TRITONE SUBSTITUTION, DEMYSTIFIED

TriTones, like a loT of deeper music Theory, passed me by when i was learning guitar. i was brought up in the pre-internet era on a mixture of hank marvin and The Beatles, alongside big-band swing 78rpm recordings from the likes of artie shaw, Benny Goodman and Tommy dorsey, which gave me an ear for those stranger harmonies that i never lost, even though for years i never fully understood what was going on.

Just the other week, i randomly happened across a piano tuition website and, within the space of a few minutes, found a simple and refreshingly different explanation of tritone substitution that helped a lot of things click into place. a tritone is an interval of three whole tones, which is six frets on a guitar. simply put, substituting notes from chords or scales separated by this interval is a popular device in jazz. Without knowing it, i’ve been listening to and using basic tritone substitution for years. suddenly, i now have a better understanding, renewed enthusiasm and several new avenues to explore. if only the internet had been there when i was learning to play! it’s an amazing tool that’s made me a better player.