One of the most commonly used chord subs in jazz guitar, the tritone sub, is a concept that comes up time and again when studying soloing and comping,...
One of the most commonly used chord subs in jazz guitar, the tritone sub, is a concept that comes up time and again when studying soloing and comping, but sometimes its meaning and usage isn’t clear.
To help clear the air with this important and cool-sounding chord sub, we’ll be using the next few lessons to dissect, apply and practice various chords, scales and arpeggios you can use in order to bring this chord sub concept into your jazz guitar playing.
In this first lesson, you’ll learn how to use 7th and 7#11 arpeggios to outline the tritone sub in a ii V I chord progression, allowing you to take your soloing chops up a notch and begin to create lines in the same vibe as your favorite jazz guitarists at the same time.
So, let’s dig into tritone sub arpeggios for jazz guitar!
What Is a Tritone Sub?
To begin, let’s take a look at what a tritone sub is on paper, and then we will be ready to transfer this knowledge to the fretboard. Simply put, a tritone sub is when you have a V7 chord, such as the D7 in the example below, and you sub that chord out with a bII7 chord, such as the Ab7 in the same example.
This chord sub works out because both chords share a 3rd and 7th. This means the 3rd and 7th of D7, F# and C, are the same notes as the 7th and 3rd of Ab7, Gb(F#) and C. This connection is what allows these chords to be so easily swapped out for each other in comping and soloing situations.
Play through the following example and hear how both chord progressions, ii V I and ii bII I, sound similar but have a different feel