Editing Tritone substitution (section)

{{Short description|Music theory concept}}
[[File:Substitute dominant in the chromatic circle.png|thumb|C7 is transpositionally equivalent to the F{{music|#}}7, the leading tones resolve inversionally (E-B{{music|b}} resolves to F-A, A{{music|#}}-E resolves to B-D{{music|#}}) {{audio|Tritone substitution I-V-I.mid|Play F-C7-F, F-F{{music|#}}7-F, B-F{{music|#}}7-B, then B-C7-B}}]]

The '''tritone substitution''' is a common [[chord substitution]] found in both [[jazz]] and [[classical music]]. Where jazz is concerned, it was the precursor to more complex substitution patterns like [[Coltrane changes]]. Tritone substitutions are sometimes used in [[musical improvisation|improvisation]]—often to create tension during a [[Solo (music)|solo]]. Though examples of the tritone substitution, known in the [[Western classical music|classical]] world as an [[augmented sixth chord]], can be found extensively in classical music since the [[Renaissance music|Renaissance]] period,<ref>{{cite book|last1=Kennedy|first1=Andrews|title=The Oxford Harmony|date=1950|publisher=Oxford University Press|location=London|pages=45–46}}</ref> they were not heard outside of classical music until they were brought into jazz by musicians such as [[Dizzy Gillespie]] and [[Charlie Parker]] in the 1940s,<ref>Everett, Walter (Autumn, 2004). "A Royal Scam: The Abstruse and Ironic Bop-Rock Harmony of Steely Dan", ''Music Theory Spectrum'', Vol. 26, No. 2, pp. 201-235</ref> as well as [[Duke Ellington]], [[Art Tatum]], [[Coleman Hawkins]], [[Roy Eldridge]] and [[Benny Goodman]].<ref>{{cite book|last=Owens |first=Thomas |title=Bebop |url=https://archive.org/details/bebopmusicitspla00owen_905 |url-access=limited |date=1996 |publisher=Oxford University Press|page=[https://archive.org/details/bebopmusicitspla00owen_905/page/n21 5]|isbn=978-0-19-510651-0 }}</ref>

The tritone substitution can be performed by exchanging a [[dominant seventh chord]] for another dominant seventh chord which is a [[tritone]] away from it. For example, in the key of C major one can use D{{music|b}}<sup>7</sup> instead of G<sup>7</sup> (D{{music|b}} is a tritone away from G, and G is the dominant of C).