Theory

1B / Stover
Week 12-13 Recap

The first thing to keep in mind as we dig into these new topics is that, as I keep
promising, the same fundamental concepts keep coming back in different disguises.
This is doubly important now, since on the surface it may seem like what were
doing is catapulting to a considerably higher degree of complexity (to mix
metaphors), but in reality it is the exact same procedures from the beginning of the
semester that subtend all of the seemingly-complicated harmonic motions that
were examining now. And those procedures are:

1) predominant chords go to dominant chords and dominant chords go to tonic
chords,
2) melodic and harmonic function never really changes,1 and
3) remember to pay attention to voice leading of active tones.

Thats it!

Here is a fairly simple example to set the tone for what were getting at.


Example 1. Predominant chords in Desafinado.

1 That is, predominant chords generally retain their predominant function when the

context changes, etc. And also that NCTs remain NCTs: all of their expressive power
carries over into the new harmonic context.

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In this example, ii (a predominant chord in F), is recast in measure 9 as iv, tonicizing
D (which is D major in this case but later in the song appears as a proper D minor,
which then becomes iv of a iv-V-I in A Major). What is noteworthy is that even
though the chord has a new function from a global tonal perspective, it is still
behaving as a predominant chord. It turns out that these sorts of transformations
crop up over and over in this very chromatic song, but that is a topic for another
time.

So with that in mind, lets explore tritone substitution. Remember that the most
important thing about tritone substitution is that the function remains the same
the new, substitute, chord behaves the same way as the chord it is filling in for (that
is, a dominant chord remains a dominant chord, a predominant chord remains a
predominant chord, etc.).

The basic model for tritone substitution looks like this:



Example 2. Tritone substitution for V chord.

Remember that the reason that tritone substitution works is that the active tones
remain active: the third of the V7 chord becomes the seventh of the tritone sub and
the seventh of V7 becomes the third of the tritone sub. In the case of Example 2, the
C# is the third of the V chord, which becomes a Db as the seventh of bII (here spelled
as C# for notational felicity), and the G is the seventh of the V chord, which becomes
the third of bII.

Thats the basic model. Heres a well-known jazz tune that uses a tritone sub for V7
at the cadence that ends the A sections (so, obviously, a important juncture in the
music from a structural perspective!). Note that the the progression, II-bII-I, still
sounds like a tonal cadence!

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 Example 3. Satin Doll cadence ending A sections.

We can then extrapolate this basic model of tritone substitution to assert that we
can substitute any chord with the chord a tritone away. This is what we did in class,
with the II chord and then even with the I chord! Here are a few examples.


Example 4. Some tritone subs in a basic II-V-I context.

For another example of tritone substitution in action, lets take a look at the
beginning of Monks Reflections. Well be looking at the whole song next week, but
for now lets focus on the first couple of measures.


Example 5. Reflections first two bars.

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First, we might determine that the Bbm7/Eb sounds like a dominant-functioning
chord; that is, even though it looks like a ii chord (the ii of a ii-V-I, even), it sounds
like a V chord with a suspension (the Ab, which resolves to G in the second half of
the measure). This may seem fairly trivial, since both are pointing eventually to I
anyway, but it makes a difference when we consider whats going on before it. It
turns out that the E7 chord is a tritone substitution for V/V, or what would be a Bb 7
chord. This is corroborated by the chord that precedes it the Fm7(b5) sounds like
the ii of a ii-V-I in Eb, or a ii-V leading to V. So instead of a normal ii-V of V, we get ii-
bII of V, which of course continues on to V. This whole motion, then, is enacted by
the tritone substitution of V of F: the Gb7 chord that is filling in for C7!

Here is a schematic to show how these chords are derived. In the top row are the
chords that actually appear in the score. In the second row are the chords that
should be there if there were no tritone subs (or chromatic alterations of basic
chords, which well talk about further). And in the bottom row is a basic harmonic
plan that shows what all of this is elaborating.


Ab Gb7 Fm7(b5) E7 Bbm7/Eb Eb7


Ab C7 Fm7 Bb7 Eb7 ------------------


Ab Fm7 Bbm7 Eb7
(I) (vi) (ii) (V)


A pretty basic progression, eh? A big part of Monks genius has to do with the
sneaky ways that he disguises these basic structures. Play these three progressions
from bottom to top, so you can compare and see how the more complex version is
derived from the simpler ones.



Practice spelling tritone substitutions in different contexts until theyre comfortable.
And remember that in most cases the function of the active tones stays the same
this is a big part of why these chords behave the way they do.

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One more note about tritone substitution. In the examples above, the chords are
very basic (as in, root-third-seventh; just enough to establish the identity of the
chord). But any dominant seventh chord (or, for that matter, any chord) can behave
in the process of tritone substitution. Here is a very common, and particularly
interesting one, which involves preserving the upper structure of the chord and
transposing the bass.


Example 6a. Tritone subsitution with taller chords.

In this case the root of G7(#9) is transposed by a tritone, resulting in Db13. In both
cases there is no fifth in the chord, which as you know is just fine as far as chord
identity goes. But suppose we did include a fifth: the same process applies. Here is
the same progression but with G7(#9, #5), which becomes under tritone
substitution Db13 with a ninth:


Example 6b. More of the same.

Try this with more chords!



From tritone subs, we went on to talk about a group of dominant-functioning chords
that are related by virtue of a shared diminished seventh chord, as in Example 7.

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Example 7. Embedded diminished seventh chord nexus (four "dominant
seven, flat nine" chords with shared upper structure o7 chord).

& b b b
n # n

? b b

G7( b9) B b7( b9) D b7( b9) E7( b9)

There are at least two significant ways that we can construe these chords:

1) functioning as V7( b9) in the keys of C, E b, G b, and A respectively.

(G7 = V of C; B b7 = V of E b; D b7 = V of G b; E7 = V of A)

2) functioning as substitutions for V in any of those keys, as in:

C: V7( b9), bVII7( b9), bII7( b9), III7( b9)

E b: III7( b9), V7( b9), bVII7( b9), bII7( b9)

G b: bII7( b9), III7( b9), V7( b9), bVII7( b9)

A: bVII7( b9), bII7( b9), III7( b9), V7( b9)

Interestingly, the roots of these four chords themselves form a diminished seventh chord (G, B b, D b, E), as do
the tonic pitches in each key (C, E b, G b, A). And together with the original "embedded" chord we have the
entire chromatic collection accounted for! (this is more interesting than particularly applicable...)
We can also, by extension, use these chord substitutions as ways of moving between minor-third-related keys.

Note that we can also extrapolate this to talk about any dominant-functioning chords: this is the background
model, but by no means do we have to limit ourselves to "dominant seven, flat nine" chords.
Finally, note that while this is the theoretical underpinning of some advance chord substitution, you can do all
of these substitutions without worrying too much about the details. In other words, we've opened up our world of
what counts as a dominant chord - it used to be V and viio, and now we can add III7, bVII7, and bII7. Suddenly
our world of dominant possibilities is greatly increased! And on the flip side, so are our potential avenues for
tonicizations and modulations, since now we're not limited to our earlier conception of "closely-related keys."

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