13 substitutions and turnarounds

SubstitutionsandTurnarounds

FromFundamentalsofJazzImprovisation:WhatEverybodyThinksYouAlreadyKnow

Dr.MarkWatkins

DirectorofJazzStudiesBrighamYoungUniversityIdaho

2010byMarkWatkinsMaterialshereinareprovidedforpersonaluse.Nopartmaybereproduced

withoutwrittenpermissionfromtheauthor.

Substitutions

TheTritoneSubstitutionAtritoneisanintervalofthreetonesorwholesteps.Atoneistwosemitones,twoadjacentkeysonthepianoupformthestartingpitch.Awholestepistwohalfsteps.Threewholestepsequalssixhalfsteps.(Seethesectiononintervalsabove.)FromFuptoBisatritone;fromBuptoFisatritone.Atritoneisexactlyhalfanoctave.Itisasharp4oraflat5.

TritoneWheelThecrossshowsnotesa

tritoneaway.

CompassTurntheouterwheellikethe

degreesonacompass.

ClockTurnthecrosslikethearmsof

aclock.

Wheneveradominantchordisusedinaprogressionasanactivechordleadingsomewhere,achordatritoneawayfromthatdominantchordcanbesubstituted.Forexample,aiiV7IinBflatisCminor,F7,Bflatmajor.AtritoneawayfromFisB.TheprogressionbecomesCminor,B7,Bflat.Thisworkswellbecausetheprimaryfunctionalnotesofthedominantchordarestillpresent:major3rdofthedominantchord(leadingtonetoI),andminor7(whichcanbeconsideredasecondarydownwardleadingtoneduetoitsstrongtendencytoresolvetothe3rdofI).

Perhapsaneasierwaytoincorporatetritonesubstitutionsistothinkofthemasastepabovethechordofresolution.InaV7IsequencesuchasFtoBflat,insteadofthinkingthetritoneawayfromFtofindB,thinkstepaboveBflattofindB.SeetheTritoneConceptsheadingintheChordProgressionssectionforexamples.

CotraneChangesJohnColtranedevelopedthisprogressionasanadaptationtotheMilesDavistuneTuneUp.ColtraneexploredtheformulaincompositionssuchasGiantStepsandCountdown.TheycanbeappliedinmostcircumstanceswheretherearefourbarsofamajorchordoronafourbariiV7I,especiallyduringimprovisedsolos.Theprogressionalsoworkswellasaturnaround.Simplecomplexityisagooddescriptor.Startingontonic,oneproceedsupaminor3rdthendownaperfect5th,upam3,downP5untilreturningtoI.Onecanstartonthesupertonicinsteadoftonic,asinaiiV7I,firstmovingupaminorsecond(forexample,DminortoEflat7).Thechordsgenerallychangeonbeatsoneandthreewiththreebeingdominantinqualityandonebeingmajor.

Intheaboveexample,noticethatthepairsofV7Imovebymajor3rds,therootsformingandaugmentedtriad.InCmajorthefirstchordisCfollowedbythepairEflat7toAflat,aV7IinAflat.ThenextpairisB7toEmajor,V7IinE.ThelastpairbringsthesequencebacktoIwithG7toCmajor,V7IinC.ThepairsequenceisCAflatEC,anaugmentedtriad.

BluesFundamentalHarmonicStructure

QuickChange:Measure2ofthebluesoftenincludesthesubdominant.

Subdominant,mm.56:ivVII7IleadingbacktoI.

Subdominant,mm.56:Bassupstepchangingharmonytodiminished.

Dominant,mm.910:Fouroptionsincludedincomposition(notsubstitutions).Option1:Dominantfortwobars.

Option2:iiV7(perhapsmostcommon)

Option3:Takeitfromthefive.VdowntoIVtoI

Option4:V/VtoV(iimadedominant)

Otherpossibilitiesforlastfourbars:IVflatVII7I(ivflatVII7I)

II7(orV/V)|TritoneSubstitution|I(I7orminor)

Minorbluesmayhaveminorchordsinthedominantmeasures.

LeadinConceptInmanysituationsaniiV7canbeinsertedtoleadintoastructuralpointofatune.Itmaybean

importantchord,delineatingasectionofmelody,definingfouroreightmeasuregroup,orfulfillotherharmonicneeds.

Intheblues,aiiV7canbeplacedinm.4leadingtothesubdominant.

AiiV7inm.8ofthebluescanleadtothedominant(orotherchordinm.9).

ExtendedLeadinWhereharmonicspaceallows,theLeadincanbeextendedbymeansofacycleofV7s,acycleofiiV7s,descendingorascendingiiV7s,tritonesubstitutions,orotherprogressions.Blues,mm.15:cycleleadintoIV.ThissequenceisdemonstratedinbluesforAlice(CharlieParker).Thetonicchordhasamajor7thinsteadofthetraditionalminor5thfoundinabluestonic.This,plusthehalfdiminishedqualityofthefirstchordinm.2helptostartthecyclemoresmoothly.Themajor7thofIisthesameastherootofthefirstchordinm.2.Thehalfdiminishedchordsflat5isinthekeysignatureandisrootofthequickchangechordoftenplayedinm.2.

iiiforIThemediantisasubstitutefortonic.InCthechordtonesareCEGB.ThemediantinthekeyofCisE.UsingtheCmajorkeysignaturethechordtonesforEareEGBD.Pitchesarethesimilarandcanbemademoresodependingontheextensionsused.

InRhythmChangesIviiiV7canbecomeiiiviiiV7.ThisisoftenconvertedtoacycleofiiV7sbychangingthequalityofvitoVI7.

IntheBluesiiiissometimessubstitutedforIinmm.78.ThiscanleadtoacycleofiiV7s.ThecyclecanbeextendedwhenivflatVII7issubstitutedinmeasure6andthetritonesubstitutionisusedfortheleadintothedominantinm.9.Blues,mm.58:iiisubstitutedforIinm.7

Blues,mm.59:TritoneSubstitutioninm.8forLeadintom.9

Blues,mm.58:ivflatVII7I,mm.67

Blues,mm.59:CombinedelementstocreateDescendingChromaticiiV7Progression

ThemediantisoftensubstitutedforIinmeasure11whenaiiiviiiV7oriiiVI7iiV7turnaroundininserted.Amajormediantisusedwhentheturnaroundisacycleofdominants:III7VI7II7v7.

iiV7forV7andV7foriiV7Inmostsituations,whenthereisadominantchordaiiV7canbesubstituted.Likewise,whenaiiV7ispresentaV7canbeused.iiV7forV7

V7foriiV7

TheTurnaround

TurnaroundtoTopofFormTheprimarydefinitionofaturnaroundisachordsequencethatfacilitatestherepetitionoftheform.Ithelpstobringthemusicfromtheendofachorus(onetimethroughthechordprogressionofthetune)backtothebeginningofthenextchorus.Aturnaroundtakesonefromthebottomtothetopofthetune.Example:Turnaroundappliedtoblueschanges.

SectionDelineationTurnaroundprogressionscandelineateasectionoftheformofatuneasintheleadinconceptabove(Bluessection).ThisisfrequentattheendofthefirstAturningaroundtothesecondAsection.Itisfrequentasameanstobringthelistenerintothebridge(contrastingsection)ofthetune.

VampsandCircularProgressionsAnotherdefinitionanduseofaturnaroundisanyprogressionthatcirclesbackuponitsstartingpoint;aprogressionthatturnsuponitself.Thiscanhappenatthebeginning,middle,orendofaphrase.Turnaroundprogressionscanvamp(toplaythesamematerialrepeatedly).IviiiV7oriiiviiiV7vamp

ColtraneChanges

ivbVII7I

CatalogofTurnaroundsBasedonCircleof5thsCycle:

BasedonTritoneSubstitutions:

BasedonivbVII7I

ColtraneChanges