Tritone Subtitutes

1. The notes that dene the dominant chord are the Root, 3rd and b7th
C7

& c b ?c
C7

b
F #7

2. 2 dominant chords with roots seperated by a tritone share the same notes for the 3rd and the b7th. Only the enharmonic spelling is different.

& b ?
C7

7 3

# #
F7

3 7

3. This becomes useful when the chord progression of a piece moves through the cycle of 5ths. As an example:

& b ?
C7

b
B7

b b

B b7

b b

E b7

Because the dominant chords a tritone away from each other share the same notes for the 3rd and the b7th, by substituting every second chord in the cycle of 5ths progression you can create a chromatic bass line.

& c b ?c

b b

B b7

A7

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