Ads by ViewPassword Ad Options

Substitute Dominant Chords http://www.thejazzresource.com/substitute_dominant_chords.html

1 de 4 01/07/2014 08:38 p.m.
Substitute Dominant Chords
Substitute Dominant chords, sometimes referred to as tritone substitutes,
are some of my favorite chords in jazz. Some songs have them already in
the chord progression, other times the player will actually play the
substitute dominant instead of the regular or secondary dominant
Additionally, players will precede chords with substitute dominant chords to
add more chords to a progression (this one of the easiest and one of my
favorite ways to sound more "sophisticated").
So what is a substitute dominant chord?
Well, it's a dominant chord an augmented fourth, aka tritone, away from
the dominant chord it's substituting for.
Now the term "substitute dominant chords" is a real mouthful, so they are
often called subV's ("sub five's").
So in the key of C, the primary dominant is the V7 chord, G7, and the subV
for G7 is Db7. The subV for the V7ofII, A7, is an Eb7. So a I VI7 II-7 V7
progression with substitute dominants would be C Eb7 D-7 Db7.
Notice that the SubV for G is Db and likewise the subV for Db would be G.
Dominant V chords can have a variety of chord tensions, but subV's always
have the same: 9, #11, 13.
A common trick to make this easier is to play a major triad a whole step
above the dominant chord. So on the subV of F#7, which is C7, you can
play a D major triad on top of the regular C, E, G, and Bb. Note also that
these tensions of 9, #11, and 13 all sound great and very jazzy.
How do you reharmonize chord progressions with subV's?
As I said above, sometimes they are part of a chord progression naturally,
but if you want to change a chord progression, here is how:
1)Replacing dominants with their substitutes. It's pretty self explanatory,
here is a jazz blues chord progression with substitutes:
C7 / F7 / C7/ G-7 Gb7
F7 / F#dim7 / C7 / E-7 Eb7
D-7 / Db7 / C7 Eb7 / D-7 Db7
Notice that I only substituted the dominants that were a V7 of something
(including the primary dominant, G7).
2)Preceeding chords with subV's. Just add a dominant chord with 9, #11,
and 13 a half step above the chord it's proceeding. This creates a lot of
chords and can be sometimes done to excess. Here's the same blues
progression with subV's added but not replacing the existing dominants:
C7 Gb7 / F7 Db7 / C7 Ab7 / G-7 C7
F7 / F#dim7 Db7 / C7 F7 / E-7 A7
D-7 Ab7 / G7 Db7 / C7 Bb7 A7 Eb7 / D-7 Ab7 G7 Db7
Note the last two bars have a chord on every beat with every possible
subV. Usually this can be a little crazy but I like it at the end of the
Substitute Dominant Chords http://www.thejazzresource.com/substitute_dominant_chords.html
2 de 4 01/07/2014 08:38 p.m.
SubV's sounds great and I love playing just an occasional subV every now
and then, or playing a ton of them, both while comping and soloing.
Want to head back to Jazz Theory?
or head back to the Home Page
Substitute Dominant Chords http://www.thejazzresource.com/substitute_dominant_chords.html
3 de 4 01/07/2014 08:38 p.m.
Ads by ViewPassword Ad Options
Substitute Dominant Chords http://www.thejazzresource.com/substitute_dominant_chords.html
4 de 4 01/07/2014 08:38 p.m.