about? Do you have any video about those functions of different chords? Are these functions somehow related to the _emotions_ that these chords convey per any chance?
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Tyler
How would one analyze a tritone substitution?
I was thinking possibly a neopolitan with a flat 7 but I-m not sure that this entirely serves the same chord function as a Neapolitan chord?
Great video, always love to learn new music theory concepts!
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How would one analyze a tritone substitution?
I was thinking possibly a neopolitan with a flat 7 but I-m not sure that this entirely serves the same chord function as a Neapolitan chord?
Great video, always love to learn new music theory concepts!
reply
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