How to play the Tritone

The tritone has been a mysterious concept for a lot of years but it's really simple once
you've understood it.

Basically, the tritone is a musical interval that spans three whole tones. We can also say
that it is a two-note tone with 5 semitones in-between.

The tritone was sometime known as the "Diabolus in Musica" because it creates a
dissonance effect when it is played. In music, a tritone substitution is the chord
substitution of a chord with its root being a tritone(3 tones) away from the original. It is
used in a chord progression of a V7 (dominant 7th chord) (major/minor 7th chord) that is
three whole steps (a tritone: 6 semitones) away from the original V7.

Tritone substitutions are used in improvisation and are commonly used to create
tension during a soloing. In order to use the tritone in your playing, you would play it with
your left hand and accompany it with a chord on the right hand (this is a common way in
which it is played in gospel music).

It is also a good substitution for your major 7th chords. In this case you change the chord
totally with the tritone in the chord, on your right hand for dissonance and effect. It really
sounds good when you play it this way.

Here is an example of a substitute for G major 7th on key C - C# Ab / B Eb F Bb.

You can also use tritones for

1. Chord substitutions

2. Passing tones

3. Root of the chord

Chord Substitution: You can use the tritone as a substitution for various chords. For
example, a tritone substitution for chord 5 on key C is - F B / E Ab B E.

Passing tones: A very good example of this is the well known circle of fifths.

Here is a circle of fifths progression with tritone substitutions on the key of C:

A E/G B C E, C F#/B E Ab, G D/F A Bb D, Bb E/A C# E A, F C/E G A C, A Eb/A D F, Ab D/G C
E

Root of the chord: The tritone can be used as root of the chord in a lot of ways. Examples
of ways in which you can use the tritone as root of the chord.

1. C - Bb E/A C# E A

2. G - F B/E Ab B E

3. A - C# G/C F A C

For more information on how to use tritones please visit http://www.better-
playing.blogspot.com