Tritone Substitution

Tritone Substitution

In classical music, a substitute dominant is "a chord sufficiently akin to the dominant to be reasonably set against the tonic, and yet remote enough to give a chromatically expressive, large-scale dissonance to the structure". For example, using C major instead of E major in the key of A major.

In jazz, a tritone substitution (tritone substitute dominant or substitute dominant) is the chord substitution of a chord with a dominant chord that has its root a tritone away from the original. The tritone substitution is one of the most common substitutions found in jazz and was the precursor to more complex substitution patterns like Coltrane changes. Tritone substitutions are sometimes used in improvisation — often to create tension during a solo. They were first used by musicians such as Dizzy Gillespie in the 1940s, Duke Ellington, Art Tatum, Coleman Hawkins, Roy Eldridge and Benny Goodman. For example, using C♯ (D♭) major instead of G major in the key of C major (C♯ is a tritone away from G).